The life of Musorgsky / Caryl Emerson.
| Author/creator |
Emerson, Caryl |
| Format | Book and Print |
| Publication Info | Cambridge, U.K. ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 1999. |
| Description | xxii, 194 pages : illustrations, portraits ; 23 cm. |
| Subject(s) |
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| Series | Musical lives Musical lives. ^A389495 |
| Contents | Childhood and youth, 1839-1856 -- Apprenticeship in St. Petersburg, 1850s-1860s: composers' evenings and the commune -- Conservatories, "circles," and Musorgsky at the far musical edge -- 1868-1874: Musorgsky and Russian history -- The 1870s: Musorgsky and death -- Beyond tragedy: the final years. |
| Abstract | When Mussorgsky died in 1881 in St. Petersburg at the age of forty-two, in poverty and relative obscurity, he was known for a single opera, Boris Godunov, and a handful of eccentric "realistic" songs. This brief biography amends many of the canonical interpretations of Mussorgsky as "victim," "martyr," and "savage genius." If his life was tragic, it is not only because he was misunderstood but also because he was impoverished: by the Emancipation of the serfs, by the loss of his parents and by loneliness, by his impracticality and his addictions. These very deprivations were instrumental in shaping his vision and the book emphasizes the psychological and socioeconomic factors that contributed to the composer's remarkable autodidactic rise and tragic, premature end. |
| Bibliography note | Includes bibliographical references (pages 188-189) and index. |
| LCCN | 98047948 98049662 |
| ISBN | 0521480094 (hardbound) |
| ISBN | 052148507X (pbk.) |
Available Items
| Library | Location | Call Number | Status | Item Actions | |
| Music | Music Stacks | ML410.M97 E42 1999 | ✔ Available | Place Hold |