tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4449697140204377101.post4147629064559983702..comments2023-04-22T10:55:19.894-04:00Comments on Liberated Dissonance: Oh, how these people have sufferedJoe Barronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638252347181688694noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4449697140204377101.post-28801441723700984592017-02-06T23:30:01.589-05:002017-02-06T23:30:01.589-05:00Mr. Boom, while I appreciate your point of view, I...Mr. Boom, while I appreciate your point of view, I beg to differ. While I can't submit my own personal experience of dealing with a totalitarian regime - I was born after its worst, bloodiest purges - I can tell you that our (FAMC) aim was not to display the music and art of those who perished the most, but rather, how differently artists and composers were responding to many different aspects of oppression. Yes, Prokofiev was an opportunist and is an easy target, but I don't believe anyone can judge how much he did or did not suffer. You don't mention Schnittke as an opportunist, but - as Prokofiev - he worked for the Soviet movie industry. He stopped composing in the 12-tone idiom after it was condemned by the party's leadership - still, you don't mind this lack of integrity? Myaskovsky, on the other hand, enjoyed all the perks of the Soviet regime, was named the "Father of the Soviet Symphony" and awarded the Stalin Prize five times.<br />I don't think we should judge immense suffering of all these people, no matter their choices. What struck me the most when researching the poetry of Akhmatova and others was that their quest for maintaining their sanity, and moral clarity, was an everyday struggle. The onslaught of lies, propaganda, terror, famine, deaths of friends and children - and lack of trust and hope - was overwhelming. I don't believe we are in position to patronize the political choices of Prokofiev or Shostakovich. After all, composing a tune for Stalin didn't kill anyone...Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10063717454975933867noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4449697140204377101.post-88495668594539622502017-02-06T11:50:50.695-05:002017-02-06T11:50:50.695-05:00Among the composers listed, at least two don't...Among the composers listed, at least two don't seem to qualify for the artistic martyrdom (or suffering) suggested in the post. Shostakovich glorified the murdersous Bolshevik regime in two early symphonies (long before his Pravda debacle). And Prokofiev - an immoral opportunist that he was - chose to return to Stalin's USSR in 1936, with early show trials and mass executions already well underway in that "Land of Victorious Proletariat". If there was a real artistic victim among Russian composers of that era, Nikolai Myasskovsky probably fits the bill best.Boomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16254294523764695548noreply@blogger.com