Asymmetrical Oppositions and Hierarchical Structures in Soviet Musical Criticism : The Case of the Essay Collection Za rubezhom (Abroad) (1953)

Abstract

The immediate impulse for writing this chapter was a small work for bass voice and piano written by the famous Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich. The composition, whose text (aside from a quotation from Alexander Pushkin) was written by Shostakovich himself, bore a strange title: Preface to the Complete Edition of My Works and a Brief Reflection Apropos of this Preface.