Alexander Lokshin

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Alexander Lazarevich Lokshin (Александр Лазаревич Локшин, in Russian) (1920 – 1987) was a Russian composer of classical music. He was born on September 19, 1920, in the town of Biysk, in the Altai Region, Western Siberia.

He was born to Lazar Lokshin, a Jew from Siberia, and Maria Korotkina, a doctor. He wrote eleven symphonies, two string quintets (one recorded), among other works. A pupil of a great Russian composer, Nikolay Myaskovsky, he refused to compromise with the Soviet regime and dearly paid for it by being persecuted and rejected by the censors . At the time of his death his name was forgotten in his native Russia and not known in the West. Some of his compositions he had never heard performed. His art, ironically, was introduced in the West only after his death. His close friendship with famed Russian conductor Rudolf Barshai led to their close collaboration, premier performances of his major works and recordings.