Dmitri Shostakovich was a Russian composer of the 20th century. His career as a composer was nothing short of challenging, as the majority of his career occurred when, what is now Russia, was the Soviet Union. The Cello Sonata in D Minor, Op. 40 was among Shostakovich's earlier works. Around the time of its composition in 1934, Shostakovich faced heat from Soviet authorities. At the time, his style was more rooted in classical art music tradition and the Soviet Union deemed his music, in particular his opera "Lady Macbeth of the Mtsenk District", to not represent the ideals of the nation--his music, according to Soviet authorities, was too "bourgeois" to represent the Soviet people. Following this censoring of his work, Shostakovich's style took on the more angular style that he became well known for. The D minor cello sonata is an outlier of his works that champions the musical traditions of the 19th century and represents a young, uncensored Shostakovich. The sonata is divided into four movements: I-Allegro non troppo, II-Allegro, III-Largo, IV-Allegro.