© 2020 Thornton Miller REACHING THROUGH THE IRON CURTAIN: PRACTICALITIES IN THE ANGLO-SOVIET CULTURAL EXCHANGE OF MUSIC AND MUSICIANS, 1955-1975 BY THORNTON MILLER DISSERTATION Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Musicology with a minor in Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies in the Graduate College of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2020 Urbana, Illinois Doctoral Committee: Associate Professor Christina Bashford, Chair and Director of Research Professor Donna A. Buchanan Professor Diane Koenker, University College London Professor Gayle Sherwood Magee 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. ii To my parents, my brother August, my partner Melissa, and Oscar, the most dapper of cats iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS As with many dissertations, this project was a long and arduous one that required years of work and planning, and it would not have been possible if it was not for the support, expertise, and generosity of so many kind and talented people. I would first like to thank my academic adviser and dissertation committee chair Christina Bashford, who had to read and correct multiple drafts over the last few years and provided me with her expert guidance at every step of the PhD process. I am grateful to the rest of my committee members: Donna A. Buchanan, Diane Koenker, and Gayle Magee for holding excellent seminars, writing numerous letters of recommendation, and for helping me through this last section of the PhD program. Dr. Bashford’s seminars on British music history, Buchanan’s on Russian music history and post- socialism, Koenker’s on Soviet history, and Magee’s on historiography and pedagogy have formed the foundation of my doctoral studies. I am also appreciative of the support and advice of the British music scholars Jennifer Oates, Vicki Stroeher, and Justin Vickers and I am grateful for the supportive environment of the North American British Music Studies Association. I would like to thank the Fulbright program for supporting my research in Russia, and the University of Illinois for funding my research in the United Kingdom. I am grateful to Nicholas Clark at the Britten-Pears Foundation Archives for helping me with my endless questions and requests for information on Benjamin Britten, and I am thankful for the help of John Boneham of the Rare Books and Music Collections at the British Library regarding the Alan Bush papers held there. I am also grateful for the work of the staff of the Royal College of Music Special Collections, as well as the reading room staff at the Russian State Archives of Literature and Art in Moscow, the Central State Archives of Literature and Art at St. Petersburg, the Russian iv National Museum of Music Special Collections in Moscow, and the Russian State Archives of Sound Recordings. While in St. Petersburg and Moscow, Lyudmila Kovnatskaya and Levon Hakobian provided me with valuable guidance, hospitality, and shared their many insights and personal experiences with me. I would also like to thank Elizabeth Wilson for answering my many questions about the Soviet Union, the Moscow Conservatory, and Mstislav Rostropovich. Maxim Serebrennikov and the staff at the St. Petersburg Conservatory provided me with both valuable help in procuring difficult to find Russian sources, and generous hospitality in the form of lunch and tea in the library. A great deal of this work would not have been possible without the firm support network at the University of Illinois, and I am grateful for the help and expertise of Joe Lenkart and the Slavic Reference Service as well as John Wagstaff and Kirstin Dougan at the Music and Performing Arts Library.1 My research on British and Soviet intellectual property law was made possible by the Cultures of Law in Global Contexts Fellowship (2015-16) from the University of Illinois, Graduate College INTERSECT Initiative. I am grateful for the advice of my Cultures of Law project leaders Jessica Greenberg and Dan Shao, and for the law expertise of Professor Emeritus Peter Maggs. I am also appreciative of the language training opportunities at the University of Illinois, Indiana University, and the Derzhavin Institute in St. Petersburg, the last of which was arranged by the Critical Language Institute at Arizona State University. Lastly, I would like to thank my parents Thornton, Sr. and Sandra, my brother August, and my partner Melissa for their love, support, and, most of all, patience. 