Today would have been Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich’s 100th birthday. Belgian classical radio station Klara is running a special on him and one of the most surprising elements in his biography is that he accompanied silent films during a substantial part of his life. If you listen closely, you can hear this aspect in some of his music. He also scored films. After his death, his music was used in several films including favourites Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut and Patrice Chéreau’s Intimacy. He also set one of my favourite short stories to music: Nikolai Gogol’s The Nose.