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Presents an American composer's impressions of the musical situation in the Soviet Union. Teaching of the music of old Russia and the classics of other countries to Communists; Irony of instilling a taste for music that expresses the bourgeois feelings of the nineteenth century; Permission of more freedom of composition in the State Conservatory; Creation of many instruments for the discovery of scientific facts that are of importance to music; Structure of the Persimfons orchestra which resulted from a misunderstanding in the attempt to communize music.

The acute problem of Russian music has raised many issues of artistic and political practice and philosophy deserving the closest study by anyone interested in Soviet Weltanschauung during the present transition from socialism to communism. The cases of Akhmatova and Zoshchenko, representatives of gunworthy" types of literature were different; one wrote egocentric love lyrics, the others "frivolous" short stories. The implications of the attack on these two writers were no doubt far-reaching but, in themselves, Akhmatova and Zoshthenko were not important.

The article discusses allegations that jazz musician Duke Ellington was a Communist during the 1930s and 1940s. It is said that Ellington unknowingly performed at events backed by Communist front organizations, including the production of his musical "Jump for Joy: A Sun-Tanned Revu-sical." The author says that such associations, including with the organization Hollywood Theatre Alliance, were due to Communist attempts to infiltrate liberal circles through an anti-fascist Popular Front.

The article relates communism with Germany's musical attributions. It notes the famous St. Thomas Church choir in Leipzig headed by cantor Johann Sebastian Bach from 1723 to 1750. As Kurt Thomas took the position last year, the East German government forced him to conduct a Communist tune, leading to the choir's canceled U.S. and West Germany tour.