Literature and music often cross-pollinate. Janáček’s String Quartet No. 1, inspired by Leo Tolstoy’s novella The Kreutzer Sonata, is a perfect example. The work sets to music Tolstoy’s tragic tale: a husband is driven by jealously to murder his wife after he sees her performing Beethoven’s infamous Kretuzer Sonata with a dashing pianist.

Watch the Cecilia String Quartet’s music video of the third movement of this heart-wrenching work.