Page "Sergei Prokofiev" Paragraph 27

In 1936, Prokofiev returned permanently to the Soviet Union ; his family followed a year later.

At this time, the official Soviet policy towards music changed ; a special bureau, the " Composers ' Union ", was established in order to keep track of the artists and their doings.

By limiting outside influences, these policies would gradually cause almost complete isolation of Soviet composers from the rest of the world.

Both Prokofiev and Shostakovich came under particular scrutiny for " formalist tendencies.

" Forced to adapt to the new circumstances ( whatever misgivings he had about them in private ), Prokofiev wrote a series of " mass songs " ( Opp.

66, 79, 89 ), using the lyrics of officially approved Soviet poets.

At the same time Prokofiev also composed music for children ( Three Songs for Children and Peter and the Wolf, among others ) as well as the gigantic Cantata for the 20th Anniversary of the October Revolution, which was banned from performance and had to wait until May 1966 for a partial premiere.