47. Memorandum From the Assistant Director, Soviet Union and Eastern
Europe, United States Information Agency (Davies) to the Director (Rowan)1
Washington, June 15, 1965
SUBJECT
- Terry Catherman’s Comments
on Cleveland Orchestra and VOA
Reception
I am enclosing a copy of the excellent notes made by Dean Chamberlin of my office at
Terry Catherman’s debriefing
of June 10 on his recent six-week travels in the USSR as escort officer with the Cleveland
Orchestra. I urge you to read this document. Based upon my own
experience during one week in Moscow and Leningrad, I want to subscribe
in the strongest terms possible to everything Terry said. In this
document, we have the results of six weeks’ observation of the Soviet
scene by a thoroughly experienced and perceptive reporter, as summarized
by one of the best note-takers I have ever known.
At the risk of briefing an already significantly reduced version of
Terry’s remarks, I want to underline the four points he made which I
regard as the most important.2
1. There has been a considerable acceleration of the process of
relaxation (Terry’s fifth paragraph). This is particularly noticeable
when one has not spent any considerable length of time in the USSR for the past two years, as is the
case with me, and it is interesting that it struck Terry the same way,
since he left his assignment there only a year ago.
2. “People couldn’t care less” about Viet-nam and the Dominican Republic
(Terry’s sixth paragraph). We must take advantage of this widespread
popular attitude by finding every occasion to stress the prospects for,
and advantage of, increased Soviet (and Eastern Europe) contact with the
US and the outside world
generally.
3. The necessity of increasing the signal strength with which VOA Russian gets into the Soviet Union
(the second and third paragraphs on page 2). As Terry points out,
English is no substitute for Russian in the USSR. It is simply ridiculous that Worldwide English is
booming
[Page 137]
into this country,
while our Russian transmissions are not adequately audible in many
places. We are not getting full value for the time, money, and
intelligent effort being invested in our most important means of
communication with the peoples of the USSR.
4. In VOA Russian’s programming we
should devote more time to “more advanced forms of music” (Terry’s
antipenultimate paragraph), and less to jazz, leaving it to WWE to carry the burden of jazz
programming.
Enclosure
Paper Prepared in the United States Information
Agency4
Terry
Catherman’s Comments on Cleveland Orchestra and
VOA Reception
The orchestra was received most enthusiastically. . . “the Russians
were spellbound.” The tour went to Moscow, Kiev, Tbilisi, Erevan,
Sochi and Leningrad—(the same “tired old cities”). Sochi was
superfluous as it is a vacation city and has no concert-going
audience. Erevan is also a doubtful location. Some 600 more people
were admitted than there were seats and there were fist fights over
seats. It was “a roaring mess.” They came to see Americans rather
than to listen to the orchestra. The one hundred Armenian-Americans
trying to get back to the U.S. captured the sympathy of the
orchestra but of course nothing can be done about them. We should be
more insistent on insisting on an itinerary of our own choice.
By Soviet standards, this was the best organized tour we have ever
sent to the USSR. Hotel
accommodations were good, food all right. Only gripe was that the
mail wasn’t on time. For Terry it was a rather boring trip, as it
was so routine without any irritating incidents and no problems. But
he was left a lot of time to listen to VOA.
The last concert was in Tbilisi on May Day, the first time a foreign
group has performed in the USSR on
that day. This extra performance was requested by the Soviets who
came to Terry with the request and couldn’t understand why he, as
the Director, had to ask the Union
[Page 138]
musicians5 to take a vote as to
whether they would perform. Only incident was when a trombonist got
drunk and at 3:00 a.m. went into the main square at Tbilisi with a
tape recorder to tape the sound of a military convoy. He was
arrested but quickly released.
He thinks the orchestra was too timid in its selection of American
works. They were given good critiques all over the Soviet
Union—three or four in each city, in contrast to usual one or two
reviews for the whole country. He hadn’t realized how much Soviet
music is opening up. They are composing in 12-tone music,6 jazz is entirely respectable and accepted—and
almost as good as ours. They are very receptive to impulses from the
West and the orchestra should have brought some more advanced
compositions along with the classical repertoire. We should send
more advanced musical works with orchestras and also on the air.
The relaxation of the last two years is continuing; the Soviets are
taking life a lot easier. The orchestra just disappeared into homes,
dormitories, cafes each night—on invitation. Perhaps this is not so
much security relaxation as the fact that the Russians now have
better homes in which to entertain. The big housing effort is
catching up with demand. All of Terry’s friends now have their own
apartments.
There were no questions on Vietnam or Dominican Republic (“People
couldn’t care less”). Nor on U.S. race relations. Nor about the
spacerace (“all propaganda”). They seem glad that Khrushchev (“that bumptious guy
with the wild ideas”) has gone. They said Khrushchev had established
“micro-cities” (suburbs) and has let the middle of the cities rot.
Now the trend is reversing and they are building up the cities. No
one hesitates to mention Stalin—not true last year. They like to
talk about “the profit motive”—are all for it. They distrust the
Chinese and hate living near them. They know that U.S. standard of
living is better. We needn’t tell them that.
“Remember that in the USSR
everything is primitive—not sophisticated. They use 2 syllable
words; 5 word sentences; are more concerned with getting another
drink than discussing anything serious.”
Acquaintances of Terry told him that in their opinion the credibility
of VOA had improved greatly in past
year. Good we have taken cold war out of our programs.
The BBC is still ahead in signal
strength and program content. Their “Sketch Book from America” using
their own correspondents
[Page 139]
and Americans does a lot for us. From 5:45 to 6:15 every day they
have a news roundup and press review which is excellent. Peking
comes in strong but nobody listens—same with Paris.
Deutschewelle7 has an excellent signal and good audience.
Terry mentioned two reports on VOA
which are still useful: one by Scott Lyon who
accompanied Pro Musica said Worldwide English
came in louder and clearer and on more frequencies than the Russian
Service of VOA which was subject to
more interference from local radio stations and faded badly. A
report by Dexter Anderson, covered a trip
across the USSR. He said
non-Russian programs came in strong; Russian program signal strength
dropped off sharply as one moved away from Moscow. Both programs are
strong in Moscow.
Terry came to the same conclusion after listening every day to the
Voice. Worldwide English came in with a good signal and a good
program—especially the off-line commentators. The Russian Service
signal was weaker and the program more “monolithic.” But English is
not a substitute for Russian in
broadcasting to the USSR; too few
people understand English.
He questions the need for broadcasting two
VOA jazz programs at the same time.
Conover8 comes in strong
on WWE—turn the dial to VOA Russian and it is weak. Conover is
extremely popular—“every young Russian who can get near a radio
listens to him every night.” The Russian Service “hasn’t a chance of
competing with him.” A friend of Terry’s told him: “I don’t
understand a word of English, but I understand Willis.”
The Soviets are developing their own jazz idiom. Even in the hotels
they play it well. It is no longer forbidden fruit. Perhaps Russian
VOA should play less jazz and
direct its attention to “more advanced forms of music.”
Russian TV isn’t much good. Radio is
still the #1 medium. But Soviet music is getting better—the rest is
“still ham-handed.”
VOA policy of telling the truth
straight without invective is getting us more and more listeners.
And use of the American accent is paying off handsomely.
