[3] Peiko worked in a military hospital during World War II and taught at the Moscow Conservatory from 1942 to 1949.
From 1959 until retirement Peiko was professor of composition at the Gnessin State Musical College where his students included Sofia Gubaidulina, Alexander Arutiunian, and Inna Zhvanetskaya.
During World War II he composed several patriotic pieces, including Dramatic Overture (1941) and Symphony I (1944-1946).
Peiko worked on a genre of "pure" incidental music for theater plays.
His music has been described as driving march-rhythms with good humor, decorated with the sound of bells.