Mstislav Rostropovich, one of the great musicians of the 20th century passed away today in Moscow. He was 80 years old.

For my non-musician friends and family who are frequent readers, Rostropovich was a hugely influential cellist who was also known for his abilities as a conductor and composer. He premiered both of Shostakovich’s cello concertos as well as works by noted composers such as Khachaturian, Prokofiev, Britten, Bernstein and Penderecki, among others.

In addition to his musical accomplishments, Rostropovich also was a strident advocate of the rights of Russian artists, writers, and musicians to express themselves without fear of persecution by the government of the Soviet Union. The following is an excerpt from the New York Times about his famous sheltering of Alexander Solzhenitsyn:

Mr. Rostropovich became famous well beyond musical circles, as a symbol of artistic conscience and his defiance of the Soviet regime. When the writer Aleksander Solzhenitsyn came increasingly under attack by Soviet authorities in the late 1960’s, Mr. Rostropovich and Miss Vishnevskaya allowed him to stay in their dacha at Zhukovka, outside Moscow.

For those who don’t know his performances, I encourage you to seek out his recordings and listen to his brilliance. I would personally start with the classic recording of him and Benjamin Britten performing the Schubert Arpeggione Sonata.

Generations have been touched by this miraculous spirit, and will continue to be touched long after he has gone.

~Maxim Vengerov (from TIME Europe, October 2, 2004)