I’m taking a 20th century music history course right now, and the professor is a strongly anticommunist progressive. Before he even started he claimed Stalin was unequivocally the worst person of the 20th century, if not all time. One of the most suspicious parts was when he told us about Prokofiev’s statement against the capitalist world made upon his return to the USSR in 1936. He claimed that this was clearly forced out of him, despite having just told us how he had squandered 20 years trying and failing to find work abroad (one of the only things he did was a commission by a fruit company for a fruit-opera?). Additionally my teacher conceded that there is no record of Prokofiev’s personal views from this time.

Then the is the whole Soviet Realism/Formalism thing. My teacher said these terms were intentionally ill-defined so that musicians/artists could be censored, imprisoned, or killed at the whim of Stalin. Again, I feel skeptical about how cartoonishly evil this description is.

So what is the history of music and art in the Soviet Union minus the Western propaganda? Is there a book or other resource I could use to learn about this?

  • Makan ☭ CPUSA
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    34 years ago

    I’m interested on the topic of so-called “Soviet Realism/Formalism” as well, but more than that, I know that Stalin wasn’t a dictator and that he couldn’t just have people killed as he was elected several times so that claim can be discounted.

    Even so: check the art for yourself, especially the music: Glazunov and Prokofiev along with Shostakovich were arguably the best composers of the 20th century.

    • @mauveOkraOP
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      34 years ago

      Regarding the Soviet Realism/Formalism, the professor presented it as sinister but at the same time he told us about how before it was introduced Constructivists kept creating unintelligible art and forcing it on workers and farmers or something. And Prokofiev and Shostakovich are two of my favorites! The narrative that Shostakovich struggled with heavy censorship is pervasive, but I noticed that the intro to our textbook alludes to alternative readings of history—I guess I’m looking for one of those.

      • Makan ☭ CPUSA
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        24 years ago

        Same! I’ve been looking for a while. Also, I suggest Ustvolskaya as well.

        • @mauveOkraOP
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          34 years ago

          Thanks for the recommendation!

          • Makan ☭ CPUSA
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            14 years ago

            Hey, no problem. Honestly, I’m just learning about this stuff myself.