Shostakovich was neither obedient enough, nor stupid enough, to fully commit to any of the stories. “I was then constantly under suspicion, and critics counted what percentage of my symphonies were in the major key and what percentage in the minor key” (Volkov, 135-136). As long as the regime deemed him important, Shostakovich knew he couldn't get away with the smallest anti-party act; he was also aware that people could not understand his works as he intended them. Even his most popular wartime work, the Seventh Symphony, was not understood by all listeners nearly twenty years after he wrote it (Volkov, 136). This describes the Shostakovich paradox, he knew he couldn't write the music he thought was necessary, but he also refused to write the music that others told him was necessary. Instead he chooses to write about the tragedy he wants, hiding it alongside the tragedy he should