Alfred Schnittke's Concerto Grosso no. 1

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter J. Schmelz
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Primary Sources ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Concerto Grosso ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Novel Structure ◽  
New Information ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Serial Music ◽  
First Time

This book provides for the first time an accessible, comprehensive study of Alfred Schnittke’s Concerto Grosso no. 1 (1977). One of Schnittke’s best-known and most compelling works, the Concerto Grosso no. 1 sounds the surface of late Soviet life, resonating as well with contemporary compositional currents around the world. This innovative monograph builds on existing publications about the Concerto Grosso no. 1 in English, Russian, and German, augmenting and complicating them. It adds new information from underused primary sources, including Schnittke’s unpublished correspondence and his many published interviews. It also engages further with his sketches for the Concerto Grosso no. 1 and contemporary Soviet musical criticism. The result is a more objective, historical appraisal of this rich, multifaceted composition. The Concerto Grosso no. 1 provided a utopian model of the contemporary soundscape. It was a decisive point in Schnittke’s development of the approach he called polystylism, which aimed to contain in a single composition the wide range of contemporary musical styles, including jazz, pop, rock, and serial music. Thanks to it and his other similar compositions, Schnittke became one of the most-performed and most-recorded living composers at the end of the twentieth century. The novel structure of this book engages the Concerto Grosso no. 1 conceptually, historically, musically, and phenomenologically: the six movements of the composition frame the six chapters. The present volume thus provides a holistic accounting of Schnittke’s Concerto Grosso no. 1, its influences, and its impact on subsequent music making in the Soviet Union and worldwide.

Popular Music, the Devil, and Aerobics

2021 ◽  
pp. 141-194
Author(s):  
Peter J. Schmelz
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Popular Music ◽  
Pop Music ◽  
Piano Concerto ◽  
Film Scores ◽  
Concerto Grosso ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Entire Career ◽  
First Time ◽  
Group Center

This chapter advances the argument of Sonic Overload by turning to the interactions between art and popular music in Schnittke’s Symphony No. 1, Requiem (1975), Concerto Grosso No. 1 (1977), Piano Concerto (1979), Symphony no. 3 (1976–81), and Faust Cantata (Seid nüchtern und wachet, 1983), as well as several of his film scores. It considers for the first time Schnittke’s ongoing negotiations between high and low across his entire career, giving careful scrutiny to his declaration in the late 1980s that “pop culture is a good disguise for any kind of devilry.” Schnittke’s change of heart, from embracing popular music—and specifically jazz and rock—from the late 1960s through the 1970s, to expressing grave concerns about its effects a decade later, mirrored the sentiments of many. In the turbulent final years of the Soviet Union, rock supplanted poetry as the conscience of the nation yet it still inspired deep anxiety among those embracing traditional Soviet conceptions of being “cultured.” Schnittke’s apprehensions about popular music in the 1980s stemmed from its growing presence in the fragmented late-Soviet soundscape and its growing prestige among newly influential tastemakers, chief among them younger intellectuals and other cultural figures. The elevation of pop music in the USSR (as in the West) expanded a growing generational divide. Schnittke’s own rejection of popular music seems to have been instigated in part by his son, Andrey, who in the early 1980s was a member of the noted Moscow rock group Center (Tsentr), a fact overlooked by previous scholars.

scholarly journals Ideological and philosophical principles of thematization of ballet criticism by Akim Volynsky

2021 ◽  
pp. 182-187
Author(s):  
Alina Pidlypska
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Russian Empire ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Classical Ballet ◽  
The Russian Empire ◽  
First Time

The purpose of the article is to identify the main ideological and philosophical principles of thematization of ballet criticism by Akim Volynsky. Methodology. The research was carried out on the basis of theoretical generalizations, systematization, comparison, using the chronological principle and culturological approach. Scientific novelty. For the first time, the main ideological and philosophical principles of thematization of the ballet criticism of Akim Volynsky are revealed. Conclusions. For А. Volynsky, the concepts of "mind" and "spirit" were synonymous, which testifies to the effectiveness and productivity of his critical academic modernist (symbolist) ballet discourse, educational, focused on the harmony of rational and spiritual principles of intention. Unlike many contemporaries who professed the cult of Dionysus, Volynsky considered Apollo the highest symbol of spirituality and intellectuality in man. But he argued that the "Apollonian" revival in the culture of that time was opposed by a too strong and all-pervading chaotic "Dionysian" principle. Volynsky traces the evolution of classical ballet from ancient cults and seeks to comprehend its psychological content. He believed that criticism should be non-ideological, artistic, based on absolute idealistic values, which caused a wide range of opinions of theorists and practitioners of ballet art: from harsh condemnation (A. Gvozdev, A. Piotrovsky, I. Sollertinsky) to recognizing the importance of the critic's theoretical intentions for in its time (V. Gaevsky, R. Zakharov). A. Volynsky contributed to the institutionalization of ballet criticism in the Russian Empire and in the Soviet Union, differentiating it into professional and amateurish.

