This study analyzes the radicalization of art music in early post-war France in its broader socio-cultural and political context, pursuing two lines of inquiry. The first details the attitudes towards musical conservatism and innovation adopted by cultural strategists representing Western and Soviet ideological interests at the onset of the Cold War. The second, which draws upon the commentaries of Adorno and Sartre, recognizes that the Cold War generated a heightened political awareness among French musicians precisely when the social relevance of avant-garde music had become the subject of widespread debate.