Shostakovich: String Quartet No.8 - The Sound of Despair (Understanding Music)

A video essay that analyses the String Quartet No.8 by Dmitri Shostakovich, taking a look at the circumstances of the composition of this quartet, the biographical and historical background, and the different movements with their various references and quotes, to try and understand what makes this quartet not just the most popular quartet by Shostakovich, but one of the most touching works of the 20th century.

This is the first part of a series of video essays called "Understanding music". My goal is to explain great works of classical music in a way that is accessible to people with little background in music analysis. If you would enjoy more videos like this, feel free to subscribe. Likes and comments with feedback and suggestions are also welcome!

Shoutout to the St. Lawrence String quartet, whose excellent recording I used. If you'd like to purchase their recording, you can find it here: https://www.amazon.de/Shostakovich-Qu...

Many thanks to olla-volgala, who let me use the score from his video of the Eighth Quartet (with the St. Lawrence Quartet's performance) for this video. If you'd like to hear the quartet in its entirety (now knowing all the background information :) ) why not listen to it here?    • Dmitri Shostakovich - String Quartet ...  

Other videos I used:
Shostakovich Symphony 1
Paavo Järvi and the hr-Sinfonieorchester Frankfurt, uploaded on their own channel:    • Schostakowitsch: 1. Sinfonie ∙ hr-Sin...  

Shostakovich Cello Concerto 1
Johannes Moser, Stanislaw Skrowaczewski and the hr-Sinfonieorchester Frankfurt, uploaded on their own channel:    • Schostakowitsch: 1. Cellokonzert ∙ Jo...  

Tchaikovsky Symphony 6
Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra, uploaded by kroqgar78 with score:    • Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6 "Pathétiq...  

Shostakovich Piano Trio 2
Argerich, Kremer, Maisky. Uploaded by 192 bps sound:    • Видео  

The footage of Shostakovich seen throughout the video (except the bit where he is seen performing his 1st piano concerto) is taken from this video uploaded by Tarakankakatz:    • Dmitri Shostakovich filmed: a compila...  

Shostakovich performing his First Piano Concerto, uploaded by a1s2d3f4g5q1w2e3 (and what a great name too):    • RARE: Young Shostakovich Playing end ...  

Footage from besieged Leningrad, uploaded by Petr Warry:    • Видео  

Footage of Stalin, uploaded by zecxixo:    • Joseph Stalin (Documentary footage)  

Footage of Stalin's funeral, uploaded by mengutimur:    • Joseph Stalin's funeral  

Recommended reading on the Eighth Quartet and my most important source: Fanning, David: Shostakovich: String Quartet No.8 (Landmarks in music since 1950).