Dmitri Shostakovich began work on his String Quartet No. 7 in F-sharp minor, Op. 108, in May 1959 and completed it in March 1960.[1] He dedicated it to the memory of his first wife Nina Vassilyevna Varzar, who died in December 1954. This piece was composed in the year that would have marked her 50th birthday. This quartet was premiered in Leningrad Glinka Concert Hall by the Beethoven Quartet on May 15, 1960.[2]
Shostakovich wrote many chamber music works; as a result, he founded his characteristic approach to chamber music quite early in his career.[3] Of his many chamber works, the String Quartet No. 7 is Shostakovich's shortest string quartet, with a duration of 13 minutes. The work has a four-movement structure. However the "fourth" movement is not considered as a separate movement, therefore the piece counts as a three-movement work. This quartet also has no break in between movements with the attacca in between all movements that Shostakovich notated.