Shostakovich String Quartet No. 8 in C Minor (II)

[@disrxt]

I had a friend tell me "I love classical music, it's so relaxing." So I played this for him. ;-)

[@okaybutwhythough7456]

Had?

[@disrxt]

@@okaybutwhythough7456 He was a drinking buddy, I stopped drinking in 1990, he didn't. We drifted apart.

[@okaybutwhythough7456]

@@disrxt Oh. That makes sense.

[@weerawatchsuriyo9691]

Frank Kelley well that's a great thing to do when your friend doesn't stop his addiction, I appreciate you.

[@jjp2751]

@@okaybutwhythough7456 lmao. I found the humor in this comment. "Had?" As if he 'off'd his friend during the listening session. Hacked to bits.

[@dasentshuldigung7155]

To put this into perspective, the whole quartet was written in 3 days. Before he started composing this Shostakovich was diagnosed with Motor Neuron Disease(aka ALS or Lou Gehrig's), had been divorced by his second wife, was forced into joining the Communist party in Russia, and was by some accounts suicidal. In a letter to a friend he wrote about this piece saying "I started thinking that if some day I die, nobody is likely to write a work in memory of me, so I had better write one myself".

[@mariacabral8310]

To put thi

[@regulate.artificer_g23.mdctlsk]

You forgot the part where he dedicated this piece "to the victims of fascism"

[@GlaceonStudios]

@@regulate.artificer_g23.mdctlsk Wasn't Shostakovich a victim of fascism and war, at least metaphorically?

[@regulate.artificer_g23.mdctlsk]

@@GlaceonStudios Literally, not metaphorically. I think he sees Stalin's regime as just another form of fascism.

[@komet5420]

It's at the same time sad and fascinating that so many masterpieces of human art are created by people on the very edge of sanity.

[@vengoheim7810]

When your mom calls you by your full name

[@SpiritRaps]

Vengoheim 😂😂😂

[@usa2today]

All mothers in the world are the same ;)

[@MoskusMoskiferus1611]

Never happen to Me

[@kevinnguyen552]

More like when you don’t practice 40 hours!! The lingling gods will punish you!!

[@Simplefireant]

@@kevinnguyen552 I

[@angelialvares]

Amazing how a composer can put so many near discordant notes together and make it all work as an integrated whole while keeping you on the edge, smiling away

[@codenameonlyone9328]

nice comment

[@DodderingOldMan]

+Angeli Alvares Yes! Well said. This is why Shostakovich is my favourite composer.

[@bmort1313]

And still stay on "good terms" with Stalin.

[@nickr.4120]

DodderingOldMan How about Prokofiev?

[@khongthefork]

0:55 That fucking drop.

[@miaestella6572]

hey it’s been 5 years, how ya doing?

[@khongthefork]

@@miaestella6572 still alive. Thanks for asking, stranger.

[@dottore590]

@@khongthefork didn't expect the reply-

[@v.h.w.2580]

@@dottore590 me neither lmao

[@dottore590]

@@v.h.w.2580💀

[@DethLector]

For years my Dad tried to tell me "classical music can be heavy and brutal too" (I'm a huge metal head) and I always laughed at him until I found this piece... It's amazing. I'm really starting to get into classical now. It can be a really really great form of music at times. Anyone know of any other composers as brutal as Shostakovich? I'd really like to explore this music more.

[@QueenBobetta]

Bartok, Stravinsky.

[@craiga4215]

Dance of the Knights - Prokofiev

[@CatalinRam]

"The Rite of Spring"' by Igor Stravinsky, "Prelude in C Sharp Minor" by Sergei Rachmaninoff

[@CatalinRam]

"Winter" from "The Four Seasons" by Antonio Vivaldi, "Mars" from "The Planets" by Gustav Holst, "In the Hall of the Mountain King" by Edvard Grieg

[@dottore590]

@@CatalinRam I think you meant summer? (I could be wrong tho)

[@mplspc]

This is like anxiety and panic put to music

[@willowsparks4576]

He was contemplating suicide while writing this... Poor guy

[@misslynnin3988]

I mean... It is

[@Satokaさとか]

This IS anxiety and panic put to music.

