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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 January 2016
As a result of the October Revolution, the ideas and activities that had been confined to an artistic, intellectual, or aristocratic minority, became overnight the property of the masses. In September 1918, the musicologist and educationalist Nadezhda Bryusova spelt out the role of music in the new society – ‘Music should give a capacity to live and a capacity to build life’. Led by the musical departments of Narkompros (the Ministry of Education and Culture) and Proletkul't (the proletarian cultural-education organizations), concerted efforts were made to break down the barriers between professional musicians, composers, and the general public. Attempts were also made to raise the standards of musical knowledge amongst the new audience. However, it soon became apparent that there was a need for a new breed of composer who was in tune with the desires and aspirations of the new society. A group of politically-minded composers which soon fell into this category was formed at the Moscow Conservatory in January 1925 as a result of a competition to compose a work commemorating the first anniversary of Lenin's death. That group was known as Prokoll, an abbreviation of Proizvodstvennii kollektiv(Production Collective).
1 Quoted in Rosenberg, W.G. (ed.) Bolshevik Visions: First Phase of the Cultural Revolution in Soviet Russia (Ann Arbor: Ardis, 1984) p. 453 Google Scholar.
2 Unsigned. ‘Prokoll’ in Muzykal'noe obrazovanie 1–2 1926, p. 80.
3 Put' Oktabraya was actually described as a ‘Grazhdanskaya oratoriya’ (‘Citizen's Oratorio’) in the first edition of the score published in 1928.
4 See Keldysh, Yu. ‘Put' Oktabraya’ in Proletarsky muzykant 1 1929, pp.40–41 Google Scholar; or Veprik, A. ‘Put' Oktabraya’ in Muzykal'noe obrazovanie 1 1929, pp. 35–37 Google Scholar.
5 Veprik, A. p.35.
6 Both these pieces were re-orchestrated by the conductor Aleksandr Gauk in 1957 and Dmitry Shostakovich in 1962. They also appear with their original accompaniment on a recent Olympia CD., OCD 205, along with the ‘Vocal Placard’ Pro Lenina (‘About Lenin’).
7 Marian Koval', for example, in his article ‘Ryadom s Aleksandrom Davidenko’, in Sovetskaya muzyka 2, 1967, p. 10 Google Scholar, or in Martynov, N.A. (ed.) Aleksandr Davidenko. Vospominaniya. Stat'i. Materialy. (Leningrad, 1968) p.69 Google Scholar, describes Davidenko as ‘nash vozhd’ (‘our leader’).
8 Davidenko's, Nas pobit' pobit' khoteli(‘They Wanted to Defeat Us’) was found to be the most popular song of its kind amongst marchers at holiday demonstrations in the early 1930sGoogle Scholar. Bekman, V. and Zarzhevskaya, M. ‘Oput’ ucheta muzykal'nogo oformleniya Oktyabraskoy demonstratsii' in Muzykal'naya samodeyatel'nost' 1, 1933, p. 6 Google Scholar.
9 Mal'ter, L. ‘Pesni Davidenko za rubezhnom’ in Muzykal'naya samodeyatel'nost' 7, 1934, p. 30 Google Scholar.
10 Aleksandr Dmitrievich Kastal'sky (1856–1926) was one of the first composers of the older generation to pledge allegiance to the new regime. He was a member of both the children's and ethnographical sections of the musical department of Narkompros, and devised the curricula for Moscow Proletkult's musical studios, as well as the People's Choral Academy, of which he was the Director. He firmly believed that revolutionary proletarian music must have its roots in folk music. From the time of the Revolution until his death he wrote over 50 works, including the first Soviet cantata on a revolutionary theme, 1905 god (The Year 1905) in 1925 to words by Aleksandr Bezymensky. For more details on Kastal'sky see Zhitomirsky, D.V. (ed.) A.D. Kastal'sky. Stal'i. Vospominaniya. Materialy. (Moscow, 1960)Google Scholar.
11 Quoted in Martynov, N.A. A.A. Davidenko (Leningrad/Moscow, 1977), pp. 17–18 Google Scholar.
12 Hence, whole editions of journals published by RAPM were devoted to an analysis of Podem vagona. (Proletarsky muzykant 9, 1931 Google Scholar and Za proletarskuyu muzyku 21, 1931 Google Scholar.)
13 Fortunately, the music for 1905 god was saved and edited for publication in 1963 by RAPM's chief ideologist L.N. Lebedinsky.