History: Based on 4 books. The story of the touch and go relationship between the two men: how Shostakovich survived the murderous Stalin and his censors and how his rebellious but compromised music reflected his views of Hitler’s invasion and of Stalin. The books: The Rest is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century by Alex Ross Shostakovich: A Life Remembered by Elizabeth Wilson, Symphony: A Listeners Guide by Michael Steinberg, Testimony: The Memoirs of Dmitri Shostakovich as related to Solomon Volkov.