[@thatsalittlebassist]

Because that’s exactly what it was

[@robert-zm8fk]

he was depressed tho

[@Kafkaworld739]

WARNING: Do not listen to this piece while driving as your right foot will instinctively press down hard on the accelerator as you wholeheartedly believe that everyone driving behind you are actually pursuing you.

[@wobblyorbee279]

0:18 TAdam TAdam LOL

[@thecreator3145]

This has the opposite effect of most metal songs.

[@flyforce16]

To me this is the definitive Shostakovich piece. It perfectly depicts the widespread panic, fear and chaos of that era. Complete madness and insanity. Also note the DSCH motif!

[@justinleokennedy]

I like your commentary! The DSCH motif being so rapidly repeated in so many parts in so many different forms adds to the conveying of madness, I think.

[@JimmyTheTurtle892]

flyforce16 not just the chaos of that era, but also that in his mind "I reflected that if I die someday then it's hardly likely anyone will write a work dedicated to my memory. So I decided to write one myself. You could even write on the cover: 'Dedicated to the memory of the composer of this quartet'." So Shostakovich wrote on the 19th July 1960 to his friend Isaak Davidovich Glikman, the theatre historian and receiver of over three hundred letters from the composer which were published in 1993. The irony of Shostakovich's words clearly reveals his awareness that any overt self-dedication would be absurd. There are many possible reasons for his depression when composing this quartet. He had never recovered from the loss of his first wife Nina Vasilievna Shostakovich née Varzar who had died in November 1954. (The love lament quoted from Lady Macbeth is even more poignant because it is to Nina that this opera was dedicated). He had married quickly afterwards but this second partnership proved unsuccessful and terminated in divorce in the summer of 1959. Now alone and still grieving for his former marriage Shostakovich wrote his Seventh Quartet, dedicating it to Nina. He also felt that he had betrayed his principles. Under pressure from Khrushchev's officials he had recently applied to join the communist party, which he had previously sworn never to do, and for months he underwent bouts of self-loathing for his perceived cowardice and chronic sense of fear. Finally he was beginning to have problems moving his right hand: a nightmare for any pianist. This disability would spread in the coming years causing him mobility problems in all his limbs. After years of uncertainty it was finally diagnosed in 1969 as a rare form of poliomyelitis. The musicologist and friend of Shostakovich since the early fifties, Lev Nikolyevich Lebedinsky, believes that Shostakovich intended to commit suicide by taking sleeping tablets on his return from Dresden. The plan failed only because he, Lebedinsky, was able to steal the pills and give them to Shostakovich's son, Maxim, for safe-keeping. However, as with so much in Shostakovich's life, this is far from certain because Maxim totally rejects Lebedinsky's assertions6. So the heart-felt anguish of the Eighth Quartet may show Shostakovich's awareness that the memories of early triumphs (the First and Fifth Symphonies) failed to compensate for the loneliness and the malaise of age. Or perhaps the work is haunted by the memory of his first marriage; or perhaps by the loss of self-esteem. Or maybe it resulted from contemplating the senseless destruction of Dresden so reminiscent of that which he had experienced in his now distant, beloved Russia. The musical ambiguity inherent in the quartet just reflects the uncertainty of its conception. Although Shostakovich maintained that he could never hear the Eighth Quartet without breaking into tears, the work is not self-pitying. Rather its genius is that it transcends individual pain to address all human despair. It is this which explains its profundity. The torment that it voices is the tragic, human agony of all those who have experienced grievous loss whether it be due to fascism, war, or personal bereavement. Shostakovich's Eighth String Quartet resonates with this bitter universal experience; it is truly 'music written with the heart's blood'; that is why it is a masterpiece of the twentieth century7.

[@bilkishchowdhury8318]

Imagine having zero homelessness and 100% employment

[@flyforce16]

@@bilkishchowdhury8318 Yeah. I have certainly come around some since writing that initial comment...