scholarly journals Крымский период жизни Басана Городовикова

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 469-478
Author(s):  
Vladimir E. Polyakov ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
The North ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Crimea ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Military ◽  
First Time ◽  
Events Data

Introduction. The article deals with the Crimean period (August 1941 – June 1942) in the life of Basan Badminovich Gorodovikov, Hero of the Soviet Union and a major military and political figure of Kalmykia. The present article aims at describing and analyzing this less-known period of his biography, which was significant and full of dramatic events. Data and research methods. For the purposes of this research, the author has used a wide range of archival materials, as well as memoirs of participants of the partisan movement in the Crimea (including unpublished papers). Results. The author describes the first battles in the north of the Crimea in which Gorodovikov’s regiment was engaged; then, its retreat into the mountains and transition to partisans, the creation of a partisan detachment and the actions behind enemy lines. The activities of Gorodovikov’s detachment are shown against the general background of the partisan movement in the Crimea; special attention given to the discussion of warfare under the specific conditions on the peninsula. The article focuses on the role of the military personnel, especially at the first stage of the partisan movement, revealing, among other things, the problems in the relationship between the command staff of the 48th cavalry division and the partisan leaders in the Crimea. For the first time, the article sheds light on the history of awarding Gorodovikov with the Order of the Red Banner, which was the first award of the Crimean partisans. The dramatic story of his evacuation from the partisan forest to the “Bol´shaia zemlia” is also documented in detail; with previously unknown documents and materials introduced in this paper. The undertaken research allows to conclude that the Crimean period in the life of Gorodovikov was one of the most dramatic in his biography. During a difficult period for the Crimea, he became the commander of one of the most successful partisan detachments, which after he left was officially named after him, its first commander. Notably, Gorodovikov was among the first Crimean partisans to be awarded a military order and to get a promotion in rank and in office.

Christian Radicalism in the Church of England and the Invention of the British Sixties, 1957-1970

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sam Brewitt-Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Church Of England ◽  
Social Revolution ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Moral Arguments ◽  
Cultural Origins ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
First Time ◽  
The Church

Like all transformative revolutions, Britain’s Sixties was an episode of highly influential myth-making. This book delves behind the mythology of inexorable ‘secularization’ to recover, for the first time, the cultural origins of Britain’s moral revolution. In a radical departure from conventional teleologies, it argues that British secularity is a specific cultural invention of the late 1950s and early 1960s, which was introduced most influentially by radical utopian Christians during this most desperate episode of the Cold War. In the 1950s, Britain’s predominantly Christian moral culture had marginalized ‘secular’ moral arguments by arguing that they created societies like the Soviet Union; but the rapid acceptance of ‘secularization’ teleologies in the early 1960s abruptly normalized ‘secular’ attitudes and behaviours, thus prompting the slow social revolution that unfolded during the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. By tracing the evolving thought of radical Anglicans—uniquely positioned in the late 1950s and early 1960s as simultaneously moral radicals and authoritative moral insiders—this book reveals crucial and unexpected intellectual links between radical Christianity and the wider invention of Britain’s new secular morality, in areas as diverse as globalism, anti-authoritarianism, sexual liberation, and revolutionary egalitarianism. From the mid-1960s, British secularity began to be developed by a much wider range of groups, and radical Anglicans faded into the cultural background. Yet by disseminating the deeply ideological metanarrative of ‘secularization’ in the early 1960s, and by influentially discussing its implications, they had made crucial contributions to the nature and existence of Britain’s secular revolution.

scholarly journals The Carter Administration and the Evolution of American Nuclear Nonproliferation Policy, 1977–1981

2002 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 261-292 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Michael Martinez
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Nuclear Weapons ◽  
Nuclear Nonproliferation ◽  
Nuclear Testing ◽  
Energy Agency ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Subsequent Response ◽  
The World ◽  
Uncertain Time ◽  
First Time

In the wake of India's May 1998 decision to resume nuclear testing for the first time since 1974, as well as arch-rival Pakistan's subsequent response, the attention of the world again has focused on nuclear nonproliferation policy as a means of maintaining stability in politically troubled regions of the world. The 1990s proved to be an uncertain time for nonproliferation policy. Pakistan acquired nuclear capabilities. Iraq displayed its well-known intransigence by refusing to allow International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) arms inspectors access to facilities suspected of manufacturing nuclear weapons. North Korea maintained a nuclear weapons program despite opposition from many Western nations. Troubling questions about nuclear holdings persisted in Argentina, Brazil, and South Africa. New nuclear powers were created in Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Ukraine after the disintegration of the Soviet Union. Even the renewal of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons in 1995 failed to assuage the concerns of Western powers fearful of aggressive measures undertaken by rogue nuclear proliferants.

