The piece was dedicated to Vadim Borisovsky, violist of the Beethoven Quartet, and the viola is accordingly given a prominent role in the piece. The quartet opens with a twelve-tone row played on the viola, and concludes with a long viola solo in the high register. The work also requires the players to tap on the bodies of their instruments with their bows at several points; such techniques had become almost commonplace in the West by this time, but were not typically used in Soviet music of this period.[citation needed]

Date of composition 1970 (1969-1970)
Dedicated to Dedicated to Vadim Borisovsky, violist of the Beethoven Quartet
Type String Quartet
Tonality B-flat Minor
Catalogue Op. 138
Approx. duration 19 minutes
Instruments String Quartet
Autotranslations beta Dmitri Chostakovitch: Quatuor à cordes n°13 en si bémol mineur, Op. 138
Dmitrij Šostakovič: Quartetto d'archi n. 13 in si bemolle minore, Op. 138
Dmitri Dmitrijewitsch Schostakowitsch: Streichquartett Nr. 13 b-moll, Op. 138