A couple of weeks ago I heard the National Symphony Orchestra perform Dmitri Shostakovich's symphony commemorating war and revolution, his Symphony No. 11. There was not much lyricism to it, not even a dulcet tune one could whistle while leaving the symphony hall. It was ominous rumbling and groaning, the tympani madly thundering away. Nonetheless, it was very affecting. After all, the 1957 work commemorated Russia's events on the road to the Bolshevik Revolution. Rumble on. Rumble on. Last week, I saw a documentary of recent events and became overwhelmed with similar rumbling and groaning from the movie's soundtrack. It...