[@Enrobdoolb]

Are we gonna forget that this piece is exactly 57 years old?!?! This is still considered new!!!! Such a great 2nd movement :)

[@whitearrowgo255]

Allister Mendez 59 now

[@jcdenton616]

By no ones definition is 50 years old "New"

[@Enrobdoolb]

@@jcdenton616 lmao I forgot I even commented this, but his music is still new. The copyright he has expires in 2045, meaning his music is still new and not out in public domain. After August, 2045 (ik in 24 years 😭) his music will be considered old like Brahms, Mozart, and others 😄

[@wobblyorbee279]

@@jcdenton616 it is new compared with the other classical music out there...

[@colloquially]

​@@jcdenton616wrong

[@icarussbungeecord7779]

the only true way to preform this is while holding the orchestra at gunpoint and laughing maniacally.

[@insertpseudonym5311]

found stalin.

[@claradeusviolinus5080]

Too bad it's not an orchestra

[@thewhitedragon4184]

@@claradeusviolinus5080 That only makes it easier

[@newo9978]

While slowly increasing the tempo they have to play

[@ogorangeduck]

@@claradeusviolinus5080 there is an orchestral arrangement and it's even awesomer

[@desaparicion]

the way that he writes his name over and over again in such maddening ways in this piece it like he's musically smashing his head against the wall in anguish.

[@BlikeNave]

The dissonant chords in the background building up around 0:52 to the big explosion of sound right after almost makes me head bang.

[@toprak3479]

Almost? Shame on you.

[@isabelastanescu2877]

it's orgasmic. just like that.

[@acdc969]

Technical Death Metal before Technical Death Metal.

[@makkalash5241]

you can't be more right

[@TechShowCanine]

***** Technical death strings. It was played on string instruments, after all.

[@kennygates1192]

Just imagine the pit!

[@guyclegg]

acdc969 I am a banana [leaf blower]

[@NightWanderer31415]

Classical music anticipated (and/or inspired) much of what we now see as radical or progressive

[@hatred9427]

Mozart: "An angelic and jovial bycicle ride through the park." Tchaikovsky: "A heroic and passionate journey through the valleys of death, and an ascending to heaven." Beethoven: "The infinite mind of a scientist in his journey to create life." Shostakovich: *"The rise of god Cthulhu."*

[@tenjingqodh]

😂that’s so cool to imagine

[@physicsisawesome696]

Lmao

[@FirstNameLastName-oz5ij]

Mozart: "An angelic and jovial bycicle ride through the park" also Mozart: composes Requiem, arguably one of the most grim and sorrowful classical music compositions of all time.

[@isellcrack3537]

Tchaikovsky: Canons *

[@-NGC-6302-]

It sounds cool if you think of it as being about cthulu, a little less so when you find out it's about how terrifying it was to live in the USSR

[@陳家豪-d4w]

I always listen this piece when I’m very depressed or when I suffered from insomnia due to my mental problems , and I always feel a bit better after listen it , fells like he helped me express my negative thoughts. Thank you so much Shostakovich.

[@thecreator3145]

I just listen to it because it's crazy and I love it.

[@becausewhynot212]

I was literally having a crisis before playing this and now I feel better; magic 🪄

[@GreenBaldrick]

