Aram Khachaturian

USSR, 1926–1978

Armenian-Soviet composer (1903–1978), one of the towering figures of 20th-century Soviet music. Fusing Armenian and Caucasian folk idioms with lush late-Romantic orchestration, he is best known for the ballets Gayane (with its whirlwind 'Sabre Dance') and Spartacus. A revered teacher at the Gnessin Institute and Moscow Conservatory, he shaped a generation of Soviet composers.

Influenced by

• Nikolai Myaskovsky
• Maurice Ravel
• Sergei Prokofiev

Influenced

• Mikael Tariverdiev