At the age of 12, Mieczysław Weinberg began studying piano at the Warsaw Conservatory. He went on to establish a career as a pianist and conductor in his father's Jewish theatre group. In 1939, he fled German-occupied Poland for Belarus. In Minsk, he studied composition with Vassili Zolotarev, a former student of Rimski-Korsakov. He was again forced to flee following the Nazi invasion of Belarus, and spent a period of time in Tashkent. Subsequently, he moved to Moscow on the invitation of Shostakovich, who had been favourably impressed by Weinberg's First Symphony.

His catalogue comprises 154 works, including 26 symphonies, 7 concertos, 28 sonatas, 7 operas and ballets, and some 70 film scores, notably including The Cranes Are Flying by Mikhaïl Kalatozov (1957).

He was awarded the Artist of Honour Prize (1971) and the Artist of the People Prize (1980) from the Russian Republic, and the National Prize of the USSR in 1990.