"Tchaikovsky provides the clue, like his Sixth Symphony, the 'Pathetique', Shostakovich's Eighth Quartet is also a suicide note. Both works were composed by composers suffering suicidal depression. "I reflected that if I die someday then it's hardly likely anyone will write a work dedicated to my memory. So I decided to write one myself. You could even write on the cover: 'Dedicated to the memory of the composer of this quartet'. So Shostakovich wrote on the 19th July 1960 to his friend Isaak Davidovich Glikman. There are many possible reasons for his depression when composing this quartet. He had never recovered from the loss of his first wife Nina Vasilievna Shostakovich née Varzar who had died in November 1954. He also felt that he had betrayed his principles. Under pressure from Khrushchev's officials he had recently applied to join the communist party, which he had previously sworn never to do, and for months he underwent bouts of self-loathing for his perceived cowardice and chronic sense of fear. Finally he was beginning to have problems moving his right hand: a nightmare for any pianist. This disability would spread in the coming years causing him mobility problems in all his limbs. After years of uncertainty it was finally diagnosed in 1969 as a rare form of poliomyelitis. The musicologist and friend of Shostakovich since the early fifties, Lev Nikolyevich Lebedinsky, believes that Shostakovich intended to commit suicide by taking sleeping tablets on his return from Dresden. So the heart-felt anguish of the Eighth Quartet may show Shostakovich's awareness that the memories of early triumphs (the First and Fifth Symphonies) failed to compensate for the loneliness and the malaise of age. Or perhaps the work is haunted by the memory of his first marriage; or perhaps by the loss of self-esteem. Or maybe it resulted from contemplating the senseless destruction of Dresden so reminiscent of that which he had experienced in his now distant, beloved Russia. The musical ambiguity inherent in the quartet just reflects the uncertainty of its conception. Although Shostakovich maintained that he could never hear the Eighth Quartet without breaking into tears, the work is not self-pitying. Rather its genius is that it transcends individual pain to address all human despair. It is this which explains its profundity. The torment that it voices is the tragic, human agony of all those who have experienced grievous loss whether it be due to fascism, war, or personal bereavement. Shostakovich's Eighth String Quartet resonates with this bitter universal experience; it is truly 'music written with the heart's blood'; that is why it is a masterpiece of the twentieth century7." (www.quartets.de/compositions/ssq08.html)

[@thescottwino]

I always believed he wrote this piece right after witnessing the massive destruction in Dresden … would be more than enough to “inspire” the mood for this piece and a perfect way to portrait the evilness that suffocated everyone during those years. And yet, history repeats itself.

[@schnitzel6852]

this plays like an chase szene, intense build up, reveal of the villain, fight, end stage, getaway

[@catchercat_yt3503]

Fun fact, the massive drop at 0:55 is actually Stalin's favorite Russian folk song, in a twisted and demented way. Ol' Shosty did this to highlight the corruption and terror of the Soviet Union that had oppressed him for so long.

[@okb0ss336]

Source? :p

[@TaoChen100]

The quoted melody is a Jewish melody "dance of death", which Shostakovich also used for his 2nd piano trio (4th movement), definitely not Stalin's favourite. The Stalin melody you mentioned is in his 1st cello concerto in the final movement

[@louismachin9681]

@@TaoChen100 have you got a source for this? No matter how much I search I just can't seem to find what you're describing

[@regulate.artificer_g23.mdctlsk]

@@louismachin9681 I mean, what "favorite Russian folk song" was it that OP is referring to exactly? And what source claims that it's that, but twisted? For all I know, we're just picking a random melody/bit of music and claim it's _this_ or _that._

[@louismachin9681]

@@regulate.artificer_g23.mdctlsk I understand that but if the person I replied to Is quoting the peice then there's a good chance he will also have a link to the peice of music, not that I want to make sure he's telling the truth I just want to listen to it lol

[@lejammiedodgere]

Poor Dmitri - this period of his life must have been so difficult for him. The Soviet government forced him to compose songs that didn't let him express his own vision. A viola player from a string quartet once told an audience which I was in that this piece was him giving the Soviet government 'the finger' by expressing his emotional state at the time.

[@roman9509]

Another brain dead art student, you grandparents were brainwashed so hard you inherited it

[@davidlewis6728]

@@roman9509 thank you for educating us all on what actually happened, as opposed to merely calling OP a brain dead art student. you are so sophisticated and knowledgeable, please tell me more about how le jammie dodgere is an idiot.

[@expandyourwisdom]

Ro Man Why are you just randomly going around comments and calling people "brain dead" without any reason? What did you even expect from doing that? If you can't provide any reasoning of why you're just going around the comments and calling people brain dead, that's being brain dead.

[@lejammiedodgere]

@@roman9509 Brain dead and brainwashed aren't exactly the same thing. But if you feel I am both, I am more than happy for you to tell me why you believe so.

