And Quiet Flows the Don
Dzerzhinsky consulted Shostakovich while composing the opera "Quiet Flows the Don" to a libretto adapted by Dzerzhinsky's brother, Leonid, from the Sholokhov novel "And Quiet Flows the Don". According to Leonid's own account, he utilized Sholokhov's work motifs, freely rearranging and adapting to the purpose of accentuating the dramatic aspects of the plot and to condense as much as possible of the novel's social significance within the confines of the operatic format.