Russian

Two Russian composers from two centuries, both with tragic life circumstances: While Pyotr I. Tchaikovsky became increasingly depressed because he had to keep his homosexuality a secret, Dmitri Shostakovich lived and composed at times even at the risk of his life because he had aroused the suspicion of Stalin's cultural guardians. In Tchaikovsky's 1st String Quartet, it is the tear-jerking, simple Ukrainian folk melody at the beginning of the slo...