2010/01/29 by Steven R. Morrison · 1 citation
Arts and Humanities · Social Sciences · #Musicology and Musical Analysis #Diverse Musicological Studies #Eastern European Communism and Reforms
paper · doi:10.1093/ml/gcp066
openalex publication_date 2010/01/29 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
Severalhistories of Soviet music exist, but many are hobbled by an absence of primary-source documentation about crucial events: the circumstances surrounding the denunciation of Dmitry Shostakovich in 1936, for example, or the anti-formalist resolution of 1948. The gaps tend to be filled by uncritical references to uncritical sources. These include the uncorroborated testimony of eyewitnesses, partial (rather than complete) publications of compositions, and unchallenged recollections. Every survivor of the Stalinist period—the worst of all times in terms of thought control—seems to have a sorrowful tale to tell of censorship and deprivation, sometimes supplemented with fanciful accounts of defiance. Though the system was monstrous, it did offer perks, as evidenced by the career of the eminent cellist and (later) conductor Mstislav Rostropovich (1927–2007). In his youth, Rostropovich received the privilege of showcasing his talent at foreign competitions and the opportunity to serve as a cultural diplomat. An official document from the Russian State Archive of Social-Political History (RGASPI) describes his education, political non-affiliation, and the places he visited in 1949 and 1950: Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Germany, and Czechoslovakia again (see Pl. 1).1 Travel to Western nations followed, as did material benefits and access to the greatest Soviet composers, who wrote daunting sonatas and concertos for him. Thus a lad from Baku became the pride of the entire Soviet Union.