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Between the summers of 1927 and 1928. Act 1 was written within a month and Act 2 within a fortnight in January 1928, mostly at Moscow; Act 3 completed in three weeks at Leningrad.

The fair manuscript of the score of the opera The Nose was the property of Universal Edition, a Viennese music publishing house, which had been regularly printing music from the Soviet Union since 1925. The score was evidently submitted to the publishing house at the beginning of the 1930s, but it was not published until 1970. At present, the score is kept in Dmitri Shostakovich’s Archive.
This publication is based on the edition of the score (D. Shostakovich, Collected Works, in 42 volumes, Vol. 18, Muzyka Publishers, Moscow, 1981), collated with the author’s manuscript kept in Dmitri Shostakovich’s Archive (rec. gr. 1, section 1, f. 321), as well as the piano score (D. Shostakovich, Collected Works, in 42 volumes, Vol. 19, muzyka Publishers, moscow, 1981).

Orchestra:
Flute (= Piccolo, Flute contralto in F), Oboe (= Cor anglais), B flat Clarinet (= E flat, A, Bass clarinet), Bassoon (= Contrabassoon), Horn in F, Trumpet in B (= Cornet in B), Trombone (tenor and bass), Triangle, Tambourine, Castanets, Side drum, Tom-tom, Rattle, Cymbals (2 players—colla bacchetta and ordinario), Bass drum, Gong, Whistle, Orchestral bells,, Glockenspiel, Xylophone, Flexatone, Piccolo and alto Domras, 2 Balalaikas, 2 Harps, Piano. Reduced string section with five-string Double basses specified.

This ambitious series by DSCH, the exclusive publisher of the works of Dmitri Shostakovich, when complete, will run to 150 volumes.

Based on authentic manuscripts, accompanied by commentaries in Russian and in English, each volume contains new engravings, articles relating to the history of the compositions, facsimile pages of Shostakovich's manuscripts, outlines, and rough drafts.

Divided into 15 different "series" or genres, the edition will include nearly all the original works of the composer, and his instrumentation of music by Domenico Scarlatti, Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, Mussorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Johann Strauss, Youmans, Braga, Tishchenko, and others.

25% of the New Collected Works will be made up of previously unpublished material: over 80 of his works are being published here for the first time. Many of these previously unknown works could not be published or performed during the composer's lifetime for ideological reasons.

The fifteen "series" within the edition comprise:
I: Symphonies (vols 1-30)
II: Orchestra Compositions (vols 31-37)
III: Instrumental Concertos (vols 38-49)
IV: Compositions for the Stage (vols 50-67)
V: Suites from Operas and Ballets (vols 68-72)
VI: Compositions for Choir and Orchestra (With or Without Soloists) (vols 73-83)
VII: Unaccompanied Choral Compositions/Arrangements of Russian Folksongs (vols 84-86)
VIII: Compositions for Solo Voice(S) With Orchestra (vols 87-90)
IX: Chamber Compositions for Voice and Songs (vols 91-97)
X: Chamber Instrumental Ensembles (vols 98-105)
XI: Instrumental Sonatas(vols 106-108)
XII: Piano Compositions (vols 109-115)
XIII: Incidental Music (vols 116-121)
XIV: Film Music (vols 122-145)
XV: The Works of Other Composers, Instrumentation by Shostakovich (vols 146-150).