November update

Hello folks - apologies for any lack of updates on this page, my thesis work has become extremely busy (see below). Here's some Weinberg-related news for the last few weeks.

Upcoming releases

Toccata Classics - Mieczysław Weinberg, Orchestral Music, Volume Two (Dmitry Vasilyev, Siberian Symphony Orchestra). Available from 4 December.

I'm tremendously looking forward to this release - featuring two premiere recordings, with Weinberg's last symphony, and an earlier symphonic work (recorded here in its premiere performance). The 22nd Symphony itself is fascinating - finished in the final few months of Weinberg's life, when he was bed-ridden with illness. It is dedicated to his wife, Olga Rakhalskaya, who approached the composer Kirill Umansky to orchestrate the work (Weinberg only managed to complete a piano short score, with a few instructions about orchestration). The Six Ballet Scenes paired on this disc is a fascinating work, containing some of the only surviving versions of several whole works that are now considered lost. Considering the success of the previous Toccata release of orchestral works, this CD is keenly anticipated.

Performances
The Detroit premiere of The Passenger has met with rave reviews - for a taste, see this interview with the conductor:

Conductor Steven Mercurio has tackled plenty of tough projects in his career, but Mieczyslaw Weinberg’s opera “The Passenger” posed a uniquely emotional challenge.

An opera about the Holocaust can do that.

Mercurio found that he couldn’t spend more than three hours at a time learning the score.

“Concentrating on life at Auschwitz was very fatiguing,” he says. “It was so disturbing that it weighed heavily on me, so I never worked on it at night because it would keep me up.”

While preparing it, Mercurio also was working on Verdi’s fire-and-brimstone laced “Requiem.”

“It was the only time I considered the ‘Requiem’ light,” Mercurio says. “It was like a sorbet after a heavy meal.”

Read the rest here.

Video links

The above video contains a concert and an excellent talk by Yuval Waldman, on Shostakovich and Weinberg's friendship. The event was organised by the YIVO foundation.

My own work
I am pleased to announce that my latest publication has been released - an article entitled 'Mieczysław Weinberg: Lines that have escaped destruction'.

The article is part of a volume released by the Council of Europe, based in Strasbourg, following an event in November 2013 titled 'Music in Concentration Camps'. The full title is:

Colloque 'Musique et camps de concentration', Amaury du Closel (ed.) (Strasbourg: Conseil de l'Europe, 2015). 

It is initially released on a PDF-CD, in a handsome release: 

As soon as I receive further information about how to acquire a copy, I'll be sure to post them on this page. 

Other than that, my thesis goes well. One more chapter left to tackle - then it'll be on a home-stretch of editing and revising, heading towards the final submission! In an effort to promote more scholarly work on Weinberg, I've uploaded a select bibliography of sources on his life and music - see here. It is my hope that scholars and researchers can share vital texts, and so start a dialogue. 

Weinberg Piano Quintet in Manchester

Tomorrow evening, the Quatuor Danel will be performing Weinberg's Piano Quintet, Op. 18, in Manchester. Joining them will be superstar pianist, Alexander Melnikov.

Weinberg's Quintet is one of his very best works. Hear the composer himself performing with the Borodin Quartet in this classic recording:

Details for the concert and tickets can be found here.

As a preview, here's my programme note for the concert:

Mieczysław Weinberg (1919-1996)

Piano Quintet, Op. 18 (1944)

I – Moderato con moto

II – Andante

III  – Presto

IV – Largo

V – Allegro agitato

Weinberg wrote his Piano Quintet between August and October 1944, at the age of 24. Barely a year after settling in Moscow, following his double escape from Nazi invasion (Warsaw to Minsk in September 1939 and Minsk to Tashkent in June 1941), he already had a blossoming reputation in the musical community of the Soviet capital. His Quintet is part of a larger group of chamber pieces written at prolific speed during the war years. Despite his youth, it is a formidable work, cast in five movements, similar to Shostakovich’s celebrated Piano Quintet of 1940. But whereas Shostakovich’s work is often contemplative in character, Weinberg’s Quintet is more extrovert as a whole. It is tempting to link the work’s serious tone to the war itself - Weinberg had left his family behind when he fled his native Poland – but unlike some of his later pieces, there are no concrete clues to this effect, such as quotations or self-quotations from songs. The piano part is particularly demanding, with several extended solos. A remarkable recording exists of the composer performing the piece with the Borodin Quartet – testament to his pianistic proficiency.

