January 20, 1994 (vol. 104, iss. 62) • Page Image 9
… THE MAN AND THE MUSIC THAT TOUCHED A CENTURY BYKIRWIEThERS he 15 string quartets of Dmitri Shostakovich are as far from light music as it is possible to get. In terms of expressive extremes and emotional intensity, there is no compa- rable body of work in any repertoire. Shostakovich's career spanned most of the 20th century, until his death in 1975 at the age of 69. He composed under every Soviet regime starting from the post-Revo- lutionar...…