Jeff's Music Corner. Shostakovich - Piano Concerto No 2 Op. 102, II. Andante

I love me the Russians. Their sweeping lush harmonics are rooted in centuries of folk temperaments, of peasant misery, of lone survival in a mass of humanity. The dotted eighth notes in the first measures take me on a trip to the Urals, and the thirds and fifths in triplets set against eighth notes play at my hidden heartstrings. The progression at bar 77 in transcendent. This is not nearly the most complicated Shostakovich, but if you're just meeting him, this is a sweet sweet spot to jump off.