Abstract
This paper discusses the problems of the formation of composers’ schools in the former Soviet Central Asia and the Soviet Eastern republics in a totalitarian regime. Special attention is paid to the initial phase of the interaction between the professional music of the oral tradition in this region (maqam, mugam) and European forms of professionalism. Along with it the paper surveys the discussions in press around the development of the national musical culture. Self-Consciousness of the national musical tradition is highlighted as an important aspect of the development of the modern music in the Commonwealth of Independent States as well as in the manifestations of the composer’s personality.