Discuss how great music written by this composer over 80 years ago applies to society past and present: a) Outline central ideas displayed in the film. b) Compare and contrast the meaning of this unusual work of classical music and describe how it relates to life outside the concert hall. c) Why does this music have power today and what does it tell the people who are born fifty or more years after the most devastating siege in human history? Discuss Shostakovich’s ability to connect us today to 1941 and the power to transform human suffering into beautiful music that reconciles. d) Can you think of your own experience with music when it would symbolize something important in your life? e) Finally describe what was most striking for you in the documentary and what was most memorable for you after discovering this music?

Discuss how great music written by this composer over 80 years ago applies to society past and present: a) Outline central ideas displayed in the film. b) Compare and contrast the meaning of this unusual work of classical music and describe how it relates to life outside the concert hall. c) Why does this music have power today and what does it tell the people who are born fifty or more years after the most devastating siege in human history? Discuss Shostakovich’s ability to connect us today to 1941 and the power to transform human suffering into beautiful music that reconciles. d) Can you think of your own experience with music when it would symbolize something important in your life? e) Finally describe what was most striking for you in the documentary and what was most memorable for you after discovering this music?