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Overview
The emergence of Russian classical music in the nineteenth century in the wake of Mikhail Glinka comprises one of the most remarkable and fascinating stories in all musical history. The five men who came together in the Russian capital of St. Petersburg in the 1860s, all composers of talent, some of genius, would be—in spite of a virtual lack of technical training—responsible for some of the greatest and best-loved music ever written. How this happened is the subject of Stephen Walsh's brilliant composite portrait of the group known in the West as the Five, and in Russia as moguchaya kuchka—the Mighty Little Heap. Friends, competitors, and creative intellectuals whose ambitions and ideas reflect the ferment of their times, Mily Balakirev, César Cui, Alexander Borodin, Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov, and—most important of all—Modest Musorgsky, come wonderfully to life in this extended account.
The detail is engrossing. We see Borodin composing music while conducting research in chemistry (“he would jump up and run back to the laboratory to make sure nothing had burnt out or boiled over there, meanwhile filling the corridor with improbable sequences of ninths or sevenths”); Balakirev tutoring Musorgsky (“Balakirev could not remedy the defects in his pupil’s character, but he could confront him with works of genius”); Cui doggedly producing operas during breaks from his career as a military fortifications instructor. Musorgsky asserts his independence, moving from writing songs and the showpiece Night on Bald Mountain to the magnificent Boris Godunov, meanwhile struggling against poverty and depression. In the background such important figures as Vissarion Belinsky and Nikolay Chernïshevsky shape the cultural milieu, while the godfather of the kuchka, critic and scholar Vladimir Stasov, is seen offering sometimes combative support.
As an experienced and widely skilled musical scholar and biographer (his two-volume life of Stravinsky has been called “one of the best books ever written about a musician”), Stephen Walsh is exceptionally wellplaced to tell this story. He does so with deep understanding and panache, making Musorgksy and His Circle both important and a delight to read.
Product Details
ISBN-13: | 9780385350488 |
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Publisher: | Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group |
Publication date: | 12/03/2013 |
Sold by: | Random House |
Format: | eBook |
Pages: | 496 |
File size: | 5 MB |
About the Author
Stephen Walsh is a professor of music at Cardiff University and the author of a number of books on musical subjects. He was deputy music critic of The Observer for nearly twenty years. He now broadcasts frequently on BBC Radio 3 and writes reviews for a variety of publications. His two-volume Stravinsky is regarded as the standard biography of that composer. The first volume won the Royal Philharmonic Society prize in 2000, and the second was named one of the ten best books of 2006 by The Washington Post.
Table of Contents
Preface xi
1 Arrivals
Balakirev-Russia-The kuchka 3
2 The Father Figure
Glinka and His Operas 12
3 The Lawyer-Critic
Vladimir Stasov-Belinsky 24
4 The Officer and the Doctor
Musorgsky-Borodin-Dargomïzhsky-Study with Balakirev 37
5 On Aesthetics and Being Russian
Chernïshevsky-Stasov and theory-Modes of nationalism 51
6 New Institutions
Anton Rubinstein-The RMS and the conservatory-Reactions 64
7 First Steps
Oedipus-King Lear-A Prisoner of the Caucasus-Songs and passions 78
8 The Third Rome: The Clerk and the Midshipman
Moscow-Folk song-Herzen-Emancipation-Musorgsky at the ministry-Rimsky-Korsakov 93
9 Wagner and His Acolyte
Wagner in St. Petersburg-Serov and Judith-How the circle responded 107
10 An African Priestess and a Scottish Bride
The commune-Salammbô-Cui the music critic-WilliamRatcliff 122
11 Home Is the Sailor
Musorgsky songs-Rimsky-Korsakov returns-His First Symphony-Rogneda-The Bogatyrs-Balakirev's Folk-song collection-The Stone Guest begun 136
12 Life Studies
Romances and song portraits-Musorgsky and politics-Balakirev in Prague-The kuchka named 151
13 Symphonic Pictures and an Abstract Borodin's First Symphony-Tamara-St. John's Night on Bald Mountain-Sadko 165
14 A French Guest and a Stone One
Balakirev at the RMS-Berlioz in St. Petersburg-The classicist-More song portraits-The Stone Guest and the circle 180
15 A Child and an Aborted Wedding
Musorgsky and children-"With Nyanya"-Marriage 193
16 Outsiders
Antar-Tchaikovsky and the circle-Borodin songs-Lohengrin at the Maryinsky 206
17 History for the Stage
History plays-The Maid of Pskov begun-Boris Godunov 220
18 An Opera Performed, an Opera Abandoned
William Ratcliff staged-Prince Igor conceived-Prince Igor dropped-Balakirev dismissed-Islamey-"The Peep Show"-The Nursery 235
19 A Shared Apartment…
Balakirev in decline-Boris rejected-Boris revised-The Power of the Fiend-The Maid of Pskov-Borodin's Second Symphony 250
20 … and a Shared Commission
Professor Rimsky-Korsakov-The collective Mlada-The Stone Guest staged-Research on Khovanshchina 266
21 Three Tsars and a Tyrant
The Maid of Pskov staged-Boris excerpted-Work on Khovanshchina-Angelo 279
22 Toward New Shores
Boris staged "complete"-Golenishchev-Kutuzov-Sunless-Pictures from an Exhibition 293
23 Distractability
Rimsky writes fugues and a string quartet-Prince Igor resumed-More Khovanshchina 311
24 Dances of Death
Musorgsky the idealist and the drinker-Naumov-Songs and Dances of Death-Rimsky-Korsakov as editor 328
25 A Chaos of Operas
Angelo staged-Work on Prince Igor and Khovanshchina-Sorochintsï Fair-Rimsky's wind chamber music 341
26 Drowning in the Waters
Opinions of the kuchka-Balakirev rises-Musorgsky sinks-May Night 355
27 The Chemist in His Laboratory
Musorgsky as accompanist-On tour with Leonova-Borodin's First Quartet-Prince Igor continued-Khovanshchina almost finished 370
28 Death by Sunlight
In Central Asia-A Fairy Tale and Sinfonietta-The Snow Maiden-Musorgsky's last days 385
29 Heirs and Rebels
Musorgsky buried-Tamara completed-Borodin's Second Quartet and Third Symphony-Glazunov and Belyayev-The kuchka ends 398
Epilogue The Survivors 417
Notes 421
Bibliography 445
Index 449