Event overview
"Stalins Playlist". Frolova-Walker's current research strand is focused on the Soviet 1920s, the other on the music of Socialist Realism and its relation to Soviet power structures.
The issue of Stalin’s musical tastes has never undergone any scholarly investigation: it remains a preserve of popular literature, where fact is often mixed with fiction. In this paper, Frolova-Walker will approach it from one particular angle: the awards of Stalin Prizes in music, which are often seen by popular writers as a direct extension of Stalin’s personal preferences. Among the many surviving documents pertaining to Stalin Prizes, she has discovered lists of nominations which include Stalin’s own marginalia. Considering them together with relevant memoir literature will allow us to answer the question on whether Stalin was indeed routinely imposing his personal musical tastes on the nation.
Marina Frolova-Walker is Professor of Music History at the Faculty of Music, University of Cambridge, and Fellow of Clare College. She is the author of Russian Music and Nationalism from Glinka to Stalin (Yale, 2007), co-author (with Jonathan Walker) of Music and Soviet Power, 1917–32 (Boydell, 2012), and has written numerous scholarly articles and popular essays on Russian and Soviet music and culture. In 2014 she was elected Fellow of the British Academy, and in 2015 she was awarded the Edward J. Dent Medal by the Royal Musical Association for ‘outstanding contribution to musicology’.
About the series
The Music Research Series is designed to help postgraduate students advance their research and careers. The events stimulate exchange, hones skills, facilitates the creation of professional networks and helps to consolidate the department’s postgraduate community, all over a glass of wine! Attendance is strongly recommended for all postgraduate students (MA, MMus and PGR) in Music but of course undergraduates, music researchers, and visitors from across the college and the community are also most welcome to these public lectures.
Dates & times
| Date | Time | Add to calendar |
|---|---|---|
| 19 Jan 2016 | 5:00pm - 6:30pm |
Accessibility
If you are attending an event and need the College to help with any mobility requirements you may have, please contact the event organiser in advance to ensure we can accommodate your needs.
