JAVS Spring 2026

comparatively little scholarly attention, despite their continued performance in Georgia and Russia. 48

pedagogy, a subject to be addressed in greater detail in the final installment of this series. 52 Beyond their educational value, these small-scale works also prove effective in recital programming. Their concise duration allows them to function as fillers within concert programs, as components of suites, or in dialogue with more familiar Soviet repertoire such as the Borisovsky arrangements of Shostakovich’s Gadfly Suite , Op. 97. Beyond practical considerations, these works help address the persistent absence of Slavic Romanticism in the standard viola canon. 53 Several practical challenges must nevertheless be acknowledged. Most of these works were published exclusively in the USSR, often in a single edition and within larger pedagogical collections, complicating access to the scores. 54 Once obtained, performers encounter materials presented almost entirely in Russian, which can paradoxically reduce accessibility for otherwise highly-accessible music. 55 Editorial bowings and fingerings—carefully curated by leading Soviet violists and pedagogues—may initially feel unfamiliar, yet they align closely with the expressive logic of the Soviet school and reward careful study. 56 Cultural distance may further complicate engagement, and it is hoped that this article can serve as a modest bridge, inviting informed curiosity rather than passive consumption. At a deeper level, engaging with socialist realist repertoire means diving into the very core of the Soviet oppression, and of intellectual terrorism. Even when the music projects warmth or joy, it remains a form of testimony—a negative image of the reality it was designed to mask. In this sense, socialist realist music offers a lived illustration of George Orwell’s dictum from 1984 , cited at the outset of this study: what appears peaceful may conceal violence, and what seems natural may be the result of enforced conformity. To study and perform this repertoire is therefore not to excuse its conditions of production, but to acknowledge the artists who worked within them. The ethical engagement proposed here does not lie in abstraction, but in sound. It unfolds in the act of practicing a lullaby, shaping a melodic line, negotiating an “agreeable” harmonic frame, or placing a small, forgotten miniature on a concert program. To listen closely, to play attentively, and to teach this music with historical awareness is to allow these works—however generic their surface may seem—to speak again. Not as propaganda, but as human music shaped by repression.

Khorumi (Georgian Dance) for viola and piano, first published in 1950, has become a staple of the Soviet and post-Soviet viola repertoire. Both virtuosic and immediately engaging, the work functions as a substantial showpiece while remaining technically accessible: it offers a constructive challenge for intermediate students and an effective encore for advanced performers (see Figure 13). Faithful to the Georgian dance referenced in its title, Khorumi is set in a 5/8 meter (typically subdivided 3+2) and built around an A-based Dorian mode. This modal language exemplifies a core socialist realist strategy: translating ethnically specific, often microtonal source material into a standardized, often diatonic idiom that preserves local color while ensuring broad accessibility. 49 Only in later Soviet decades did Caucasian composers begin to incorporate microtonality more explicitly, seeking a closer alignment between folklore and composed art music. 50 Conclusion As demonstrated throughout this article, small-scale socialist realist works—particularly the slower pieces— offer fertile ground for developing cantilena and lyricism. Their pedagogical effectiveness derives from the simplicity of their musical materials, most notably the stable tonal frameworks that allow students to focus on sound, intonation, and phrasing without constant adjustment to shifting tonalities. A similar logic governs the faster compositions, where (semi-)virtuosic figures are carefully framed in both duration and technical scope, remaining manageable while still fostering growth. Expressivity is likewise methodical: affects are clearly stated and shaped, verbally through titles and explicit score indications (often in Russian), and musically through widely legible (at list at the time) topoi such as galloping motion, cradle rocking, or folkloric ornamentation. As Rupp observes, these works are frequently perceived as “cinematic” or theatrical, since their musical elements readily evoke visual imagery—an additional pedagogical advantage. 51 From a technical perspective, articulations, rhythmic patterns, and left-hand challenges are clearly delineated, enabling a structured pedagogical process in which individual elements can be isolated, practiced, and reintegrated. This systematic design is a defining feature of the Soviet school of instrumental playing, including viola

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Journal of the American Viola Society / Vol. 42, No. 1, Spring 2026