nThis is the powerful memoirs which an ailing Dmitri Shostakovich dictated to a young Russian musicologist, Solomon Volkov. When it was first published in 1979, it became an international bestseller. This 25th anniversary edition includes a new foreword by Vladimir Ashkenazy, as well as black-and-white photos. Testimony changed the perception of Shostakovichs life and work dramatically, and influenced innumerable performances of his music. - New Grove Dictionary