            The work’s opening phrase is immediately striking, with an austere tone that sets the mood for the first movement and the whole piece. The piano is pitted against the strings, with the quartet providing punctuating gestures to the piano’s weightier thematic statements. The dotted rhythm of the second theme allows the strings to dominate, but only briefly before the opening theme returns in a thunderous restatement.

            The second movement alternates a sinuous theme in the muted strings with a hectic solo from the piano. The latter’s triplet figurations rapidly expand to the whole ensemble, before reducing to a skeletal macabre texture, with the strings playing several eerie passages with the back of the bow – col legno.

            The third movement is a Presto that opens with muted flurries in the strings, soon joined by octaves high in the piano that create a feeling of tense expectation. This mood is shattered by a series of strenuous scales and trills, before a central dance section in which elements reminiscent of Klezmer and even a brief Chopin-esque passage for solo piano combine to emphasise the ‘cabaret’ feel already latent in the previous movement.

            The long-drawn Largo rapidly darkens the mood, providing a sobering contrast to the previous manic jubilation; its character is stark, verging on melancholic. A line of implacable octaves sets the tone. The first violin delivers a mournful solo, before a strident burst of major tonality in the piano. Energy accumulates, before a heart-rending flurry of passion. The quasi-recitative theme once again moves to the solo piano, before a morendo close. A contemporary reviewer described this movement as ‘disturbingly lyrical and deeply meditative’.

            With such contrasts already encountered, the final movement has several questions to address, which is does with a succession of strongly characterised themes. It opens with strident, almost machine-like pulsations, with aggressive interjections from the piano. Syncopated rhythms abound. The second theme is unexpected: firmly in the major, it presents a folk-like dance, playful and mischievous, like an east-European take on an Irish jig. The piano contrasts with a jazz-like canon, before the first violin reintroduces the opening movement’s first theme, taking up a thread that serves to unite the whole work. This is soon combined with the folk-like melody in an unsettling blend. The juxtaposition builds to become more jarring before a fiery restatement of the first movement theme in full. Energy dissipates for the work’s close, softly concluding in a troublingly inconclusive F major.

Daniel Elphick

September Update

Upcoming releases
The coming months promise a flurry of new and exciting recordings, with several attractive releases on offer.

Perhaps the most exciting of these is an upcoming release of a concert recording of Weinberg's opera The Idiot, based on Dostoevsky's classic novel. The opera was premiered in Germany in 2013 and has proven a surprise runaway success. I say 'surprise' owing to the opera's sheer length - this recording spreads across 3 CDs, and a full performance of the opera runs to just under four hours.
   However, with this release, the first commercially available recording of the opera, it is hoped that the work will receive more attention in English-speaking countries: it over-due a performance in the UK or US.

July/August Update

Dear readers - apologies for any lack of input on this blog over recent weeks - my academic work has started to fill almost all of my time (see below!). However, here's a few links to relevant events, releases and general titbits from the world of Weinberg to keep you going.

Releases
Probably the biggest story in recent Weinberg releases is the Russian label Melodiya opening their archives further, with two new CDs that are well worth investigating:

Melodiya - Weinberg Symphonies 5 & 10

Melodiya - Weinberg Concertos for Cello, Violin, and Flute

Of course, all of this music has previously been released long ago by Melodiya, but such releases have since become collector's items. With these new editions with an affordable price and attractive packaging, there is much to enjoy. The star factor of such artists as Kondrashin, Rostropovich, Kogan, Barshai, and more, is the icing on the cake. 

Upcoming release, featuring Weinberg's sonata for Double Bass

An exciting new release will be available in a few weeks. Karol Kowal and Katarzyna Brochochka feature on a new disc, featuring Brochochka's own compositions - and Weinberg's sonata for double-bass solo, op. 108.

Here's an email that I received from Kowal:

Dear Mr. Elphick,

I am writing to you to let you know about upcoming release of new CD with music by Mieczyslaw Weinberg. I am double bass player from Poland and my debut album featuring Weinberg's Double Bass Sonata op. 108 will be available soon. I hope you will find it interesting. As far as I know, there are only three recordings of this composition until now. I hope you will enjoy my interpretation of this piece, as well as other works included on the CD, which are world premiere recordings of bass music
by Katarzyna Brochocka.
The international distributor of this CD is Naxos, and the dates of the release are as follows:
Germany, June 26, 2015
http://naxosdirekt.de/items/werke-f%C3%BCr-kontrabass-316619
UK, June 29, 2015
http://www.mdt.co.uk/brochocka-weinberg-double-bass-works-kowal-katarzyna-brochocka-cd-accord.html
USA, Japan etc. July 10, 2015
http://www.amazon.com/Brochocka-Weinberg-Double-Bass-Works/dp/B00XUJM5FG
Booklet of this album contains the liner notes written by Peter Askim. Texts are in Polish and English.

