Maximilian Steinberg

Maximilian Osseyevich Steinberg (; – 6 December 1946) was a Russian composer of classical music. Though once considered the hope of Russian music, Steinberg is far less well known today than his mentor (and father-in-law) Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, his rival Igor Stravinsky, or his student protege Dmitri Shostakovich. In 2014, Steinberg’s choral concerto Passion Week was rediscovered and performed for the first time. It was instantly praised as a masterpiece by both lovers and performers of Classical music. This has triggered a revival of interest in the life and music of Maximilian Steinberg. Life Steinberg was born into a Lithuanian Jewish family in Vilna, Russian Empire (present-day Vilnius, Lithuania). His father, Osey (Hosea) Steinberg (Joshua Steinberg), was a leading scholar of Hebrew. In 1901, he went to Saint Petersburg, to study biology at the university there. He graduated in 1906. In the meantime he also started studying at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory. He entered Anatoly Lyadov’s harmony class, moving on to Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s harmony class and Alexander Glazunov’s counterpoint class. His considerable talent in composition soon became clear, encouraged especia