AFTER THE MUSIC PURGE
843
mittee of the Communist Party concerning an opera by
.a
young
Georgian composer, Muradeli, called
The Great Friendship.
This
decree in a sense summarized and made reference to the previous
attacks on the literary, scientific and other cultural fronts.
It
made
clear, for the first time, the cultural position and attitude of the
Central Committee and of the Politburo. It classified under "formal–
ism"
all
those Soviet composers who were in any way a part of the
general European evolution of modern music, and, by inference,
drew the same conclusions in regard to other media of art.
A year has now passed since the publication of this decree. As
will be remembered the decree singled out as first offenders against
the mores of Soviet music, six of the most prominent Soviet com–
posers: Prokofiev, Shostakovitch, Khatchaturian, Shebalin, Popov,
and Miaskovsky.
To our knowledge, none of these six has "bodily" disappeared
from Soviet musical life. No direct punitive action has been taken.
On the contrary, all of them have been given an opportunity to
((redeem themselves"
by writing works which would "prove that they
have understood the implications of the historic act of February 10,
1948,"
(Pravda,
Oct. 30, 1948), that is, "to free themselves from
Western influences, to discard atonal and dissonant leftism which is
a sign-post of bourgeois decay and corruption, to adhere to the
classical
tradition of Russian music and incorporate in their art the
principles of healthy socialist realism." (I am quoting from a report
by the secretary general of the Soviet Composers Union, TIkhon
Khrennikov, made in April 1948.)
Indirectly, however, measures have been taken to prevent the
futher contamination of Soviet society from these carriers of dangerous
foreign bacilli: Miaskovsky and Shostakovitch were relieved of their
posts as composition teachers in the Moscow conservatory: ShebaIin,
the director of the conservatory was expelled, and replaced by A.
Sveshnikov (the leader of the National Folk Chorus of the Russian
Republic): Khatchaturian lost to Tikhon Khrennikov the position of
secretary general of the Union of Soviet Composers (S.S.K. )
He also ceased to be head of its Orgkomitet, or organizing com–
mittee. This group, working in close collaboration with the Committee
on Arts of the Ministry of Education wields huge power since it
decides what works will be printed and recommends works for per-
