Shostakovich’s Piano Quintet was completed and first performed in 1940. After the mixed reception accorded his Sixth Symphony, the success of the Piano Quintet was widespread and lasting. The following year, it was awarded the Stalin Prize, and was for many years regarded more highly in the West than any of his symphonies. Schnittke began to compose his Piano Quintet in 1972 after the death of his mother. It was not completed until 1975, the year Shostakovich died. Dedicated to the memory of his mother, this Piano Quintet became the stylistic template for Schnittke’s music over the next fifteen years.