In 1955 Dmitri Kabalevsky, a leading Soviet Russian composer, emulated his predecessors Sergei Prokofiev and Pyotr Ilych Tchaikovsky in writing orchestral music based on Shakespeare's play. Kabalevsky's version was written as incidental music to a production of the play put on at the Vakhtangov Theater in Moscow, in Boris Pasternak's translation.

The suite is in ten movements, which track the action of the tragedy. It begins with a chilling introduction depicting the enmity between the Montagues and the Capulets. The next few movements are an almost continuos flow of music in the suite, depicting "Morning in Verona," various events leading up to the ball, and the meeting of the two fated lovers. Since these include scenes of the ball, the music has the feel of a ballet suite, though it was not intended as such. The last four musical scenes depict the wedding by Friar Lawrence, the fight in the market square where Romeo kills Tybalt, the lover's farewell, and finally the "Death and Reconciliation." The music is colorful, a bit conservative and, while it is not a masterpiece on a part with the music of the other two Russians mentioned, it is highly listenable and quite worthwhile music.

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