Vsevolod Zaderatsky was a Soviet composer, pianist, and writer. He was born in Rivne on December 21, 1891. His mother began his musical education, and he later studied with the teacher Arkady Abaza. After finishing school in Kursk, he moved to Moscow, where he studied law at Moscow University and music at the Moscow Conservatory. His teachers included piano instructors Pachulsky and Kipp, composers Sergei Taneyev and Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov, and orchestration teacher Sergei Vasilenko.
After completing his conservatory examinations in 1923, Zaderatsky taught piano and music history in Ryazan. He conducted the symphony orchestra at the Ryazan Soviet Theatre in 1922–1923 and began giving solo piano recitals in the mid-1920s, including performances with bass singer Grigory Pirogov. From 1929 he was permitted to work in Moscow, and from 1930 he was a staff composer for All-Union Radio. Works from this period include the opera Blood and Coal, which has not survived, the symphony Foundation, the piano cycles Microbes of Lyricism, Notebook of Miniatures, and Porcelain Cups, and the Lyric Symphonietta.
From 1934 Zaderatsky lived in Yaroslavl, where he continued composing. His works there included the opera The Valencia Widow, two chamber symphonies, three Symphonic Posters, and 24 preludes. In 1937–1939 he wrote the piano cycle 24 Preludes and Fugues, one of his principal works. His later output included the oratorio Zoya, the vocal cycle A Russian Soldier, the song collection Breath of War, and the piano suite Front.
After living in Zhytomyr and returning to Yaroslavl, Zaderatsky settled in Lviv in 1949 and worked at the conservatory. He gave solo recitals in Lviv, Drohobych, and Kolomyia, and composed, among other works, a violin concerto, a domra concerto, a C-minor symphony, and a choral suite. He died in Lviv on February 1, 1953, and was buried at Lychakiv Cemetery. The first performance of 24 Preludes and Fugues took place in Moscow in 2014. A five-disc recording of his piano music, Legends, was released in 2017 and received the German Opus Klassik award.