The book is the first to attempt to reconstruct the history of the reception of classical musical heritage in the Soviet era. Its material consists of both music-critical and musicological works, as well as political documents, musical, literary and cinematic works, sources on the history of the Soviet theater, interpreting the meanings of classical music through various means. The principles and mechanisms of the “reduction” of the classical heritage carried out in the Soviet era, its influence on the perception of music by mass listeners and on Soviet art itself, and its role in the acquisition of the identity “Soviet culture” are considered. The historical context in which the massification of “musical classics” took place in Soviet culture and the formation of its image, which in many ways remains effective in the mass consciousness today, is analyzed.