Russian Association of Proletarian Musicians

The Russian Association of Proletarian MusiciansorRAPM (Russian: Российская Ассоциация Пролетарских Музыкантов, РАПМ) was a musicians' creative union of the early Soviet period. It was founded in June 1923, by Lev Shul'gin, Aleksei Sergeev, and David Chernomoridikov.^[1] RAPM's members advocated "mass songs" for choirs, easily accessible melodies that were often inspired by folk tunes, and which songs were often collectively composed. The RAPM initially had the task of liaising with composers, critics, educators and administrators sympathetic with the regime. However, it soon became clear to the founders of RAPM that the organization was outgrowing its role as an advisory body, and tensions grew between members. By 1924, Shul'gin and Sergeev left the organization, believing the content being produced was either too simplistic, or too inaccessible to actual workers. Sergeev and Shul'gin, along with most of the composers from RAPM would go on to form the Revolutionary Composers and Musical Activist group (ORKMiD). Left with few composers, the RAPM would deteriorate, as the political context of the time (the New Economic Policy, encouraging ties to the West) favoured the Association for Contemporary Music, which accepted western music. The RAPM would become an ideological and aesthetic opponent against the Association for Contemporary Music.^[2] Close to RAPM's ideology was the organization "Prokoll" (Production Collective of Students of the Moscow Conservatory), created in the mid-1920s, which included, in particular, composers Alexander Davidenko, Viktor Bely, Boris Shekhter, and later also Dmitry Kabalevsky and Aram Khachaturian. The main core of Prokoll, led by the leader of the organization, Alexander Davidenko, merged with RAPM in 1929.