‘Story of a friendship’: Alan Bush, Grigorii Shneerson and cultural diplomacy before and during the Cold War

ABSTRACT

This article explores efforts by the British composer Alan Bush to facilitate cultural exchange from the late 1930s and across the Iron Curtain. I will argue that his unwavering support and championing of Soviet music deserves greater acknowledgement. Through the correspondence between Bush and the Russian musicologist Grigorii Shneerson it has been possible to compile a list of materials exchanged between the two unofficially. It is my intention to draw attention to a small, but not insignificant world of private exchange voluntarily undertaken by individuals such as Bush and to show that such exchanges played an important part in cultural diplomacy between the two countries. From a broader perspective, we will see how their communication was viewed by the British authorities as politically significant, but that for the two men it was predominantly a relationship about music.

KEYWORDS:

• Anglo-Soviet cultural relations
• cultural diplomacy during the Cold War
• British composer Alan Bush
• music and politics
• Grigorii Shneerson

• Archival abbreviations:
• BL: the British Library
• Histon: Alan Bush archive
• Histon
• NA: National Archives

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Pauline Fairclough for her valuable comments on prior drafts of this article and for kindly supplying me with Bush extracts from the Russian press and to James Taylor for translating them for me. I am very grateful for the editorial help and support generously given to me by Emily Lygo and to Rachel O'Higgins and the Alan Bush Music Trust for allowing me access to archival material.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Louise Wiggins is a PhD student at the University of Bristol. Her research interests lie in the music and politics of Alan Bush, political composer, and an unofficial cultural diplomat between Britain and the Soviet Union. Her research comprises British communism and culture, and left-wing musical organisations. Louise gained her undergraduate degree from the Royal Academy of Music, and performs professionally as a harpist.

Notes

1. This demarcation may have evolved in part to distinguish him from the lesser-known British composers in twentieth-century British music, dominated by Benjamin Britten, Ralph Vaughan-Williams, William Walton and Michael Tippett among others. I use the general term ‘lesser-known’ to refer to a large number of British composers of the pre- and post-war eras who did not receive the same recognition as these figures. Bush’s relegation to the obscurer ranks of British composers can, in part at least, be attributed to his political beliefs.

2. Joanna Bullivant has comprehensively documented Bush’s reception history in the GDR which shows how relatively popular he was outside his own country in which he remained a minor figure (Bullivant, 2013, pp. 7–22; see also Bullivant, 2009).

3. Bush conducted these works at the Queen’s Hall, London, 13 April 1940 and was pianist with the Philharmonic String Quartet led by Jean Pouget, in the first UK performance of Shostakovich’s Piano Quintet, London, 1944.

4. Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 7, commonly known as the ‘Leningrad Symphony’ received its London premiere 22 June 1942 with conductor Henry Wood and the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Pauline Fairclough has documented that there were only 12 performances of Shostakovich’s orchestral works between 1932 and 1941, which she argues was due to the British musical ‘establishment’s’ less than favourable reception of the composer during this period (Fairclough, 2007, p. 287). Fairclough consulted the Proms, BBCSO, Hallé, CBSO, LSO and LPO orchestral records for this figure and she stresses that it is possible that the actual figure may be marginally higher since not all orchestras have archives or had accessible archives at the time of writing. See also Bullock (2013, pp. 113–128).

5. In the period 1931–1941 there was considerable suspicion of British communists facilitating espionage during the Nazi-Soviet pact but this attitude swiftly dissipated once Britain and the USSR became Allies. Similarly after the war ended, tensions ratcheted up again as each country drew its ideological battle lines. In fact documents show that even in the early 1930s the British Government had flagged up concerns surrounding the threat of the USSR.

6. The Peoples’ Convention was an initiative of Hammersmith Trades Council and Labour Party and Dennis Nowell Pritt. It called for a ‘People’s Government’ and was proposed by UK communist elements in 1940–1941.

7. In protest against what he considered an unfair and prejudiced diktat against Bush for political reasons Ralph Vaughan-Williams threatened to withdraw one of his own commissions from the BBC Proms.

8. As Erik Levi highlights in his chapter it should be noted that Vaughan-Williams’s position on this issue taken out of context could render a ‘grave disservice to a composer who worked tirelessly throughout his life to sustain a humanitarian stance towards the victims of political injustice and oppression.’ His defence of Bush by threatening to withdraw one of his own commissions from the BBC Proms following the BBC ban is but one example.

9. For an excellent and detailed study of the BBC’s music policies and programming see Doctor (1999). ‘Les Six’ group of composers refers to French composers Arthur Honegger, Francis Poulenc, Darius Milhaud, Germaine Tailleferre, Charles Auric and Louis Durey, whose music is often viewed as a reaction against Wagner and Impressionism.

