Shostakovich's interest in Jewish subjects dates from 1943, when he orchestrated the opera "Rothschild's Violin" by Jewish composer Venyamin Fleishman. This work contained characteristics which would become typical of Shostakovich's Jewish idiom — the Phrygian mode with an augmented third and the Dorian mode with an augmented fourth; the iambic prime (a series of two notes on the same pitch in an iambic rhythm, with the first note of each phrase on an upbeat); and the standard accompaniments to Jewish klezmer music. After completing the opera, Shostakovich used this Jewish idiom in many works, such as his Second Piano Trio, the First Violin Concerto, the Fourth String Quartet, the song cycle "From Jewish Folk Poetry," the 24 Preludes and Fugues and the "Four Monologues on Texts by Pushkin". The composition of these works coincided roughly with the virulent state-sanctioned anti-Semitism prevalent in Russia in those years, as part of the anti-Western campaign of "Zhdanovshchina". Shostakovich was drawn to the intonations of Jewish folk music, explaining, "The distinguishing feature of Jewish music is the ability to build a jolly melody on sad intonations. Why does a man strike up a jolly song? Because he is sad at heart."