Russian cellist and conductor Mstislav Rostropovich, who became an international symbol of the fight for artistic freedom under Soviet rule, died today aged 80.
President Vladimir Putin, who last month feted the maestro when he made a frail appearance at his 80th birthday celebration in the Kremlin, called Rostropovich's death a "huge loss".
"I want to tell (his) relatives and loved ones, 'Please accept my deepest condolences. This is a huge loss for Russian culture'."
Writer Alexander Solzhenitsyn, sheltered by Rostropovich during his tussles with Soviet authorities in the 1970s, said the musician's passing was a "bitter blow".
"They tried to forcefully separate him from (his culture) by revoking his citizenship 30 years ago," said Solzhenitsyn, who spent 20 years of forced exile in the West. "I am witness to how painful that was for him.
"Farewell my beloved friend," he said.
The cellist's death was announced four days after that of his friend, former Russian president Boris Yeltsin, whom Rostropovich joined on the barricades to resist a coup by Soviet hardliners in 1991.
Friends said Rostropovich died in a Moscow hospital after a long illness.
A funeral service will take place in the Christ the Saviour Cathedral on Sunday and he will be buried in Moscow's Novodevichye cemetery, where Yeltsin was laid to rest on Wednesday with full state honours.
Rostropovich was one of Russia's best-loved cultural figures and considered among the world's greatest cellists. He also earned a reputation internationally as a champion of civil rights during Soviet rule.
While he was out of the country in 1978, the Kremlin stripped him of his citizenship for what state newspapers labelled "unpatriotic activity."
In his last years, Rostropovich divided his time between Russia, the United States and France. He and his wife set up a charitable foundation to improve health care among children in former Soviet states.