Conceptualizing Music and Revolution in the Soviet Union, 1917–1930s

Jari Parkkinen

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2026
• eBook ISBN:
  9781040735046
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: Russian History

This book offers an illuminating account of the development of Soviet music and music political discussions in the 1920s and the 1930s. With its innovative conceptual historical approach, the work examines the discussions on Soviet music in close relation both to pre-revolutionary cultural ideas of Russia and political demands of the newly established Soviet state. By analyzing the use and transformations of such political concepts as democracy, people, Russia, and Europe in the context of Soviet music, the book sheds light on the complex negotiations on the role of music and culture in a revolutionary society. Consequently, the idea and the concept of the 'revolution' itself comes to be seen in a new light. Furthermore, as the key political concepts in the Soviet Union were the same as in other modern societies of the early 20th century, the book proposes that Soviet cultural ideas should not be viewed in isolation but rather in a close dialogical connection with the cultural ideas in other parts of Europe. The book is beneficial to scholars and students on Russian and Soviet music, music history, Soviet political and cultural history, and Russian area studies.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Series
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• 1 Introduction
• 2 Revolutionizing Freedom – Contesting Democracy
• 3 Freedom and Democracy in Music
• 4 Russia and Europe, East and West
• 5 People (Narod)
• 6 The Life of the People in Music: Bït, Realism, and Soviet Modernity
• 7 Conclusion
• Bibliography
• Index