Culture Break: Dmitri Shostakovich, String Quartet No. 8

The Borodin Quartet did the recordings I had on LP of the Shostakovich string quartets. Two things: I've always loved chamber music, particularly quartets, and Shostakovich put most of his creativity into his quartets, simply because they weren't as public as his larger works, which embody the required bombast -- because Stalin.

At any rate, it's some terrific music, but be warned: it's about 22 minutes.