Music: Soviet's Best Bet

For many war-weary months the people of Leningrad have known solemn, youthful Dmitri Shostakovich as a fire fighter, a trench digger, an embattled citizen like themselves. But the rest of the world has continued to think of him as the only living composer, aside from Finland's Jean Sibelius, who can make musical history by writing a new symphony. Last week musical history was again on the make. In Kuibyshev, secondary Soviet capital, the orchestra of Moscow's Bolshoi Theater began rehearsals on Shostakovich's long-heralded Symphony No. 7. Composer Shostakovich has dedicated his symphony, a musical expression of war's effect on "ordinary, simple...

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