Author is a respected public figure, broadcaster and composer. Shostakovich continues to enjoy huge popularity, with sell-out performances of his concerts across the world. Increasing interest in the 'musical brain' in which the profound effect of music on the brain is coming to light. Johnson explores recent findings on the subject. Publishing at the 100th anniversary of the October 1917 Russian revolution . Publication ties in with the high profile tour of the St Petersburg Symphony, the same orchestra who played during the siege of Leningrad.

Through interviews conducted with surviving members of Soviet orchestras, through his reading of philosophers, psychoanalysts, and neurologists, Johnson paints a compelling picture of one man's music and its power to validate and sustain another man's life.