One of the more peculiar attempts to control the people under the authoritarian regimes that were so popular during the middle of the twentieth century was how such countries tried to control artistic expression of the people. Hitler and Stalin were actively involved in the minutiae of cultural policy, personally and explicitly dictating exactly what music you could hear and which pictures you could see. The effect on the arts was chilling, to say the least. As a composer you could see not only your music but your personal freedom affected by the taste of a murderous psychopath. The Soviet persecutions were less racially based than those of Hitler, but they shared with those of the Nazis a capriciousness that kept artists forever on edge.

The two major works on this program are by composers who, despite writing much music in a style that should have offended no one, was subject to censorship and even banning.

The Prokofiev Cello Concerto is a work with a fascinating history related to Prokofiev's peculiar decision to return to the USSR in 1937-at the height of Stalin's reign of terror. The work was among the last works he wrote while still living in the west, and among the first to be criticized for its "bourgeois tendencies" when it was premiered in the Soviet Union. He reworked the piece at least twice, each version becoming more acceptable to the authorities, and in its final version it became the familiar "Symphony-Concerto" that is beloved of cellists and audiences everywhere. But the earlier version, with its lighter scoring and more transparent textures, has much to say for itself, and perhaps now is the time to have it enter the repertoire. If you know the later version, hearing this is like listening to familiar music through a distorting mirror. Almost all the parameters have changed, but the basic material is still there.

Curiously, an intermediate version-closer to the Symphony-Concerto but still containing elements of the Cello Concerto- was premiered shortly before the composer's death, with Mstislav Rostropovich and the orchestra conducted by the great pianist Sviatoslav Richter, the only time in his life that he conducted an orchestra. At this point, Prokofiev's music was officially banned from performance in the Soviet Union, and no conductor was willing to risk Stalin's wrath by performing it. Richter, who was recuperating from an injury to his finger, used the opportunity to give conducting a try.

Myaskovsky was one of the most prolific Symphonists ever; his 27 Symphonies are a major comtribution to the form. He was a great friend of Prokofiev, and although this music sounds very different from the work of his great contemporary. In fact, he is a true original, who manages to sound Russian without being classifiable as any one type of Russian composer. Although one would have expected his rather conservative and tonal music to appeal to the authorities, in 1948 he was condemned along with Prokofiev and Shostakovich for 'formalistic tendencies? (whatever that means) and his music was banned from performance.

The 27th Symphony was written after this condemnation, and finished shortly before his death. Although some commentators think its tuneful and accessible style reflects an attempt to win back the authorities, the evidence suggests that he was simply writing the piece because he wanted to. The work is one of his finest Symphonies, with a gorgeous slow movement and a brilliant finale. It was the last piece he completed, and he died in 1950, with his music still officially banned, and this wonderful swan song unperformed.

Special Note:   Because of the MusicaNova Orchestra's close association with the music of Richard Arnell, we are commemorating the first anniversary of his death by playing a short work of his; the beautiful slow movement of his Third String Quartet, which has been adapted for String Orchestra by the addition of a discreet bass part. The music's aching sadness and sense of tragedy reflects both the seriousness and poetry of the music of this great composer. We will perform the previously announced-and wonderful-Andriasov Variations at a later date.