While some musicologists have attempted to link Shostakovich's quartets to the character of certain of his symphonies, they have found that most often they are unrelated, independent compositions. An exception, however, is the String Quartet No. 5, whose tragic demeanor and overall character resemble that of the Symphony No. 10 (1953), at least up to the finale, where the latter work turns joyous and triumphant compared with the former's continued darkness.

At the time Shostakovich wrote this quartet, he was still living under censure from the Party czars in the arts. In 1948, the composer, along with Prokofiev, Khachaturian, and others, had received official reprimand for writing "formalistic" and "undemocratic" music. Because the attack on their music was so broad, most composers were hesitant to write anything that could be seen as adventurous. Shostakovich temporarily abandoned writing symphonies and turned to composing weak patriotic scores, like the Song of the Forests (1949) and the cantata The Sun Shines on Our Motherland (1952), as well as vapid film scores like the 1950 release, The Fall of Berlin and the 1950 production of Belinsky (released in 1953).

Still, Shostakovich could not contain his urge to write music of substance and thus produced the String Quartet No. 4 in 1949 and the String Quartet No. 5 in 1952. Their premieres, however, would not come until after the death of Josef Stalin, when a loosening of the stringent and vague constraints in the arts began. Had Shostakovich written the String Quartet No. 5, at least its finale, after the death of Stalin, the work would likely have had a happy and triumphant ending, like the post-Stalin Symphony No. 10. Perhaps there would have been a movement added to this quartet.

The String Quartet No. 5 is made up of three movements: Allegro non troppo, Andante, and Moderato-Allegretto. As suggested above, the first movement is dark, with the main theme split into two often warring motifs. An attractive waltz eventually appears, and in the development section a dire struggle emerges among the thematic materials. While there had also been conflict in the exposition, the recapitulation features even more tension and skirmishing. The second movement starts without pause, and in fact begins with the same sustained F note that closes the opening movement. There are two quite lovely themes, the first songful and very Russian, and the second a beautiful theme played after the tempo increases to Andantino. The music from the second movement carries into the finale, which changes its tempo, after an introduction, to Allegretto. In the exposition and development, considerable tension is raised, though the close is peaceful with an air of resignation or departure. The work was dedicated to the Beethoven Quartet, which premiered it on November 13, 1953.

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