“Forces for peace because of the magic in them”: Processes of Anglo-Soviet musical exchange c.1959-1974

Musical histories of the Cold War frequently emphasise the impact of American musical tours to socialist countries and the ‘weaponisation’ of modernist music, supposedly representative of the cultural freedom exclusive to the capitalist West, against the strict confines of Socialist Realism. This narrative, however, denies the vast output of classical music from the USSR and the brilliance of Soviet classical musicians, who consistently dominated international music competitions.   This paper explores the British reception of visiting Soviet classical musicians to the UK from a multi-layered perspective. Starting with an analysis of the ways Anglo-Soviet musical exchanges were carried out through official government agreements, it goes beyond the traditional political focus to highlight the hitherto neglected role of British impresarios Victor and Lilian Hochhauser in coordinating Anglo-Soviet musical exchanges, and their fundamental importance to the success of such performances in Britain. It also examines interactions between Soviet and British musicians, and the relevance of these relationships to cultural diplomacy more broadly. The final section explores how Soviet music was presented to British audiences in programme notes and received in the broadsheet press. 

“I'm on My Way to a Heav'nly Lan’”: Porgy and Bess as American Religious Export to the USSR

Scholars have explored the use of Breen-Davis's Porgy and Bess and its stellar ensemble cast to counter Soviet criticism of US race relations during the Cold War—but an equally prominent theme in contemporary coverage of the production is spirituality. Onstage as well as off, the Soviet tour of Porgy and Bess reflected both American and Soviet ideas about religion's role in international diplomacy in the mid-1950s. This article explores religiosity in the Breen-Davis production as well as the reception of the 1955–56 Soviet tour both in the United States, where the production represented a hopeful vision of the nation's racial tolerance and religious pluralism, and in the USSR, where the tour's twin messages of American spiritual superiority and racial equality were challenged by Soviet authorities. Drawing on materials from the Robert Breen Archives housed in the Jerome Lawrence and Robert Lee Theatre Research Institute at Ohio State University, this article considers Breen-Davis's Porgy and Bess as a religious export to the USSR, enriching our understanding of US cultural diplomacy and Cold War–era musical exchange with broader implications for American–Soviet history, religious studies, and opera analysis.

Make a Silence

The Hanoi New Music Festival 2018 was an historic event. It was the largest festival of exploratory forms of new music that has ever been held in Vietnam, and artists from countries across Southeast Asia and Japan came to Hanoi to participate. The film Make a Silence - Musical Dialogues in Asia showcases the diverse, multimedia performances that took place at the Festival, including sound art for theatre and video, underground music and free improvisation. Like the Festival itself, Make a Silence is a sensory feast of musical and visual exploration. Combining vivid artistic images, conversations with musicians and footage of concerts, the film meditates on transnational dialogue in the contemporary music scene in Asia. Artists featured in the film include Otomo Yoshihide (Japan), Trần Thị Kim Ngọc (Vietnam), Jiradej Setabundhu (Thailand), Red Slumber (Vietnam), Siew-Wai Kok (Malaysia), Otto Sidharta (Indonesia) and Yii Kah Hoe (Malaysia). The film is based on long-term ethnographic research in Vietnam by the director. It examines how transnational circuits of musical exchange in the new music scenes in Asia intersect with postcolonial politics, thereby challenging the often-presumed hegemony of Euro-American lineages of contemporary music.

Harmony and Normalization

Harmony and Normalization explores cultural relations between Cuba and the United States during the Presidency of Barack Obama, who restored diplomatic relations with the island. Musical exchanges during this period act as a lens through which to view not only US-Cuban musical relations but also the larger political, economic, and cultural implications of musical dialogue between these two nations. Policy shifts allowed US and Cuban performers to more easily traverse the Florida Straits than in the recent past and encouraged them to act as musical diplomats, and their performances served as a testing ground for political change that anticipated normalized diplomatic relations. While government actors debated these changes, music created connections between individuals on both sides of the Florida Straits. This book describes how musicians were among the first individuals to take advantage of new opportunities for travel, push the boundaries of new regulations, and expose both the possibilities and limitations of licensing musical exchange. Through the analysis of both official and unofficial musical diplomacy efforts, including the Havana Jazz Festival, the National Symphony Orchestra of Cuba’s first US tour, the Minnesota Orchestra’s trip to Havana, and the author’s own experiences in Cuba, this ethnography demonstrates how performances reflect aspirations for stronger transnational ties and the common desire to restore the once thriving US-Cuban musical relationship.

Jazz as Intercultural Dialogue at the Havana Jazz Plaza Festival

Chapter Four consists of an in-depth analysis of jazz in US-Cuban musical exchange along with an ethnographic description of Havana’s International Jazz Plaza Festival. Cuba’s relationship to jazz became complicated after the revolution. Performers on the island had to carefully negotiate their desire to play jazz with the Castro government’s descriptions of jazz as imperialist music. The 2012 Havana Jazz Plaza Festival and the US musicians who played at the event are analyzed in-depth to show how participants navigated US-Cuban relations to perform in a festival that uses jazz as a form of intercultural dialogue. Arturo O’Farrill, a New York musician of Cuban heritage who was regularly featured in the jazz festival, illustrates the significance of Latin jazz in musical diplomacy and how the definition of jazz is redefined through the festival lens.