Best regards,
Karol Kowal

Needless to say, I look forward to hearing this new recording of Weinberg's work.

Biographies of Weinberg's parents

The following biographies are taken from the six-volume book 'Leksikon fun Yidishn Teater', edited by Zalmen Zylbercweig, published between 1931 and 1969. There is an online project to translate the whole work into English, which can be found at the following website. 

The biographies make for fascinating reading, though they should be read with the following warning. Zylbercweig's book is well-known for its inaccuracies, reflecting the difficult circumstances with which it was written. The Yivo Encyclopedia page on Zylbercweig has the following caveat about the book: 

Zylbercweig’s encyclopedia, a monument to his extraordinary dedication, reflects both his scholarly limitations and the difficult conditions of his work. The volumes have been insufficiently edited and contain errors and imprecise data. Even more problematic is the matter of sources. Although he provides bibliographies of varying degrees of accuracy at the end of each article, much of Zylbercweig’s information is based on his subjects’ personal communications, often about their own careers. The longer articles typically consist of lengthy citations from insufficiently identified sources that can be traced, if at all, only with great effort. However, the Leksikon is also a vast source of social and cultural documentation.

Michael C. Steinlauf, writting for the Yivo Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe - link. 

Bearing that in mind, I here reproduce both biographies in their English translation, with a few of my own notes afterwards.

International Mieczysław Weinberg Society founded

An exciting new organisation has been created, with Irina Shostakovich as honorary president: the International Mieczysław Weinberg Society. The violinist Linus Roth, well-known to Weinberg enthusiasts for his excellent recordings, has played a large role in founding the group. Their website can be found here. They list the following mission statement:

The International Weinberg Society was founded to promote the music of Mieczysław Weinberg, to bring attention to his works, to encourage musicians to perform his music and make him known to a wider audience.

Its mission is to organise concerts, lectures, exhibitions and multidisciplinary events which are focused on Weinberg´s music and life, his close connection to Dimitri Shostakovich and his importance to classical music in the 20th century.

One of the Society´s objectifs is to contribute to the financing of recordings of his music, as well as the publication and translation of articles and books about his life.

This new organisation appears to be one to watch - it has the approval of numerous Weinberg supporters, including Tommy Persson, Thomas Sanderling, David Pountney, PeerMusic, Sikorski, The International Shostakovich Society, and many more. Any organisation dedicated to furthering recordings and publications on Weinberg's life and works has my full support and approval. 

Shmuel Weinberg's recordings

Shmuel Weinberg (1882-1943) was born in Chișinău, Moldova. He taught himself to play violin from the age of 7, and joined a touring theatre group in 1899, serving as violinist, conductor, and chorus master. The group toured round Eastern Europe, including an extended residency in Vilna. In 1914, Shmuel took up an invitation to join a troupe in Lodz, and two years later joined the Warsaw Jewish Theater. With this company, Shmuel conducted the orchestra for plays, evenings of music hall songs, and comedy revues. Shmuel wrote the music for several of the theatre's productions.

The Orchestra was of a good standard and focused mainly on incidental music, song accompaniments, and settings of Yiddish folk songs. 

Weinberg String Quartet No. 16, Op. 130 - Programme Note

Here's the programme note that I provided for the Quatuor Danel's concert at the Manchester Grammar School, 27/02/15:

Mieczysław Weinberg (1919-1996)

Quartet No. 16, Op. 130

I. Allegro

II. Allegro

III. Lento

IV. Moderato

The last time Weinberg saw his younger sister, Ester, she was limping into the distance, heading back to their parents’ house. In September 1939, the two siblings had fled from the Nazi invasion of Warsaw, heading east towards the USSR. Ester soon turned back because her shoes hurt her feet. Weinberg continued alone, and went on to reach the safety of the USSR. His parents and sister were later murdered in the holocaust.

