Today, if Ivan Vladimirovich Michurin is remembered at all, he is remembered as the Russian agronomist who introduced many new strains of frost- and drought-resistant fruit trees to the U.S.S.R. But in 1948, Michurin was the father of Soviet biology whose great contribution was to "prove" that acquired characteristics are inheritable, that is, anything learned by one organism can be passed on to the next generation. This was a theory which particularly appealed to Stalin because it would enable him to create a new "Soviet" man in a generation rather than over several millennia. Stalin's enthusiasm for Michurin explains a play, Life in Bloom, based on the scientist's life, became a legendary Soviet film in 1948.

Although the complete score for the film has apparently never been recorded, a seven-movement suite edited, arranged, and orchestrated from the score by Shostakovich's friend Lev Atovmian has been recorded several times. The suite consists of the overture, a powerful brass fanfare followed by a sweeping lyrical theme for the strings; the Winter Garden, a symphonic rhapsody alternating between the lyrical theme of the overture and a stark and dramatic theme; a charming and tender waltz which became popular as a hit song in the U.S.S.R.; "Souvenir," a heroic and martial movement for strings and brass; The "Palace Place," a blatantly patriotic march with an irritatingly ingratiating melody; "Michurin's Monologue," a thoughtful and lyrical movement with another march-like central section; and a celebratory Finale for enormous orchestra augmented by a military band. Although the music for Michurin is professionally composed, it is as banal and bombastic as the worst music Shostakovich ever wrote, and it shows Shostakovich's complete lack of sympathy for the subject matter.

© James Leonard, All Music Guide