PROVOCATIVE THOUGHTS: 
The late Patric Standford may have written these short pieces deliberately to provoke our feedback. If so, his success is reflected in the rich range of readers' comments appearing at the foot of most of the pages.
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Igor Zhukov
Russian pianist, conductor and sound engineer Igor Zhukov was born in Gorky (Nizhny Novgorod) on 31 August 1936. His family moved to Moscow in 1937, and after World War II, he studied at the Moscow Conservatory with Emil Gilels and Heinrich Neuhaus, winning second prize in the 1957 Long-Thibaud Piano Competition.
He directed the Moscow Chamber Orchestra and was also pianist in the Zhukov Trio. As a soloist, he recorded for Melodiya - particularly the Scriabin sonatas.
Igor Zhukov died in Moscow on 26 January 2018, aged eighty.