The Russian Association of Proletarian Musicians or RAPM () was a musicians' creative union of the early

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

period. It was founded in June 1923, by Lev Shul'gin, Aleksei Sergeev, and David Chernomoridikov. 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 The New Economic Policy (NEP) () was an economic policy of the Soviet Union proposed by Vladimir Lenin in 1921 as a temporary expedient. Lenin characterized the NEP in 1922 as an economic system that would include "a free market and capitalism, ...

, encouraging ties to the West) favoured the

Association for Contemporary Music Association for Contemporary Music (ACM) (, ''ASM - Assotsiatsiya Sovremennoy Muzyki'') was an alternative organization of Russian composers interested in avant-garde music. It was founded by Nikolai Roslavets in 1923. ACM ran concert series and p ...

, which accepted western music. The RAPM would become an ideological and aesthetic opponent against the

. 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 Dmitry Borisovich Kabalevsky ( ; – 14 February 1987) was a Soviet composer, conductor, pianist and pedagogue of Russian gentry descent. He helped set up the Union of Soviet Composers in Moscow and remained one of its leading figures during ...

and

Aram Khachaturian Aram Ilyich Khachaturian (; 1 May 1978) was a Soviet Armenians, Armenian composer and conductor. He is considered one of the leading Music of the Soviet Union#Classical music of the Soviet Union, Soviet composers. Khachaturian was born and rai ...

. The main core of Prokoll, led by the leader of the organization, Alexander Davidenko, merged with RAPM in 1929. The RAPM sought to develop a musical style which evoked feelings of unison and solidarity. A typical example of this might be a choir singing in complete unison, with very little polyphonic variance: the unity of the singers would emphasize the notion of solidarity while the style would be reminiscent of folk music for the sake of accessibility. On 23 April 1932 it was disbanded, together with other unions, such as

Russian Association of Proletarian Writers The Russian Association of Proletarian Writers, also known under its transliterated abbreviation RAPP () was an official creative union in the Soviet Union established in January 1925. and both pro and anti-Bolshevik writers were targeted, notab ...

, by the Decree on the Reformation of Literary and Artistic Organizations.''Music for the Revolution'' by Amy Nelson, p.242

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