Union of Soviet Composers - Ideological Basis

Ideological Basis

The Joseph Stalin era of Soviet Union history was characterised by bureaucratic control and the reign of Socialist Realism in all fields of arts including music. The ideological doctrine of ‘Socialist Realism’ was promulgated in 1934. It was explained as a ‘truthful and historically concrete depiction of reality in its revolutionary development’. In musical terms, this demanded the composing of patriotic, elevating scores, preferably with a topical or folkloric content, that were supportive of the Communist ideology and the regime, as well as simple and accessible to the 'masses'. All experimentation or deviation from these ideals was branded as ‘formalism’, and condemned together with the ‘decadent music of the rotten West’.