            When Weinberg came to write his Sixteenth Quartet in 1981, he dedicated it to the memory of his sister, who would have turned sixty that year. It features a marked return to his Jewish heritage, as well as a new renewed interest in Bartók. The first movement opens with a striking passage for first violin and the lower voices give a chorale-like accompaniment that recurs throughout. The viola gives the second theme, with emphasised minor inflections. A process of thematic ‘darkening’ threatens to disintegrate the development section, an agitated feeling that lingers into the recapitulation. Even towards the movement’s close, ‘darkened’ versions of both themes provide a fractured sense of unease.

            A contorted scherzo and trio is presented in the second movement, with a character reminiscent of Bartók’s late quartets. The scherzo consists almost entirely of Weinberg’s signature musical motif, alternating fourths, with staggered entries evoking a clockwork mechanism. Towards the scherzo’s close, a contrasting lyrical theme with Lombard rhythms is given in the first violin. The trio section that follows is comparatively restrained and nostalgic. A ghost-like quality is sustained by an unusually wispy articulation - sul tasto, senza vibrato. The scherzo repeat interrupts this moment of tranquility, reintroducing the clock-like ticking from the movement’s opening.

            Weinberg’s mastery for solo string writing is deployed to full effect in the third movement. The first violin opens with a mournful singing line. The cello enters in a fugato-like texture, before the remaining two parts join also. A brief climax is reached before the procedure is repeated, with the first violin and cello starting once more. The viola and second violin enter in a similar manner, though with no climactic trajectory the second time round. A sombre sense of moral outrage is suggested during the movement, only to ebb away towards its close.

            The finale provides an uneven conclusion and brings Jewish thematic elements to the centre of attention. It opens with a sprightly waltz, together with an ‘Oom-pah-pah’ accompaniment. The waltz theme reaches a screaming climax, before the cello harks back to the second movement’s Lombard rhythm. The waltz and Lombard themes are juxtaposed together, before the music subsides to leave just the first violin – harking back to the beginning of the piece. A series of slow alternating chords brings the work to a gentle yet uneasy close.  

             

Daniel Elphick

The performance was a great success - the programme included Mendelssohn's Sixth Quartet (also dedicated to the memory of his sister) - and Schubert's Death and the Maiden - a rather nifty bit of programming!

March Update

This is just a quick post to link to some relevant news, photos, and an update on my work.

Performances

Perhaps the biggest news story in Weinberg circles is the success of 'The Passenger', with two different productions currently playing around the world at the moment. One is in Frankfurt, which been playing to rave reviews.

The other is at the Lyric Opera in Chicago, and has been receiving enormous amounts of praise. Quotes include:

'...the most amazing opera I have ever seen'.

'What a gift Zofia Posmysz and Mieczyslaw Weinberg have given to the world...'

'An overwhelmingly powerful production and performance'.

- Link to a wonderful storify collection of tweets and posts here.

The last performance in Chicago will be on 15 March - the next US run will be in Florida, 2016. The Passenger's wave of success continues. 

Reviews include: 

'Weinberg's music is most impressive in the quiet moments... while there are reservations to be had about the opera itself, the Lyric Opera has done itself proud with this show...'
- Lawrence A. Johnson, writing for Chicago Classical review - link.

'Miecyzslaw Weinberg, the most famous, prolific composer you’ve probably never heard of (1919-96), achieves something that in my many years of working with the Spielberg Shoah Project, I never imagined I would encounter: a work that, on the one hand, gets the cruel facts right, and, on the other, uses them to address universal ideas of morality, memory and love.'
- Anon, The Times Weekly - link.

'Nothing in Lyric Opera's searing production of Mieczyslaw Weinberg's The Passenger is more dramatic than the cover of the program, with its strip of three photos of writer Zofia Posmycz, whose novel was the opera's inspiration. '
- Deanna Isaacs, writing for Chicago Reader - link.

(For a much more negative review...)
'The question on my mind as I listened to the second act of Mieczyslaw Weinberg’s opera “The Passenger” at the Lyric Opera Tuesday night was: Am I listening to great musical art?
The answer, unfortunately, was “no.”'
- Bill Sweetland, writing for Newcity Stage - here.

An interesting point that I've picked up on - and that I'd love confirmation for from any readers who've attended the Lyric Opera performances - is that Marta appears to be billed as 'Marta/Zofia'. The portrayal of Marta literally as Zofia Posmysz always struck me as a flaw in Pountney's otherwise brilliant production - if they've now been so blatant as to write this in the programme, I'm surprised.