[@calebliew5584]

@@roman9509 Please elaborate

[@michaelursu]

For the people saying "I can't stand this" or "WTF is this", you're absolutely in the right to feel that way. Shostakovich couldn't stand the Soviet Union closing in on him and censoring his works, and was contemplating suicide while working on this piece. That's why there is this terrible sense of dread in the piece. This isn't a nice, peaceful composition like Mozart or Haydn would compose. This is real, raw emotion, a man on the verge of killing himself.

[@bepivisintainer2975]

is pure tue, honest hadrcore metal. with no distorsion but strings

[@Pseudopyrol0]

It's not really that simple. His relationship with the USSR was up to heavy debate, in part due to the fact that he was state sponsored. it would be more realistic to say he was inspired by Stravinsky, which, if you've heard Rite of Spring, shouldn't be surprising.

[@phoebedraper3046]

Kyle Jackson I think Symphony 13 is pretty good proof that he disagreed with the USSR. he even commissioned for Yevgeny Yevtushenko to write the words to the fourth movement which is about how Russians felt fear whenever someone knocked on their door, among other things.

[@BainPlays]

@@Pseudopyrol0 it's quite obvious the relationship with the Soviet Union. Shostakovich watched as the people around him disappeared or were killed by NKVD officials. His ninth symphony was a perfect example of his discontent to the Soviet Regime, and is quite possibly the most sarcastic piece of music ever. Shostakovich was denounced by the state as many times as he was sponsored by it, and he ended up joining the Communist party against his own principles in order to keep his family safe

[@deathtoneobule2171]

Why would anyone expect it to be nice sounding? Life hurts. Why would anyone expect this piece of music to reflect anything less than that? As for his disdain for the communist party - there seems to be a breed of person who transcends history. Let us call them supra-historical men. People who are not fascinated with belonging to the trends of their time. These are the people who are never truly happy. Everything mispleases them and all they can do is tolerate life in order not to set themselves up for perpetual disappointment and dissatisfaction. To answer my own question: "Why would anyone expect it to be nice sounding?" As far as I can remember, I have never listened to anything because I was in a happy mood. Music has only ever been a way for me to alleviate my pain. I don't see how listening to a happy song could do that. A happy song echoes the notion that life is good. If life is good -- already perfect -- then why bother listening to anything? It reminds me of the impulse I get when I see a painting painted with the utmost technical skill. I want to ruin it by painting insipid things all over it. If you're not going to ruin the things that you create, then why create in the first place? Every artistic endeavour should always remain a source of pain. It is difficult for me to grasp that anyone would expect any piece of music not to be painful to listen to.

[@csolisr]

And I'm all like "when the HELL will this ostinato stop?"... then it dawned on me that that was the exact purpose of Shostakovich with this song

[@boldhoe5557]

Song?

[@simonthebard9512]

piss

[@azreele8669]

Piece.

[@jesuisravi]

Do I smell Stalin somewhere lurking in the wings?

[@ha3vy]

Stalin was already dead when shostakovich wrote this xd

[@Impositivelygay]

​@@ha3vy yes but this piece is about panic and dread, simply mental unwellness if i may put it that way which can include delusions , and so the comment was perfect

[@crystalk4998]

so short, yet so perfect....

[@ShaWarMa_Atomics]

so sinister , so damn good , it's like some kind of sick old school death metal

[@likexvines3]

0:53 the bass is about to drop!!

[@kyliedeed6837]

I've never heard classical music this brain-stimulating. I've been listening to this and flying through my work

[@karinedebbasch8943]

Turmoil - passion - life - exhausting, jarring, fascinating. Beautiful and painful.

[@austencox5388]

I’ve literally never heard music like this it’s just jaw dropping

[@hank4239]

I use this as my alarm, and makes me jump up and put my head through the ceiling

[@TheSilvercast]

after two years, did you start to hate this song? alarm do these things

[@juliamakin4732]

This is what comes into my head when I'm about to have a violin lesson and I haven't practiced...

