In the years 1917 to 1991, despite unfavorable prevailing conditions, there were outstanding achievements in the music created for the cinema in the Soviet Union. Perhaps in no other country was film music associated with so many distinguished composers: Sergei Prokofiev, Dmitry Shostakovich, Isaak Dunayevsky, Georgy Sviridov, Aram Khachaturian, Alfred Schnittke, Nikolai Karetnikov, Edward Artemyev, Edison Denisov, and Sofia Gubaidulina. They were ready to accept film directors'' invitations because they considered the cinema to be a perfect laboratory for testing the concepts and themes for future operas, symphonies, oratorios, and other large-scale compositions. A remarkable characteristic of Soviet film music was the appearance of successful director - composer collaborations, such as the famous ''duets'' of Eisenstein - Prokofiev, Kozintsev - Shostakovich and Tarkovsky - Artemyev. This fascinating volume is the first attempt at a historical analysis of Soviet film music - a unique and full