Photographs

Two previously unknown photos of Weinberg:

From a Sovetskaya Muzïka article, published 1960

From a Muzïkalnaya Akademiya article, published 1994

My own work
Progress on my thesis is going well (four chapters down out of six!). In addition, I have two different writing projects on the go at the moment - a report on Weinberg research for the DSCH journal, to be published in July, and a review of several recent Weinberg scores, to be released by Winter 2015.

I've been enjoying my teaching commitments this semester - including the chance to finally lecture on Weinberg's quartets! I've also been writing programme notes for the Quatuor Danel - including for a performance of Weinberg's Sixteenth Quartet, and for an upcoming performance of Tchaikovsky's String Sextet.

I also recently spoke at the Manchester PubHD event - where Doctoral Researchers get to summarise their work to a room of listeners in a pub. See their charming summary of my work below:

Our first speaker was Daniel Elphick, who spoke for ten minutes on Weinberg’s String Quartets.  We got to hear a brief history of Weinberg’s life, the society in which he grew up, and how the culture of the time reflected his music, and how his music is in turn culturally relevant. Some of Daniel’s work is about making Weinberg’s work available to present-day musicians, so that we can hear his music played again now.  Speaking of which, Daniel played excerpts from the String Quartets during his talk to illustrate the concepts he was presenting – this really livened things up, and thanks to the understanding nature of the landlord, we were allowed to play some more of this music during the interlude before the next speaker.

See the full report here. My thanks go to the organisers of the event - there are branches of PubHD in Manchester, Nottingham, and Leicester. 

The question on my mind as I listened to the second act of Mieczyslaw Weinberg’s opera “The Passenger” at the Lyric Opera Tuesday night was: Am I listening to great musical art?
The answer, unfortunately, was “no.”
- See more at: http://newcitystage.com/2015/02/27/review-the-passengerlyric-opera-of-chicago/#sthash.447cwLv4.dpuf

The question on my mind as I listened to the second act of Mieczyslaw Weinberg’s opera “The Passenger” at the Lyric Opera Tuesday night was: Am I listening to great musical art?
The answer, unfortunately, was “no.”
- See more at: http://newcitystage.com/2015/02/27/review-the-passengerlyric-opera-of-chicago/#sthash.447cwLv4.dpuf

New web article - Prof. Danuta Gwizdalanka on new Weinberg research

A new article has been released and the kind people at culture.pl have brought it to my attention. Authored by the brilliant Prof. Danuta Gwizdalanka, the article features new documentary evidence that brings several aspects of Weinberg's biography into question.

Link here - 'Unknown facts from Mieczyslaw Wajnberg's biography'

Gwizdalanka will be well-known to Shostakovich fans - she has authored several books on his life and music. She is also married to the composer Krzysztof  Meyer, who has himself written widely on Shostakovich. Both of them have also written on Weinberg's music - Meyer has spoken often about his respect for Weinberg, while Gwizdalanka is the author of the Polish-language book Mieczysław Wajnberg: kompozytor z trzech światów [Mieczysław Wajnberg: Composer of three worlds]. Her book is an excellent introduction to Weinberg's biography and it documents several new discoveries on Gwizdalanka's part - new evidence that is included in this culture.pl article.

Her book also catalogues the various discrepancies between spellings of his name - see my article here on the same topic. To summarise, the 'Wajnberg' option appears to be becoming more and more compelling the deeper I dig.

Weinberg's birth certificate and conservatoire application - courtesy UMFC archives, posted on culture.pl.

In addition to this spelling, Gwizdalanka also found evidence that throws Weinberg's date of birth into question - his application to join the Warsaw conservatoire, which lists his birthday as 17 January 1919 - instead of the more familiar 8 December 1919. She also found the copy of Weinberg's birth certificate that he requested in the the 1980s (the building that housed the original was destroyed during the war).

All of this is certainly extremely interesting (though I am perhaps tempted to conclude that Weinberg lied about his age in order to join the Warsaw conservatoire - especially since he celebrated his birthday on the 8 December date throughout his life).

Whatever you think of these documents, and the 'Wajnberg' spelling (I find myself increasingly tempted), Gwizdalanka's article certainly provides great food for thought.

January Update

Greetings to all readers, happy new year for 2015.

Here's a round-up of the latest Weinberg-related events, releases and resources for January 2015.

