Banal, Bubblicious, Cartoonish, Catastrophe, Expansive, Fantastic, Feminist, Lyrical, Medieval era, Monumental, Sincere, Social realism

Shostakovich is often, in musical circles, called the greatest composer of the twentieth century. Yet the quality of his music is so uneven that, while a third of it is the brain-bombing work of a divine genius, another third is almost worthless, and another third scares young violinists into abandon

20th-century music, Catastrophe, Lyrical, Melancholy, Moody, Pathos, Visceral