Celebrating its 100th anniversary, this extraordinary series continues to amaze and captivate its readers with detailed insight into the lives and work of music's geniuses. Unlike other composer biographies that focus narrowly on the music, this series explores the personal history of each composer and the social context surrounding the music. In a precise, engaging, and authoritative manner, each volume combines a vivid portrait of the master musicians' inspirations, influences, life experiences, even their weaknesses, with an accessible discussion of their work-all in roughly 300 pages. Further, each volume offers superb reference material, including a detailed life and times chronology, a complete list of works, a personalia glossary highlighting the important people in the composer's life, and a select bibliography. Under the supervision of music expert and series general editor Stanley Sadie, Master Musicians will certainly proceed to delight music scholars, serious musicians, and all music lovers for another hundred years.
In this edition, Edward Garden assesses the operas, ballets, and other works against the background of Tchaikovsky's eventful life; his ill-judged marriage, his curious pen-friendship with his patron Nadezhda von Meck, and his relationship with Balakirev and other Russian composers. Garden also examines the conflicting theories on the manner of Tchaikovsky's death and has updated the bibliography and other appendices.