Dmitri Shostakovich's String Quartet No. 5 in B major, Op. 92, was composed in autumn 1952. It was premiered in Moscow on 13 November 1953 by the Beethoven Quartet, to whom it is dedicated.
It consists of three movements, performed without a break:
Playing time is approximately 30 minutes.
The work grows from a five-note motif, CâÂÂDâÂÂEâÂÂBâÂÂC, which contains the four pitch-classes of the composer's musical monogram: DSCH (E being Es and B being H in German). This motif appears in a number of his other compositions, including String Quartet No. 8, the first Violin Concerto, and the Symphony No. 10.