Donald Macleod explains how Shostakovich withdrew from the risky world of public art to the inward sphere of the quartet. Show more

Donald Macleod focuses on Shostakovich's String Quartet No 7, written in memory of his wife, and No 8, composed in memory of himself. Show more

Donald Macleod describes how, as the ailing composer's thoughts turned to death, he composed his Symphony No 14, the music for King Lear and the unsettling String Quartet No 14. Show more

Donald Macleod focuses on Shostakovich's String Quartet No 15, a work which expressed powerfully in music the dissidence the composer was incapable of expressing in his public life. Show more

Donald Macleod focuses on music for two pianos, a work in praise of Stalin and a quartet so subversive it was banned. Show more