Jazz at Moscow conservatory

A jazz concert is due in the Rakhmaninov Hall of the Moscow Conservatory on June 5th. The event is intended as part of a joint Russian-German project called "Pages of Musical History of the 20th century." According to project organizers /which include the Center of Contemporary Music and the Moscow Conservatory/, the purpose of the event is to present the anthology of Russian and German musical avant-garde of the 20th century in its historical and artistic parallels. The whole cycle consists of 17 concerts, each being dedicated to a separate subject that was present in the music of both countries. The concert of June 5th is entitled "Jazz, a Degenerating Musical Trend in Germany and the USSR." Indeed, there was a period in the history of both countries when jazz aroused negative emotions. In 1938, Germany even organized an exhibition called "Moronic Music," which condemned a whole bunch of musical trends, including jazz.

At about the same time, the Soviet Union was engrossed in an ideological purge in the artistic sphere. Jazz, a musical trend that had come from abroad, was harshly criticized and labelled "the music of fat people."