Why is it important for an NA to consider an individuals cultural background when communicating with him?

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THE PURPOSE OF MY TRIP is to become ac

QUESTION: Tell us, please, about Dneprope- QUESTION: What languages do the Soviet Mario di Bonaventura, the well-known Ameritrovsk. (Morris Entine, Brooklyn, New York)

peoples speak? (C. Heverly, Arnold, Mary- can conductor, visited the Soviet Union at the ANSWER: Dnepropetrovsk (formerly Yekaterinoland)

invitation of the Copyright Agency of the USSR. ANSWER: The peoples of the Soviet Union speak

He is vice president and director of publications slav) is one of the Ukrainian Republic's major in

of G. Schirmer, Inc. and Associated Music Pubdustrial and cultural cities, with a population close about 130 languages. Ninety-one of the languages

lishers, Inc., subsidiaries of Macmillan, Inc. to a million.

are spoken by peoples with a population of at least It was given its present name in 1926 in honor of

10,000. Even those very small in number have their Grigori Petrovsky (1878-1958), a Ukrainian worker own language, for instance, the Kets--1,200 people,

quainted with Soviet composers and performand leader of the Communist Party and the Soviet the Orochi—1,100 and the Yukagirs-600.

ers," Mario di Bonaventura told me. He pulled out state, whose revolutionary activities were centered Regardless of population size, all languages have

a thick notebook listing dozens of Soviet comin the area.

equal status, and Soviet citizens are free to bring posers and their works. With some satisfaction The city's old name goes back to the time of Em- up and teach their children in any language. We he remarked that this "catalogue" he had com

Catherine the Great. To commemorate the have no state language that is fixed by law and is piled was the best one in America. He added, press annexation of the Black Sea steppelands and the required, say, for official documents or for school however, that it was far from definitive because Crimea, she ordered the founding of the city on the instruction.

it went out of date very quickly. "The Soviet Dnieper in 1783. Its industrial development began But equality of languages must not be confused

Union with its 15 republics is not a country-it is with equality of social functions. In the process of

a real continent. If you want to know its music, in 1884, when a railway built to link the Donbass

you must be familiar with many styles and nacoal mines with the ore deposits of Krivoi Rog communication between nations, the language of

tional differences and watch for many new combrought transport conveniently near. one inevitably takes on the function of an inter

posers and musicians. As small a republic as The city developed with particular vigor in the national means of intercourse. Without that, equal

Armenia produces cellists and pianists of very, years of Soviet power. Dnepropetrovsk's proximity cooperation of nations would be impossible. In our to coal, iron ore and manganese deposits determines

very high quality." country that language is Russian. 4. mnou

This example was just one of his conclusions its industrial character today. Ferrous metallurgy, According to the 1970 USSR census, of the 241.7 from a trip through the Transcaucasian republics. machine building and related branches are the prin- million people living in the USSR, 141.8 million In Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, di Bonaventura cipal industries.

gave Russian as their native language. In addition to stayed longest, for the Transcaucasian Spring The fascist occupation of the city (from 1941 to this, 42 million named Russian as their second

Festival, to hear performances of the past 10 1943) in the Second World War left its destruc- and fluent_language. (The Soviet Union's popula

years' most important works of Armenian, Geor

gian and Azerbaijan composers. tive mark, but Dnepropetrovsk was completely re- tion today is 254.3 million.)