Fleeing the Soviet Union, Dancing on the West Coast

Experiment ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 297-316
Author(s):  
Lorin Johnson ◽  
Donald Bradburn
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Los Angeles ◽  
High Power ◽  
West Coast ◽  
Southern California ◽  
The West ◽  
The Arts ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
First Time

In the 1970s and 1980s, Los Angeles audiences saw Soviet defectors Mikhail Baryshnikov, Alexander Godunov, Natalia Makarova, and Rudolf Nureyev in the prime of their careers at the Hollywood Bowl, The Dorothy Chandler Pavilion and the Greek Theater. Dance photographer Donald Dale Bradburn, a local Southern California dancer describes his behind-the-scenes access to these dancers in this interview. Perfectly positioned as Dance Magazine’s Southern California correspondent, Bradburn offers a candid appraisal of the Southern California appeal for such high-power Russian artists as well as their impact on the arts of Los Angeles. An intimate view of Russian dancers practicing their craft on Los Angeles stages, Bradburn’s interview is illustrated by fourteen of his photographs, published for the first time in this issue of Experiment.

scholarly journals Spatial Location and the State of Timber Industry Enterprises in the Soviet Union by the End of the First Five-Year Plan

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 491-515
Author(s):  
Ivan Zykin
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Spatial Location ◽  
Timber Industry ◽  
New Economic Policy ◽  
Industry Location ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Forested Areas ◽  
Wood Machining ◽  
First Time ◽  
Made In

In the period of New Economic Policy in the USSR industrialization issues became very topical. In timber industry complex, the solutions were related to the development of forested areas in Northeastern regions of the country as well as to the construction and reconstruction of enterprises. The article provides the first-time analysis of maps and forest industry location, based on the results of the First Five-Year Plan published in the atlas “The Industry in the USSR and the beginning of the Second Five-Year Plan“ and statistical collection materials ”Social Construction of the USSR”. The analysis was made in order to define the situation in the industry, the main directions of production as well as the regional specificities. Using the example of wood machining sphere the author presents the analysis of enterprise groups according to different criteria. The research resulted in conclusions about highest intensity of enterprise reconstruction and construction in timber sawing, in furniture industry and intra-sectoral combination. In timber industry, the majority of enterprises were small and middle companies, which greatly contributed to its development. Regional specificities of timber industry location included concentration of main facilities in northwestern, western and central parts of the country, in the Volga region and in Ural. However only several regions had developed wood machining and deep processing spheres, such as Leningrad oblast, the Gorky Krai, Belarusian and the Ukrainian Soviet Republics.

scholarly journals From DP Camps to the “Green Continent”

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexey Antoshin
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Historical Memory ◽  
Displaced Persons ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
New Information ◽  
National Archives ◽  
National University ◽  
National Archives Of Australia ◽  
The Government

This review focuses on a monograph written by Jayne Persian, lecturer at the University of Southern Queensland (Australia). The work is the first complex study devoted to the adaptation of former “displaced persons” (more particularly, émigrés from the Soviet Union) in Australia between the 1940s and 1960s. The work refers to an extensive complex of documents from the National Archives of Australia, the National Archives (United Kingdom), the Noel Butlin Archives Centre, Australian National University, and interviews with former “displaced persons” residing in Australia. The study is very important because it provides new information on the second wave of Soviet emigration, which is seldom examined by contemporary Russian scholars. Persian demonstrates that political factors played an important role in how the Australian government granted immigration permission. Quite frequently, Australia preferred people who shared anti-communist positions. Therefore, many former collaborators of the World War II era came to Australia; this hindered cooperation between the USSR and Australia. Persian shows that “new Australians” had difficulty integrating into society. The government tried to assimilate them, which pushed the immigrants to seek isolation in their communities. This book helps us understand the controversial character of the state policy of historical memory, a problem that is also very important for contemporary Russia.

scholarly journals From private memory to the collective image of the Ukrainian Holodomor

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 33-62
Author(s):  
Wiktoria Kudela-Świątek
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Great Famine ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Individual Memory ◽  
The Subject

The article discusses a wide range of aspects concerning the Holomodor – the Great Famine in the Soviet Union in the years 1932–1933. The author focuses on examining the processes of creating a collective image of the Great Famine and the role of individual memory of its survivors in building this image. Analyzing the memories of the survivors the author deals with distortions and myths which has grown up around the Holomodor. The significance of this disaster for the Ukrainian identity is also the subject of the analysis.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document