Vissarion Shebalin
The 1948 Zhdanov condemnation of composers for "formalism" targeted many of my favorite composers, such as Shostakovich, Prokofiev and Popov, and so it seemed like a good idea to check out another of the condemned composers, Vissarion Shebalin.
This statement in the Wikipedia biography summarizes nicely what is often written about Shebalin: "Shebalin was one of the most cultured and erudite composers of his generation; his serious intellectual style and a certain academic approach to composition make him close to Myaskovsky."
The Freegal streaming music service offered at some public libraries has the first four of Shebalin's five symphonies, so I listened to them. I liked the first (1925) and the second (1929); the third (1935) and fourth (also 1935) made less of an impression on me.
When I tried researching Shebalin, I noticed he doesn't seem to get a lot of love. I could not find a website devoted to his music, and generally there just isn't much material out there.
Amazon Music doesn't seem to have any of his music, but I just put on his Third Symphony on Youtube.
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