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Music on the Frontline : Nicolas Nabokov's Struggle Against Communism and Middlebrow Culture - Ian Wellens
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Music on the Frontline

Nicolas Nabokov's Struggle Against Communism and Middlebrow Culture

By: Ian Wellens

Hardcover | 1 August 2002

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The story of Nicolas Nabokov''s involvement with the CIA-funded Congress for Cultural Freedom (CCF) is a story of the politics and sociology of culture; how music was used for political ends and how intellectual groups formed and functioned during the Cold War. The seemingly independent CCF, established to counteract  apparent Soviet successes in the fields of the arts and intellectual life, appointed Nabokov (a Russian emigre and minor composer) as its Secretary General in 1951. Over the next ten years he gave music a high profile in the work of the organisation, producing four international musical festivals, the first and most ambitious of which was 1952''s L''Oeuvre du XXe Si¨cle in Paris, an event which showcased the work of no less than 62 composers. As Ian Wellens reveals, Nabokov''s musical involvement with the CCF was in fact a struggle on two fronts. Apparently a defence of Western modernism against ''backward'', ''provincial'' Soviet music, Nabokov''s writings show this to have meshed closely with the domestic concern - shared by many intellectuals - that high culture was being undermined by an increasingly culturally aware middle class. His attacks on Soviet cultural policy, and his unflattering assessments of Shostakovich, are seen to be not merely salvos in the cold war but part of a broader campaign aimed at securing the authority and prestige of intellectuals.
Industry Reviews
'... highly perceptive exploration... the interdisciplinary connections [drawn] between theoretical philosophy, politics, and music [...] are deeply illuminating and thought provoking... Wellens skillfully raises a complex of issues that must be considered to understand the intricate and often hidden dynamics of music and politics in the early years of the Cold War.' American Music

You Can Find This Book In

Non-FictionPolitics & GovernmentCentral GovernmentCentral Government PoliciesHistoryRegional & National HistoryEuropean HistoryInternational RelationsEspionage & Secret ServicesArts & EntertainmentMusicIndividual Composers & Musicians, Specific Bands & Groups
Music Styles & GenresWestern Classical Music & Opera20th Century & Contemporary Classical MusicSociety & CultureCultural StudiesHistory of Ideas

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