Musorgsky and His Circle: A Russian Musical Adventure

Musorgsky and His Circle: A Russian Musical Adventure

by Stephen Walsh
Musorgsky and His Circle: A Russian Musical Adventure

Musorgsky and His Circle: A Russian Musical Adventure

by Stephen Walsh

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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
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

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