Musical Collage as Nostalgia in Late Soviet Avant-Garde Music
Schedule
Tue Mar 31 2026 at 05:00 pm to 07:00 pm
UTC-05:00Location
Pastime Restaurant | Baton Rouge, LA
About this Event
The practice of musical quotation, borrowing passages from earlier works and incorporating them into new compositions, is far from new. The quotation of the Dies irae in Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique or the use of the B–A–C–H motive in countless compositions are just a few well-known examples of this rich compositional tradition. Musical quotation also appears prominently in the works of Soviet avant-garde composers, particularly Alfred Schnittke (1934–1998). In Schnittke’s music, quotation functions as more than a simple homage to the past; it serves as a powerful expression of nostalgia.
To demonstrate this argument, LSU’s Inessa Bazayev draws on Russian Constructivism (1915–1930s), an early twentieth-century movement in art and design characterized by collage, photomontage, bold colors, and geometric forms—techniques later appropriated for political propaganda. Like Constructivist visual art, Schnittke’s use of musical quotation operates as a form of collage within his often highly dissonant aesthetic. This technique not only renders his music more accessible to broader audiences but also evokes nostalgia for a past that never truly existed. Through selected works by Schnittke, such as String Quartet No. 3, Bazayev examines how his collage-based compositional approach contributed to the reception and acceptance of his music within Soviet musical society.
About the Speaker
Inessa Bazayev is the Paula G. Manship Professor of Music Theory and the music theory area head at LSU, where she has been teaching since 2009. Her research focuses on Russian and Soviet music. She has published widely in leading music theory journals and is currently working on a monograph on Prokofiev’s music, entitled Between Censorship and Innovation: Sergey Prokofiev, Soviet Propaganda, and the Making of a “Classic” Composer.
LSU Science Café is presented in partnership with Campus Federal Credit Union and WRKF.
Registration & Attendance Information
The event is open to the public, and advance registration through Eventbrite is recommended.
LSU Science Café is in-person only (i.e., no live feed) but will be recorded and posted on our YouTube channel.
Please print your registration ticket or have it readily available on your electronic device upon arrival.
Doors open at 5 PM. Event begins at 6 PM.
Where is it happening?
Pastime Restaurant, 252 South Boulevard, Baton Rouge, United StatesEvent Location & Nearby Stays:
USD 0.00
