Rodion Shchedrin obituary

Russian pianist and composer of startlingly diverse orchestral works, ballet music and operas

The prolific Russian composer Rodion Shchedrin, who has died aged 92, displayed a disconcertingly diverse range of styles, and a political agility useful in sustaining a career in the Soviet Union. He was also one of the earliest Soviet composers of his generation to make a mark in the west.

His First Concerto for Orchestra (1963) was taken up by George Balanchine, which prompted Leonard Bernstein to commission the succinct Second Concerto for Orchestra (The Chimes, 1968) for the New York Philharmonic. The Third Concerto (Old Music for Russian Provincial Circuses, 1988) was written for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Lorin Maazel; the Fourth Concerto (Round Dances, 1989) was premiered by the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra; and the Fifth (Four Russian Songs, 1998) was a BBC Proms commission. The last two were first recorded by the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra under Kirill Karabits.