This paper will consider the various creative limitations that have inhibited Russian and Soviet composers throughout history. These restrictions will be classified into three broad areas: those of the self, those of culture, and those of government. As will be seen, individual Russian composers have been constrained in at least one of these areas. Consideration of important musical and historical figures, from the beginning of the 19th century through the later decades of the Soviet Union, will assist in presenting specific forms of restraint