[@mikilo537]

Am looping this the whole day. Finished a 3000-word essay just before the deadline. Thank you Shostakovich for helping out my uni life :3

[@silentsteps]

My friends and I did headbang to this movement once... for the entire 2.5 minutes :)

[@wobblyorbee279]

that will be so epic jamming together xD

[@gerardoleon8453]

Yeahhh i did 2:38 headbanging with Malpractice of Faith No More cause they sample this.

[@aljo7907]

I'M SO ADDICTED TO THIS....I JUST CAN'T HELP IT 😭

[@kriobolist2230]

Gonna crack open a beer and take a walk through the night with this in my headphones. Wish me luck.

[@soniarv]

how was that? O_O*

[@thesteelsquid863]

@@soniarv we can only assume he didn't make it

[@valentin0697]

3 years I still waiting u answer

[@DragonNoirification]

I'm obsessed with this piece, especially the middle 3 movements. I get to play it for our district orchestra retreat next month and I'm so excited! Also, the viola has a pretty good part this movement, so I'm happy ^^

[@TranquilGeo]

I can't beleave I've never heard this. Truly unique and beautiful. Yes I said beautiful.

[@patrickthebeerguy]

THIS is music.

[@sneddypie]

What a fluffball of joy Shostakovich was 😀😀

[@pianissimo5951]

😃😃😆😖😫😭

[@PokeDaBlade]

This piece is proof that Shostakovich definitely lived a normal, happy life.

[@nanthilrodriguez]

Well he did live through the siege of Leningrad, the soviet revolution, had many of his personal acquaintances disappear in the various purges, was going to be purged himself had the official not been disappeared before his hearing...

[@thecreator3145]

I hate to stamp out your bubble, but Shostakovich actually contemplated suicide. Just wanted to say that fact.

[@nanthilrodriguez]

@@thecreator3145 shut the fuck up. Imagine being so fucking pedantic you can't detect obvious sarcasm.

[@lordtoes6019]

This song captures the feeling of when your homework is due tomorrow and it is 9 o’clock at night 😬

[@Slashe50]

I freaking love this, best string quartet ever.

[@Impositivelygay]

Pure dread ,panic and terror of humanity emitting off of this piece. The musical epitome of fear

[@Dragonx523]

This is my favorite movement in the entire piece. I love the power and aggression.

[@mariamitrea4423]

People who think classical music is relaxing need to listen to this

[@toprak3479]

That's an awful username. I'd even go so far as to say that it's I like defying expectations.

[@dogmaproductions6568]

This is absolutely amazing... just amazing.

[@10mimu]

As if a great plague of insects, vermin and pestilences was spreading throughout the countryside.

[@10mimu]

+A "neocon" lol sure

[@pine-solbestdrink1667]

A "neocon" boi have you seen what libtards are doing?

[@NoahJohnson1810]

Best description of this piece ever political crap wasn't necessary

[@theend7339]

A "neocon" more like stalins tyranny

[@NightWanderer31415]

Too much Dark Souls 2, Human Effigy... too much Dark Souls 2.

[@theend7339]

this piece has more meaning than any modern song could ever hope to have.

[@OGEdger]

Different strokes for different folks.

[@Jay-S04]

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

[@kennygates1192]

I'm not even joking when I say this is more metal than Asking Alexandria or BMTH

[@PetarJovanovic993]

+Kenny Gates Yes, but even a Tetris soundtrack is more metal than those two.

[@kennygates1192]

Petar Jovanovic True. Even the Barney theme song is heavier than Asking Alexandria

[@TheBony45]

+Kenny Gates Yes, but don't forget it is written for the pain and urgency during the war

[@Wittemn]

+Kenny Gates This is more metal than Cannibal Corpse. I'm not even joking.

[@kennygates1192]

Dmitri Karamazov Haha, it almost is darker than CC

[@amabelgarnetyanson7337]

2023 Theme Goes Hard AF 🥶🥶🥶🥶🥶

[@SongsForSorrows]

Shostakovich's deep emotion in his musics expresses the verge of the Soviet Union's rise against his life.

