Church Music and Atheistic Ideology in the Last Decade of the USSR

Abstract

Authoritarian societies that follow certain rules in the religious, cultural, and political realms tend to be little tolerant of other views and practices. There is a very revealing research niche for the study of “otherness” in the regulated fields of human activity. Yet, a niche within a niche is a study of historical or, in any case, former practices that come back to life after a gap of many decades. This is the case with church music of the last decade of Soviet history that has returned to artistic practice after a sixty-year ban. The article examines the socio-cultural circumstances that accompanied the creation of a number of works in various church genres written by professional Soviet composers, supported by a brief description of these works. Information about atheistic ideology, cultural doctrine, music management, and church life in the USSR completes the range of topics discussed.