10. That is to say that Henry Wood (1869–1944) and Rosa Newmarch (1857–1940) championed all composers but Soviet composers were not yet an established part of British concert life. Newmarch’s affiliation with the notoriously powerful Russian critic Vladimir Stassov under whose supervision she was when researching in Russia and who became a great friend arguably led to her having a nuanced view of contemporary Russian music. She was increasingly enticed by the music of Sibelius and after 1915 Slovakian music so broadened her advocacy to new areas.

11. In its early years the BBC grew at a phenomenal rate and by the end of its first decade, it was single-handedly Britain’s most significant music disseminator and the foremost employer of British musicians. There is a documented power struggle between this forward-looking organisation and the old music establishment. The music establishment’s attempts to challenge this reality and to exert influence over the BBC are considered at length in Doctor (1999).

12. The Bolshevik Party under Vladimir Lenin seized power and Russia became the world’s first communist state.

13. The Comintern, also known as the Third Communist International, was founded in 1919 with Grigori Zinoviev at the helm. He was succeeded in 1926 by Nikolai Bukharin who in turn was replaced by Georgi Dmitrov who headed the Comintern until its announced dissolution in 1943.

14. NA, KV2/3515.

15. The Society for Cultural Relations between the British Commonwealth and the USSR was set up in 1924. Its founders were eminent British and Soviet artists and intellectuals including E.M. Forster, John Maynard Keynes, Bertrand Russell, Virginia Woolf, Alexei Tolstoy and Konstantin Yuon. It operated in the 1920s and 1930s to encourage British–Soviet relations on a non-political basis. Following the dissolution of the USSR in 1992, the SCR changed its name to the Society for Co-operation in Russian and Soviet Studies (SCRSS) which remains its current title today.

16. VOKS (Vsesoiuznoe obschestvo kul’turnykh sviazei s zagranitsei, All-Union Society for Cultural Contacts with Foreign Countries) was a Soviet-run organisation in operation 1925–1958, and functioned as a Soviet propaganda vehicle. Outwardly it was responsible for promoting cultural contacts with foreign countries. Inwardly it was often used by Soviet intelligence to establish contact with various intellectuals, scientists and government circles that were generally unaware that they were dealing with Soviet intelligence officers rather than cultural contacts.

17. Répertoire Internationale de Littérature Musicale is commonly known by its acronym RILM, and is a global comprehensive bibliography of music scholarship.

18. Shneerson’s book O muzïke zhivoy i mertvoy, (On Music, Alive and Dead), 1960, contains a harsh critique of both Stravinsky’s music and writings. As Boris Schwarz commented, Shneerson’s evaluation of Stravinsky portrayed an unsurprisingly unsympathetic view of Stravinsky’s personality: the specific passages of writing Shneerson quoted were chosen for their controversy to a Soviet audience and served as an opportunity to ‘polemicize against Stravinsky’s opinions’ (Schwarz, 1962, p. 356). Despite his having a reputation for harsh criticism of some Western composers, Shneerson was equally well known in Russia for sharing his vast knowledge of contemporary foreign culture and for his efforts to further understanding among Russian readers, at a time when information of this nature was not readily available in the USSR. He was also respected as an authority on Chinese music. In 1968, the same year that Shneerson became president of the Soviet committee for RILM abstracts, he was elected a corresponding member of the Academy of Arts of the German Democratic Republic.

19. The article published in Sovetskaia muzyka in 1970 was re-published in Shneerson’s memoirs, (see reference above).

20. For the reception of both events, and discussion of Shostakovich’s reception history in Britain generally, see Fairclough (2007, pp. 266–296).

21. Andre Gide provides a fascinating first-hand account of visiting the USSR in the 1930s and particularly how foreign groups were highly organised and chaperoned in Gide (2007).

22. Authors such as Ludmila Stern and Michael David-Fox have written extensively on these types of trips designed to showcase the Soviet model. See Stern (2007) and David-Fox (2012).

23. During the dark period of purges known today as ‘Zhdanovshchina’, Shneerson came under criticism under charges of overpayment to composers. ‘Zhdanovschina’, named after its implementer Andrey Zhdanov describes the vicious purge on cultural figures and arts unions. In 1948 VOKS Chairman Vladimir Kemenov was accused of financial misconduct and disgraced and sacked. Mikhail Khrapchenko, head of the Committee for Arts Affairs was also dismissed. See Fairclough (2013, p. 44).

