The tribulations of WWII (the “Great Patriotic War”) prompted a temporary liberalisation within Soviet culture. Images of horror and grief, formerly unacceptable, found their way into the wartime music of Soviet composers. The debate over Shostakovich’s Eighth Symphony showed how the boundaries of Socialist Realism could be stretched, but also where the limits lay.
The lecture will also discuss some works on Jewish themes (by Shostakovich, Weinberg and Gnessin) and their complex connection to the War and to the Holocaust.
A lecture by Marina Frolova-Walker, followed by a performance of Mikhail Gnessin’s Trio with musicians Jacqueline Seki (violin), William Harris (cello) and Ellis Thomas (piano).
The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/soviet-war-music
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Who knows what is propaganda. If you ask me I would say that this is propaganda too. And it is not a war. It is a special operation.