Mozart wasn’t typically discordant, and Mendelssohn wasn't usually melancholy, but there are always exceptions. Unorthodox opening harmonies earned Mozart’s quartet the nickname “Dissonance,” but the piece brims with lyricism, warmth, and joy. Mendelssohn’s typically sunny spirits darkened as he suffered ill health and mourned his sister Fanny in his final quartet. Shostakovich also mourned a dear friend in his String Quartet No. 11, a work of uncompromising power and somber beauty.