Soviet Music in World War II

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 connect...