The first movement opens with the DSCH motif which was Shostakovich's musical signature. This slow, extremely sad theme can also be heard in his Cello Concerto No. 1, Symphony No. 10, Violin Concerto No. 1, Symphony No. 15, and Piano Sonata No. 2. The motif is used in every movement of this quartet, and is the basis of the faster theme of the third movement.
The final statement of the DSCH motif at the end of the fifth movement
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The work is filled with quotations of other pieces by Shostakovich: the first movement quotes his Symphony No. 1 and Symphony No. 5; the second movement uses a Jewish theme first used by Shostakovich in his Piano Trio No. 2; the third movement quotes the Cello Concerto No. 1; and the fourth movement quotes the 19th century revolutionary song "Tormented by Grievous Bondage" and the aria Seryozha, my love from Shostakovich's opera, Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District. The fifth contains a play upon a motive also from Lady Macbeth.
It has been transcribed by Rudolf Barshai for string orchestra, in which version it is known as Chamber Symphony in C minor (Op. 110a). (Wikipedia)