Releases

Weinberg - Chamber Symphonies Nos. 3 & 4, Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Thord Svedlund, Chandos records.

New production of 'The Passenger' in Frankfurt

There is an upcoming premiere for a new production of Weinberg's opera The Passenger, by Opera Frankfurt. The first performance will be on 1 March 2015. The production is directed by Anselm Weber and conducted by Leo Hussain.

From PeerMusic's press release:

A new production of the opera The Passenger by Mieczyslaw Weinberg is being premiered at the Opera Frankfurt on 1 March 2015.

Beforehand, a particular event has been arranged with Zofia Posmysz about her story the libretto is based on: The woman who has been the "Passenger" on 28 February 2015. 70 years after the rescue of concentration camp Auschwitz, this moving drama is newly staged as a plea against oblivion. Mieczyslaw Weinberg set in music what is rather beyond expression. "All who listen to a witness are going to be witnesses themselves." Elie Wiesel, Nobel peace laureate.

On the other side of the Atlantic The Passenger reaches after the Houston Grand Opera and the Lincoln Center Festival in New York in 2014, the Lyric Opera of Chicago now with its premiere on 24 February 2015.

David Pountney called his production "my most important cultural act". The director, who has been awarded the Cavalier Cross of the Republic of Poland, premiered the opera at the Bregenz Festival in 2010. Until its arrival in the US "his" passenger traveled over the Wielki Teatr in Warsaw and the English National Opera in London, where it was nominated for the Lawrence Olivier Award in the category of best new opera production.

The Baden National Theatre in Karlsruhe already presented a very successful new production of the opera The Passenger as German first performance in 2013.

We are wishing the Frankfurt staged Passenger a likewise huge success.

Further details for the production, including ticket bookings, can be found here. 

What's in a name? The case for Weinberg, Wajnberg, or Vainberg?

The story of Weinberg's music since his death in 1996 has often started with one key issue: how to spell his name. This might seem obvious, but in Weinberg's case, it is wrought with problems. There are several options, each with their own line of reasoning:

         Weinberg
         Wajnberg
         Vainberg
         Vajnberg
         Wainberg

This might not seem like much of an issue, but when it comes to things like searching archives or record labelling, the significance becomes apparent. As you might have noticed, I stick to the 'Weinberg' spelling, but even I am beginning to have my doubts about this option.

Of course, David Fanning's monograph on the composer uses the 'Weinberg' spelling, as does the Osteuropa 2010 issue, and the majority of western CD releases. 

In this article, I'll quote several authors on their reasoning behind their choice of spelling, before providing some further examples. The final choice, I believe, rests with the reader.

RMA Research Students' Conference, Bristol

I will speaking as part of this year's Royal Musical Association Research Students' Conference, held at Bristol University. My paper is titled '"Keepin' it Real?" Psychoanalysis and Socialist Realism', utilising several ideas from my current work on my thesis project (abstract below). I will speaking on Friday 9 January at 10:50 in the Albert's room at the music department of Bristol University.

'Keepin' it Real?' Psychoanalysis and Socialist Realism

Socialist Realism was an aesthetic doctrine enforced throughout the Soviet Union from the mid-1930s onwards. It was broadly defined as art that ‘depicts reality in its revolutionary development’. Socialist-realist art reflected the long-term goals of Soviet communism - not necessarily the everyday reality of life for Soviet citizens. In music this translated into works appealing to as broad an audience as possible, with emphasis on tunefulness, accessibility, and folk traditions. The complex layers of meaning in socialist realist music have often been noted. It can, however, be all too easy to dismiss socialist-realist music, opting instead for works that pushed against the trend. This is where my link between socialist-realist music and psychoanalysis emerges.

Utilising the writings and theories of Lacan, Žižek, and other post-Freudians, psychoanalysis has been gaining attention and significance as a fruitful and useful method for cultural-analysis, including music. Psychoanalysis questions constructions of concepts such as self, dialogue, society, and meaning, all through the gaze of a multitude of thinkers. It has proved particularly suited to music observed to be rich in  psychological meaning – including composers such as Schoenberg and Scriabin. Its methods are ideally suited to application for the joint world of politics-meets-kitsch that is socialist realism.

In this paper, I will be outlining some basic definitions of socialist realism, and of psychoanalysis. With these in place, I formulate an outline approach for analysis of socialist-realist works through the guise of various post-Freudian methodologies.