“Formalism, Tradition, Folk Music”: The Vocal and Dance Ensemble of the Hungarian People's Army in Poland in 1952

Abstract After the Second World War, the Soviet Union did not simply squeeze the countries of the Central and Eastern European region into its sphere of interest and under its economic, political and cultural control, but also isolated them from each other in order to secure its dominance. The Kremlin's control was also reflected in weakening the established diplomatic relations. Politicians of the so-called people's democracies communicated with one another through Moscow, and the importance of the embassies was reduced by appointing mostly incompetent persons to diplomatic posts. In this light, the revival of Hungarian-Polish cultural relations at the end of the 1940s, including the exchange of artists between the two countries, deserves special attention. In addition to their diplomatic importance, the guest performances also provided an opportunity to discuss Soviet musical aesthetics. Based on archival press sources, my paper focuses on the two-week guest appearance of the Vocal and Dance Ensemble of the Hungarian People's Army in Poland. I wish to explore the ways in which leading representatives of the musical life of the two countries interpreted Soviet artistic decisions in 1952, and also their differing strategies of living up to the conceptually ambiguous ideal of Socialist Realist art.