“There was no socialist Elvis”: Totalitarismo, comunismo, democrazia: la musica e la conquista della contemporaneità negli anni della sfida sovietica

Making history without talking about music becomes progressively more difficult as we climb the twentieth-century ladder year by year. This difficulty remains fully intact even if we investigate not social history but political history, deciding to leave out the long term and limit the discourse to mere événementielle narration. The historian's work is "complicated" by the evident intertwining of music and politics at the time of mass society, making it necessary to expand his sources to include audiovisual and, in particular, musical ones. The role of music proves to be absolutely crucial within the increasingly complex liturgies that are now necessary to synchronously address and involve a multitude of individuals. However important, this is not the only reason that drives the historian towards music and collaboration with musicians: in the contemporary world, music becomes strategic because of its ability to symbolically embody the spirit of a time, which makes it a de facto battleground for twentieth-century ideological clashes. If the Present is in fact the real "Winter Palace" of this quarter of a century, it is also true that the weakening of the perception, role and capacity to legitimise and mobilise the Past and Future proceeded in parallel with the maturation of the political 20th century. With the introduction, or if you like, the discovery, of the concept of hegemony, whoever manages to give shape, flesh and voice to the Zeitgeist controls the entire chessboard. In this context, the case of the Soviet Union offers a valuable example for exploring the object and dynamics of the exercise of hegemony in twentieth-century political systems.