SUMMARY:

The article analyzes the term “freedom” as an important concept in the history of Cold War music. This contested notion existed along two major axes of the prewar era: socialism versus liberalism and social freedom versus autonomy. These neat divisions between East and West began to unravel after 1953 when the different sides started to interact and reference each other. In presenting a case study of the “Moscow Troika” (a group of composers consisting of Alfred Schnittke, Edison Denisov, and Sofia Gubaidulina), this essay highlights the importance of communication and contact among individuals and groups in establishing notions of “freedom.”