[@Drewb18c1]

"an exceptional natural capacity of intellect, especially as shown in creative and original work in science, art, music, etc: the genius of Mozart" Shostakovich was a genius composer when it came to dancing on the line of tonality. He was able to use aggression and dissonance while still maintaining aesthetic appeal He grew up when the trend was heading towards total atonality and was able to take from that and make it much more humanistic. While he wasnt alone in this, he was incredible at it

[@Soccer1296]

my orchestra is playing this whole quartet piece for my upcoming concert. I'm loving it!!

[@ladelame1]

I cant listen to this in the dark...

[@Marcara081]

Ironically it sounds to me that this is more reminiscent of something rather bright. Being in a burning building actually. Can you see the flames and feel the panic?

[@flamespiter9198]

Marcara081 To me, this music is more suited for a chase. Ah... a good run with this in the background.

[@meganleia]

i listen to this to put myself to sleep

[@RM-mm9sr]

I was looking for a classic music before sleep and I found this… ok!

[@mind_anatomy]

The note D (b)E C B is his musical signature. And it's throughout the complete composition. And it's cool.

[@jasoncox3016]

This is such an awesome, beautifully orchestrated piece!! Amazing live as well!!

[@hvmotu]

Can you hear them running? Running from the bomber planes dropping fire and brimstone over defenseless Dresden.

[@clavedeluz3044]

YES

[@CatherineER714]

I absolutely love this price we're playing this entire concerto in my orchestra... So much fun.

[@MistaHahn117]

Spawn of Possession: string quartet version

[@DarthVader22659]

Kinda reflects my own state of mind right now. That’s why I have it on replay literally a million times. It speaks to me

[@Mirageys]

Dmitri sure knew how to fashion his negative emotions into something beautifully aggressive.

[@tatianadelavegabracho4671]

So intense and passionate

[@ColinleGueux]

Faith No More has inclued a sample of this song in "Malpractice"

[@TheGracie710.53]

I love this so much this is REALLY underrated

[@nidonemo]

I once mentioned I liked classical music to someone, and they replied with a "Oh that rich person music?" Okay, Vivaldi and Mozart are definitely used at outdoor garden parties, and I can see where you're standing on that, but this is something you blast at 11 when you chase down the billionaire who has his hand in keeping the suffering masses under his heel and slit his throat in his own courtyard as his house burns.

[@Orokorra-Flantxo]

You are supporting the thing that almost made one of the greatest music minds ever to kill himself, you’ve completely missed the point

[@BasedPureblood]

This actually calms me down...

[@susanne8299]

I get goosebumps everytime I listen to it

[@theodiggers]

This is intense af. Like the longest 2 minutes 38 seconds I've ever listened to, it just wouldn't end.

[@hi5m8]

wow, i seriously would love to play this someday.

[@connorc56]

you ever get to play it?

[@hi5m8]

@@connorc56 we did it in school. Very nice memory.

[@teqnify63]

What a beautiful follow up

[@DeaconFrFinbarr]

Very moving...expresses more than words...and taps exactly into those emotions that are so turbulent.

[@Noodelousart123]

Im playing this rn, 1st violin. My fingertips hate me now

[@Offin]

This is one of the most attractive and yet discomforting peaces that I have ever listened to....It is so incredibly powerfull..

[@Canimals4Life]

Mozart, Bach, Beethoven And Vivaldi: Happy And Calm Music Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Tchaikovsky And Shostakovich: Peace Was Never An Option.

[@karlkartoffel294]

I wouldn't consider Beethoven calm and happy

[@KylieDeeTastic]

I'll never get sick of this. Ever.

[@jason0joon]

2020's official theme

[@ravithangiralaviolin1201]

I'm just staring at Shosty's face and saying "Wow man 🎻" omg this is epic!!!

[@rezashia3135]

Wow Shostakovich letting out his rage in a characteristic manner with his signature tune beginning at 0:31 and thrown in at various places, he is of course not only expressing his outrage at the way he and his music had been treated by the Soviet authorities but primarily at every act of cruel and heartless injustice committed by man against man specially the brutality that was brought to light in the course of WW2

[@greathonor862]

Yes, perfect for D&D fighting scene!

