Nikolai Myaskovsky on the Pages of the Journal “Sovetskaya Muzyka” During the Years 1933–1951: Content Analysis

Abstract

Nikolai Yakovlevich Myaskovsky enjoyed the leading position in the pantheon of Soviet classics.
At the center of the author’s attention is the image of Myaskovsky the composer appearing on the
pages of the journal “Sovetskaya muzyka” (the official edition of the Soviet Composers’ Union).
The carried out content analysis of articles dating from the year 1933–1951 makes it possible for us
to assert that Myaskovsky is presented in the press as a Soviet artist “who overcame independently
the path of correctional education.” The materials confirm Myaskovsky’s high professional status
and authority, as the result of which in the years 1936 and 1948 the critique of his musical output
did not acquire harsh forms. Carrying out the task of interpreting his compositions in the vein of
the aesthetics of socialist realism, musical critics have marked the national and ideal foundation
of his music through the category of words which indicated at the democratically accessible and
optimist qualities of his music. The chief attribute of Myaskovsky the composer – the subjective
directedness of his music (individualism, pessimism) – was equated to non-conformism through
the perspective of the binary mythological system of Soviet aesthetics. In connection with this the
motive of struggle and overcoming became the leading one in the description of the composer’s
creative path, endowing his image with heroic features.

Keywords: Nikolai Myaskovsky, journal “Sovetskaya muzyka,” Soviet composer, socialist
realism in music, receptive research, content analysis.