In 1967 Shastokovitch, the Russian composer, wrote a symphony titled October. The work was to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. In East Germany that year the Protestant Church observed the 450th anniversary of the Reformation. However, the dominant theme in East Germany that year was “Roter Oktober,” “Red October,” because of the dominance of the Russian government. The people were to celebrate their release from the yoke of Russian tsars and the freedom they had seized for themselves. What was meant to be freedom turned out to be a nightmarish era of oppression. One hopes a new era of freedom has dawned for the Russian people. However it will be, Shastokovitch’s work will abide as a reminder of how the hopes of a people were spelled out in song.

Song a…