Aphorisms, Op. 13

Ten miniatures for piano written in 1927 at age 21, immediately following the First Piano Sonata. Each bears a descriptive title — Recitative, Serenade, Nocturne, Elegy, Funeral March, Étude, Dance of Death, Canon, Legend, and Lullaby — whose conventional labels sit ironically against the dissonant, splintered music beneath them. The Aphorisms are among Shostakovich's most avant-garde piano works, showing the influence of Schoenberg and Hindemith filtered through a dark, sardonic wit. Duration approximately 15 minutes.