24. The London Labour Choral Union performed two of Bush’s songs: ‘Song of 1st May’ and ‘Song of the Hunger Marchers’ a Davidenko four-part song, a song ‘For democratic Spain’ and an choral work on text by Shelley; in second half a work by Eisler and ‘The Red Flag’.

25. Bush’s Piano Concerto was premiered in London, 4 March 1938, conducted by Adrian Boult (BBCSO). In his review Shneerson describes it as one of the major events of the season, notes Bush as a member of Labour Party since 1925, leader of London Workers’ Choir, president of WMA, author of mass songs and mentions the soloist and men’s choir in finale, who sing about capitalism and class solidarity.

26. There is also the possibility of letters having been lost.

27. Letter from Shneerson to Bush, dated 16/03/1939, Histon.

28. Letter from Shneerson to Bush, dated 01/12/1943, Histon.

29. Letter from Lydia Kislova (English Dept.) and Shneerson to Bush, dated 18/11/1942, Histon.

30. Letter from Shneerson to Bush, dated 06/03/1943, Histon. Khrapchenko and VOKS urged Stalin to undertake better cultural relations with the USSR’s former allies. For further information see Fairclough (2013) and Fairclough and Wiggins (2016).

31. Letter from Bush to Shneerson, dated 10/06/1939, Histon.

32. Letter from Bush to Shneerson, dated 29/06/1939, Histon.

33. Letter from Bush to Shneerson, dated 01/03/1939, Histon.

34. Letter from Shneerson to Bush, dated 16/03/1939, Histon.

35. The Soviet Composers’ Union came into existence in 1932, as part of a wider Stalinist initiative to form creative unions and in accordance with a Central Committee resolution ‘On the Reconstruction of Literary and Artistic Organisations’, issued on 23/04/1932.

36. Bush visited the United States in November 1938 where he met composers Aaron Copland, Charles Lomax, Marc Blitzstein, Nicholas Slonimsky and various political refugees including Hanns Eisler. See Schwarz (1983), for contextual knowledge of the United States.

37. For a detailed study and further insight into the importance given to creating a positive image of the USSR in the eyes of the rest of the world and in particular the West see Stern (2007).

38. The British Composers’ Guild was formed in 1944 to represent the professional interests of British composers. Alan Bush was Chairman of the Guild 1947–1948 and was its Treasurer in 1956–1957.

39. A transcript of the article intended for Sovetskaia muzyka is held at Histon.

40. Letter from Bush to Shneerson, dated 23/08/1946, Histon.

41. Letter from Bush to Shneerson, dated 14/12/1959, Histon.

42. Letter from Bush to Shneerson, dated 23/10/1960, Histon.

43. Letter from Bush to Shneerson, dated 23/10/1960, Histon.

44. Letter from Bush to Shneerson, dated 06/08/1963, Histon.

45. Composer Alan Rawsthorne accompanied Bush on the trip to the USSR.

46. Letter from Bush to Shneerson, dated 06/09/1963, Histon.

47. Letter from Bush to Shneerson, dated 06/09/1963, Histon.

48. British composer, pianist and musicologist Ronald Stevenson (1928–2015) was awarded the Harriet Cohen International Music Award for his Busoni centenary radio programme in 1966. Between 1970–1980 Stevenson gave 26 BBC radio programmes on Busoni and scripted, introduced and performed on a television programme dedicated to Busoni in 1974. Stevenson had several scholarly publications including Western music: An introduction (1971). His extensive work on Busoni awaits publication. Information sourced from the Ronald Stevenson Society http://www.ronaldstevensonsociety.org.uk/ accessed 26/07/2015.

49. Letter from Bush to Shneerson, dated 11/04/1964, Histon.

50. Bush was an occasional visitor to the USSR and his trips were not of a long duration so it is not immediately obvious why he needed even one Russian bank account.

51. Dmitri Shostakovich died on 09/08/1975.

52. For the purposes of this article and due to spatial constraints my summary here is bordering on an over-simplification of a complex and highly controversial issue. Shostakovich’s own son and daughter have corroborated the picture of Shostakovich drawn by Volkov as true, even if they do not believe everything about Volkov’s story of how he came to write the book. Some musicians, including Kiril Kondrashin, also believe in Testimony’s veracity, and Rostropovich sometimes said he believed in the essence of it, if not Volkov’s account.

53. See Fay’s chapters (2004, pp. 11–68).

54. Letter from Shneerson to Bush, dated 14/11/1979, Histon.

55. Letter from Shneerson to Bush, dated 14/11/1979, Histon.

56. I have found no further letters pertaining to this subject and it is not clear whether Bush had the article translated or not. It is possible he was beaten to it by another source since the matter attracted so much public interest.