The Political Power of Music
The Political Power of Music
“The Noise of Time” by Julian Barnes is a novel about the life of Dimitri Shostakovich.
When I was reading it I was interested to be reminded how composers were used by Stalin and the Communist Party in an attempt to control the direction of new music. Stalin applied the notion of “socialist realism” to classical music, which demanded that mediums of art convey the struggle and triumph of the proletariat.
Musicians who hoped to gain financial support from the party were obligated to join the Union of Soviet Composers, a division of the Ministry of Culture. New works were then expected to be presented to the Union of Soviet Composers for approval prior to publication and that is how the Party hoped to control the direction of new music.
It is fascinating that in the 20th century the power of new music was considered to be so great as to be a threat if it was not controlled by the Party.