Yuri Abramovich Levitin was a Soviet Russian classical composer, born on December 28, 1912, in Poltava, and died on July 26, 1993, in Moscow. He became known as an important figure in twentieth-century Soviet music, with a career spanning composition for concert works, opera, chamber music, and film. Levitin studied at the Leningrad Conservatory, graduating in 1935, and completed postgraduate piano studies in 1937. During his composition training, he studied under the renowned composer Dmitri Shostakovich. Early in his career, he worked as a pianist with the Leningrad State stage and the Leningrad Philharmonic Society from 1931 to 1941, later directing the musical division of a theater in Tashkent during World War II before settling permanently in Moscow in 1942. As a composer, Levitin produced a wide range of works, including four operas, seven cantatas, two symphonies, and multiple concertos for orchestra and solo instruments such as trumpet, clarinet, cello, oboe, and horn. His output also included chamber music, notably around a dozen string quartets, as well as numerous songs and film scores, establishing him as a versatile and prolific contributor to Soviet classical music.