Reaching through the Iron Curtain: Practicalities in the Anglo-Soviet cultural exchange of music and musicians, 1955-1975

Miller, Thornton

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Description

Title

Reaching through the Iron Curtain: Practicalities in the Anglo-Soviet cultural exchange of music and musicians, 1955-1975

Author(s)

Miller, Thornton

Issue Date

2020-05-06

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Bashford, Christina

Doctoral Committee Chair(s)

Bashford, Christina

Committee Member(s)

• Buchanan, Donna A.
• Koenker, Diane
• Magee, Gayle S.

Department of Study

Music

Discipline

Musicology

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Degree Level

Dissertation

Keyword(s)

• Cultural Exchange
• Cold War
• Cultural Diplomacy
• Agency
• Intellectual Property
• United Kingdom
• Soviet Union
• Bolshoi Theater
• Kirov Theater
• English Opera Group
• Royal Opera House
• Covent Garden
• BBC
• BBC Proms
• Boosey & Hawkes
• Anglo-Soviet Music Press
• Mezhdunarodnaya Kniga
• Mezhknig
• Muzyka
• Benjamin Britten
• Alan Bush
• Djemal Dalgat, Lilian Hochhauser
• Victor Hochhauser
• Galina Panov, Valery Panov, Mstislav Rostropovich
• Ernst Roth
• Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Grigory Shneerson, Dmitri Shostakovich
• Galina Vishnevskaya
• Henry Wood
• Goskontsert
• USSR Ministry of Culture
• UK Arts Council
• UK Foreign Office
• UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Abstract

This dissertation is an investigation of the position of British and Soviet music professionals (such as composers, concert agents, performers, and publishers) in the interchange of music and musicians between the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union from 1955 to 1975. This study determines how they were able to circumvent the difficulties inherent in these exchanges in order to further their own goals, and not on behalf of their governments’ political or ideological aims (which were focused explicitly on reducing Cold War tensions, and implicitly on cultural competition). A significant portion of these professionals were interested in material gain, while others sought to gain access to foreign audiences, music, and musicians. After setting the historical context for the opening of Anglo-Soviet cultural relations in the mid-1950s, I present four case studies that explore different aspects of these exchanges: 1) the concept of compatibility between the musical style of British and Soviet composers, 2) how Soviet performers and theater directors negotiated with the Soviet system to acquire and utilize their agency, 3) the attempts of both British and Soviet parties to facilitate the exchange of intellectual property, and 4) the position of British concert agents who profited from the interchange of performers between the UK and the USSR. Through the study of such events, it is possible to uncover both the capabilities and limits in how professionals from the UK and the USSR were able to pursue their own interests despite the obstacles inherent in the diplomatic enterprise that was Cold War cultural exchange.

Graduation Semester

2020-05

Type of Resource

Thesis

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Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2020 Thornton Miller

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