Musorgsky and His Circle
A Russian Musical Adventure
Published on 5. November 2013
496 pages
978-0-571-31114-9 (ISBN)
Description
The extraordinary group of Russian composers who came together in St Petersburg in the 1860s - long known as 'The Mighty Handful', but, as the moguchaya kuchka, better translated as 'the great little heap' - gave rise to one of the most fascinating and colourful stories in all musical history.
Stephen Walsh, author of a major biography of their direct successor, Stravinsky, has written an absorbing account of Musorgsky and his circle - Borodin, Cui, Balakirev and Rimsky-Korsakov. With little or no musical education they created works of lasting significance - Musorgsky's Boris Godunov, Borodin's Prince Igor and Rimsky-Korsakov's Sheherazade. Written with deep understanding and panache, The Kuchka, is highly engaging and a significant contribution to cultural history.
Stephen Walsh, author of a major biography of their direct successor, Stravinsky, has written an absorbing account of Musorgsky and his circle - Borodin, Cui, Balakirev and Rimsky-Korsakov. With little or no musical education they created works of lasting significance - Musorgsky's Boris Godunov, Borodin's Prince Igor and Rimsky-Korsakov's Sheherazade. Written with deep understanding and panache, The Kuchka, is highly engaging and a significant contribution to cultural history.
More details
Edition
Main
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
File size
4,24 MB
ISBN-13
978-0-571-31114-9 (9780571311149)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
11/2013
Faber & Faber
€37.50
Shipment within 15-20 days
Person
Stephen Walsh is a Professor of Music at Cardiff University, and the author of several books on music. The first volume of his major biography of Stravinsky - Stravinsky: A Creative Spring - won the Royal Philharmonic Society prize in 2000. Volume Two - Stravinsky: The Second Exile - was chosen by the Washington Post as one of the ten best books of 2006. He was deputy music critic of The Observer from 1966 to 1985. He now reviews for theartsdesk.com website and broadcasts regularly for BBC Radio 3.
Content
- Intro
- Landing Page
- Title Page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Preface
- CHAPTER 1: Arrivals
- CHAPTER 2: The Father Figure
- CHAPTER 3: The Lawyer-Critic
- CHAPTER 4: The Officer and the Doctor
- CHAPTER 5: On Aesthetics and Being Russian
- CHAPTER 6: New Institutions
- CHAPTER 7: First Steps
- CHAPTER 8: The Third Rome: The Clerk and the Midshipman
- CHAPTER 9: Wagner and His Acolyte
- CHAPTER 10: An African Priestess and a Scottish Bride
- CHAPTER 11: Home Is the Sailor
- CHAPTER 12: Life Studies
- CHAPTER 13: Symphonic Pictures and an Abstract
- CHAPTER 14: A French Guest and a Stone One
- CHAPTER 15: A Child and an Aborted Wedding
- CHAPTER 16: Outsiders
- CHAPTER 17: History for the Stage
- CHAPTER 18: An Opera Performed, an Opera Abandoned
- CHAPTER 19: A Shared Apartment .
- CHAPTER 20: . and a Shared Commission
- CHAPTER 21: Three Tsars and a Tyrant
- CHAPTER 22: Toward New Shores
- CHAPTER 23: Distractability
- CHAPTER 24: Dances of Death
- CHAPTER 25: A Chaos of Operas
- CHAPTER 26: Drowning in the Waters
- CHAPTER 27: The Chemist in His Laboratory
- CHAPTER 28: Death by Sunlight
- CHAPTER 29: Heirs and Rebels
- EPILOGUE: The Survivors
- Bibliography
- Index
- ILLUSTRATION CREDITS
- Plates
- About the Author
- Copyright
