Comparative repression: examples of musical repression by Hitler, Stalin, and Mao.

Abstract

This thesis examines acts of musical repression conducted in Germany, Russia, and China under the governments of Hitler, Stalin, and Mao. These countries and their repressive periods are compared in several different ways: the historical condition of these countries immediately prior to the repressive periods, the political philosophies of the leaders, the repressive methodology, and various examples of accepted and rejected music. Also, this study limits itself to a particular time span for each country. The evidence from Germany comes from the Nazi period (1933-1945), the repressive period in Russia is limited to "The Great Terror" (1935-1941), and the period in China focuses on the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976). Musically, examples are selected to represent accepted and rejected music, and many of the pieces are compoitsion that either began as political works or provoked strong political responses. The overall goal of such a comparison is the formation of a viewpoint that sees all of this music in its larger context, as music of repressions, and in its individual context, as music from each specific culture.