In conditions of a total shortage of reference (and any other good) literature in Soviet times, the Russian-language biographical series "Sherengi," which was published by the Polish publishing house "Nasha Ksengarnya" in a very unusual "square format," was very popular. The book provides brief characteristics of individual composers of various eras - Vivaldi, Bach, Beethoven, Paganini, Verdi, Dargomyzhsky, Smetana and others.