The trip, he said, gave him the idea of publishbuilt in the early postwar years. It is regarded as During the years of Soviet power, each national

ing works of Armenian and Georgian composers one of the Ukraine's most beautiful cities.

minority not only acquired a written language of its once

in the United States. "Choral pieces, for instance, own, but was able to learn the native language at

I am sure would be of great interest to our QUESTION: How does one become a profes- school. Many gifted writers and poets who emerged

people." sional artist in the USSR? (M. Palamghian) from the ranks are read in countries all over the The American conductor was much impressed ANSWER: In general there are two roads for poten- world. Among them are Rasul Gamzatov, an Avar by the standard of performance at the festival. tial artists. They may begin by studying at a pri- and a People's Poet of Daghestan, Chinghiz Aitma- He had thought the Caucasus, an outlying area, mary art school, where art is the concentration but tov, a Kirghiz, and Yuri Rytkheu, a Chukchi.

would come nowhere near the standards of music the usual academic courses are an essential part of

centers like Moscow and Leningrad. To hear such the curriculum, or at amateur art studios connected QUESTION: Is it hard to get a job in the splendid musicians at the festival was therefore

a real surprise. with clubs, palaces of culture and Young Pioneer USSR? (Jack Courley, Sacramento, Calicenters. ure and

Di Bonaventura thought that the general standfornia)

ard of musical performance in the USSR was very As you might expect, only a fraction of these ANSWER: By the end of 1930, unemployment had

high. But he was especially struck by the number students become professional artists. Those who do, been completely eliminated in the Soviet Union.

of composers who were also first-rate concert complete their training at one of the country's 16 Since then, the demand for workers and specialists performers. "It is very interesting that so many higher art schools or 60 specialized secondary has outstripped the supply. That is why Soviet peo- Soviet composers are beautiful pianists: Rodion schools in Moscow, Leningrad, Kiev and other ple have no difficulty getting jobs.

Shchedrin, Arno Babadzhanyan, Sergei Slonimcities.

In both big and small cities all over the country sky, Boris Tishchenko.... These schools graduate easel painters, scenic de- you will find help-wanted ads published daily in

The Tbilisi festival was just one event in a very signers, illustrators, sculptors, art teachers and a newspapers and broadcast over radio and television. full program. Di Bonaventura went to operas and variety of specialists in the applied arts.

A person looking for employment goes directly to ballets, spent time in libraries, bought sheet music On graduation artists look for a job suited to

in the shops, listened to new compositions rethe local Soviet of Working People's Deputies or to

corded by Melodia and talked to Soviet comtheir talents or work independently. Their rights the employment agencies in every city.

posers, journalists, and critics. At the Moscow are protected by the Soviet Artists Union, which Anyone who takes a job in another part of the

Children's Music Theater he admired the energy has over 14,000 members. country or another city is entitled to an allowance

and wit of its director, 73-year-old Natalia Sats. The union has an Art Fund used, among other equal to a month's average pay

and wages

for travel At the editorial office of the magazine Sovetskaya things, to maintain studios where artists work on time (plus six days for packing). Travel expenses Musyka (Soviet Music) he discussed arrangements their own or on commissions. The greater number of the whole family, including luggage, are also for exchange of information with the American prefer to have their own studios. Their works are covered by the state.

publication The Musical Quarterly. All in all, he sold through art galleries belonging to the fund, and The employment department of every school has did his best to leave as few uncharted spots as they are paid on a contract basis.

possible on the map of the “Soviet musical conthe responsibility for placing its graduates. The needs The Art Fund also has Creative Endeavor Houses,

tinent." of the country, based on the state plan, are given which provide artists with facilities not only for

According to di Bonaventura, Shostakovich and consideration, but the objectives and abilities of the rest and recreation, but for creative work as well.

Prokofiev, “together with Stravinsky and Bartok, graduate are primary factors in job assignment.

are the four most frequently performed composers." He did not include Tchaikovsky, “because everybody plays Tchaikovsky."

Other Soviet composers performed in the United States are Aram Khachaturian and Dmitri Kabalevsky, said di Bonaventura. "And there are many other talented composers in the Soviet Union we in the U.S. do not know whose music, I think, would appeal to American performers and audiences. The job ahead is to make their works known in the United States. I hope I can help to publish young Soviet composers who are unfamiliar to music lovers in the U.S."

Mario di Bonaventura intends making a return visit to the Soviet Union, but next time as a conductor.