Explore the fascinating ways different composers persevere in the face of oppression and war. Prokofiev’s opera War and Peace, composed after the German invasion of Russia in 1941, vividly depicts Napoleon’s 1812 attack on the country. Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No. 1 brims with irresistible wit, despite being composed during Stalin’s reign of terror. Casella was initially a Mussolini advocate. His symphony—written while in the dictator’s thrall—boasts splendid melodies and tremendous emotional power.