276
C
omposers in the Soviet
Union worked under severe
restrictions during the
1930s. They, like all artists, were
expected to serve the people, in
terms defined by the communist
state, or face punishment. The
country’s leader, Joseph Stalin,
liked patriotic songs and pieces
with simple, appealing tunes and
conventional harmonies. Music that
did not fit this pattern, especially
music that was introspective,
complex, or difficult to grasp at first
hearing, was dubbed “formalist,”
and its composers were forced into
menial jobs, imprisoned, or worse.Walking a tightrope
Dmitri Shostakovich survived these
strictures until the mid-1930s. The
authorities were pleased by works
such as his Symphony No. 2,
written to commemorate the tenth
anniversary of the October 1917
revolution, and Symphony No. 3,
subtitled “First of May” and
premiered in 1930 on the sixthanniversary of Vladimir Lenin’s
death. But Shostakovich’s situation
changed on January 26, 1936,
when Stalin went to see his opera
Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk at the
Bolshoi Theatre. The work had
premiered two years earlier and
been an immense success at home
and abroad. Stalin, though, took
exception to it and left before the
final scene. Two days later, an
article in the state newspaper
Pravda, headed “Muddle instead of
music,” denounced the opera. The
anonymous article condemned the
musical style of the piece, in which,
it alleged, “singing is replaced by
shrieking,” and objected especially
to the lewd “quacks” and “hoots”
from the brass during the opera’s
sex scene. The work was taken off
stage immediately.MUSIC IN THE SOVIET ERA
A poster dated 1920 urges workers
to “Join the Communist Party!” and
reject the aristocracy, bourgeoisie, and
Orthodox Church. Russian composers
had little choice but to do the same.IN CONTEXT
FOCUS
Music in the Soviet eraBEFORE
1923 The Russian Association
of Proletarian Musicians
(RAPM) is founded, decrying
modernism in music and
claiming that all music should
be understood by workers.1929 A concert performance of
Shostakovich’s opera The Nose
is attacked by the RAPM.1935 Ivan Dzerzhinsky writes
the opera Tikhly Don (Quiet
Flows the Don), which, with its
patriotic theme and simple
melodies, becomes the model
of socialist-realist music.AFTER
1937 Sergei Prokofiev
withdraws his Cantata for
the 20th Anniversary of the
October Revolution after
criticism from the authorities.1939 Prokofiev composes
Zdravitsa (“Hail to Stalin”) as
part of the celebrations of
Stalin’s 60th birthday.1948 Soviet Central
Committee secretary Andrei
Zhdanov begins a campaign
against “formalist” music in
which the form of the work is
more important than anything
it has to say.1974 Alfred Schnittke’s
Symphony No. 1, embodying
his “polystylism” form of
composition, is premiered in
Gorky after being turned away
from Moscow.US_274-279_Shostakovich.indd 276 26/03/18 1:01 PM