1905 – He was baptized by a Russian Orthodox priest on January 5th.

1925 – Played piano for silent movies and studied composition under ‘Nikolai Miaskovsky’ at Moscow Conservatory, from which he graduated as a composer.

1932 – He joined the Union of Soviet Composers and became professor of Moscow Conservatory.

1940 – Joined the Communist Party and was made Chief Editor of the "Soviet Music" magazine.

1946 – Included in the bad list of "anti-Soviet" composers by the communist censor Andrei Zhdanov.

1948 – Repented to the Communist party and was cleared, but his teacher ‘Nikolai Miaskovsky’, and his famous colleagues Sergei Prokofiev, and Dmitri Shostakovich were viciously attacked by censor Zhdanov.

1949 – Became the Head of Music Department of Moscow Art Institute.

         – Wrote music scores for several Soviet films, including ‘Ivan Pavlov’, a film about Doctor Pavlov and his research on conditioning dogs and humans to sounds, lights, and food.

1952 – Made Secretary of the Soviet Composers Union and remained in the leadership for 35 years.

1956 – Became the Chairman of Commission in charge of music.

         – He was awarded the Order of Lenin and was made the People’s Artist of the USSR.