[@donangelo666]

Best relaxing song ever

[@DerekGuenther]

Beautiful, deliberate chaos. My favorite work from my favorite composer. This is an undoubtably ame-inspiring piece of music, with each part not forced to complement and follow the melody, but free to add another independent voice to a chorus of intertwined parts. Each instrument's part is individually interesting, but together... this is Shostakovich.

[@lukestrr10]

Whenever I listen to this piece, I envision a crowded Russian city in a steampunk-ish dystopian future, with a defector or spy of some sorts frantically rushing through the streets and alleys in an attempt to escape from the government agents pursuing him. He's nimble and appears to be losing them, and it seems turning this corner should do the trick. 0:55 Bam, tripped into the street and crushed by one of their black war machines in a cold, twisted military parade

[@VincenzodeLeon]

OMG! When thinking of writing a musical using only themes and music from Shostakovich, this was exactly the scene after he leaves his lover to escape prosecution after having one final waltz with her (I'll let you guess which haha)

[@DJMKitsune]

This is was the piece which learned me to appreciate Shostakovich' music. At first, I only liked this and some fast parts in the rest of the quartet, but as time went over it I actually liked the pieces like the last movement of this quartet more and more.

[@ZeppelinDistortion]

I've never felt that feeling .

[@nikolaos333]

My favorite Composer! Thanks a lot!!

[@sak_1017]

Hello random person .

[@wobblyorbee279]

1:57 tadadadadada thats so good, especially that drop everyone talking about 0:55 WOW 2:25 OMGGGGGGGGG

[@zynfalde]

Gosh

[@rinaarsenic3909]

I love this! It sounds so beautiful and sad.

[@muhammadqatrunnadaahnaf9453]

Enjoying this while I'm planning to destroy the whole multiverses.

[@shipwreck9146]

The structure of many modern electronic genres comes directly from this type of music. It's incredible to see the effect that technology has had on music. It makes me wonder what type of music artists like this would create if they had all the technology that we have now. So beautiful.

[@ludwigvanbeethoven6493]

Sounds like me when I'm mad

[@ArianSadrayi]

Man, you're always mad. Loved the 14th quartet by the way.

[@nna1536]

How can you know? You're deaf

[@nna1536]

Love you ❤

[@niccolopaganinifranzliszt3556]

@@nna1536 maybe he saw the notes

[@DaniloEtn]

Good. this is fucking great, majestic!

[@dimitrishostakovich7113]

I compose metal pieces boi!!!!! I really did good on this!

[@ianw1976]

You sure did

[@sagrgywejhxcvx]

how did i live without this

[@littlebeatsmelody]

What I imagine a car crash sounds like:

[@ianw1976]

Happy birthday Shosty!

[@RampagingSpaceMarine]

it's a picture of the mind of a troubled man who loved his people and who had seen the second war and lived its' tragedy. When he composed this piece, he was thinking about committing suicide: he had many problems with the communist regime. I think it fits everything it displays. It is intended to be violent and brutal. if I can suggest anything, listen to his 7th and 11th symphony. this echoes the 11th.

[@Fracture55]

It's pieces like this that make me wish I was an artist. I could listen to a piece like this and paint so much from the feelings and images that are put in my mind from the feeling and emotion in a piece like this..

[@kirill429]

0:56 , the image given to our group playing this quartet was this: the cellos+violas, you are the tank. you roll your bow across the string as to picture the grinding of the gears on a tank. while the v1s and v2s: you are the melody, an old, jewish melody and you must play like its your last hope for survival. then the image goes on to say this to the viola+cellos: the tank is a german panzer and it must crush the jewish people (the violins) with all your might. what a wonderful image..........

[@JohannMoritz]

I think this is the best performance of this piece one can find on the youtube. The tempo is just perfect!

[@da96103]

When Dmitri made the teacher angry and she asked him to write his name many times....

[@TovenAAA]

Our school had a string quartet play this, it is a pretty experience to hear for the first time live.