1 John Wagstaff is currently College Librarian at Christ’s College, University of Cambridge. v TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES AND CHART...…………………………...………………………………..vii LIST OF EXAMPLES………………………………………………………………………….viii LIST OF FIGURES………………………………………………………………………………ix TRANSLITERATION AND TRANSLATION NOTE………………………………………......x INTRODUCTION: CLASSICAL MUSIC IN ANGLO-SOVIET CULTURAL RELATIONS……………………………………………………………………………...1 CHAPTER 1: OPENING THE IRON CURTAIN: ANGLO-SOVIET CULTURAL RELATIONS DURING THE 1950s...…………………………………………………..34 CHAPTER 2: BRITTEN, SHOSTAKOVICH, AND THE SEARCH FOR AN OVERLAPPING ANGLO-SOVIET MUSICAL STYLE…….……………………………………………96 CHAPTER 3: THE QUESTION OF ACCESS: THE PROFESSIONAL AGENCY OF BRITISH AND SOVIET MUSICIANS………………...………………………………………...154 CHAPTER 4: ROYALTIES, LOANS, AND BARTER: ATTEMPTS TO CIRCUMVENT ECONOMIC AND LEGAL BARRIERS DURING THE EARLY 1960s…………......252 CHAPTER 5: “VICTOR HOCHHAUSER PRESENTS”: CONCERT AGENT AS INTERMEDIARY……………………………………………………………………...314 EPILOGUE AND CONCLUSION……………………………………………………………..386 PRIMARY SOURCES……..…………………………………………………………………..411 BIBLIOGRAPHY………………………………………………………………………………417 vi LIST OF TABLES AND CHART Table 1: Breakdown of BBC Audiences According to Socio-Economic Class in 1949...………68 Table 2: Five Musical Genres with the Highest Rates of Remuneration and the Amount of the Composer’s Fee in Rubles in 1964…………………………………………………296 Table 3: Five Musical Genres with the Lowest Rates of Remuneration and the Amount of the Composer’s Fee in Rubles in 1964…………………………………………………297 Chart 1: Number of Soviet Editions of British Compositions per Annum, 1953-1978.………..290 vii LIST OF EXAMPLES Example 1: Opening of “Passacaglia” from Peter Grimes (Piano Reduction)…………………199 Example 2: Opening of “Canto Primo” from Britten’s First Cello Suite………………….…...231 Example 3: Opening of “Marcia” from Britten’s First Cello Suite…………………..………...232 Example 4: The First Section of “Bordone” from Britten’s First Cello Suite………………….233 Example 5: The Opening of the “Prelude” from Bach’s Sixth Cello Suite……………….……236 Example 6: The Opening of the Fugal Section of the “Prelude” from Bach’s Fifth Cello Suite…….………………………………………………………………………………237 Example 7: The Exposition of “Fuga” from Britten’s Second Cello Suite…………………….239 viii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Bureaucratic Hierarchy of the Creative Unions, Muzfond, and the VUOAP……..…258 Figure 2: Timeline of British and Russian/Soviet Developments in Copyright Observance…..260 Figure 3: Advertisement for the Bolshoi at the London Coliseum…………………………..…357 Figure 4: Advertisement for the Bolshoi at the London Coliseum (detail)…………………….358 Figure 5: “Cast” and “Outcasts” from the Counterfeit Bolshoi Program………………………366 Figure 6: Rostropovich’s and Vishnevskaya’s Political Alignment and Cultural Capital before Solzhenitsyn…………………………………...…………………………..…….392 Figure 7: Rostropovich’s and Vishnevskaya’s Political Alignment and Cultural Capital after Solzhenitsyn...…………………………………...…………………………..…….393 ix TRANSLITERATION AND TRANSLATION NOTE The basis for transliteration from Cyrillic to Latin for Russian terms follows primarily the American Libraries Association’s (ALA’s) method. However, certain names and terms have been altered to reflect what I believe has become common practice in American academic writing. For example, first names such as “Геннадий” (Gennadii) and “Валерий” (Valerii) have been altered to “Gennady” and “Valery.” The surname endings “-ский” (-skii) and