Musorgsky : his life and works / David Brown.
| Author/creator |
Brown, David, 1929-2014 |
| Format | Book and Print |
| Publication Info | Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2002. |
| Description | xvii, 391 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, music ; 25 cm. |
| Subject(s) |
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| Variant title | Mussorgsky : his life and works |
| Series | Master musicians Master musicians series. ^A260201 |
| Contents | Childhood and early years -- The making of a composer I -- The making of a composer II -- The early songs I -- Salammbô -- The early songs II -- St. John's Night on the Bare [Bald] Mountain: more songs -- The Marriage: towards Boris -- Boris Gudonov: composition and production -- Boris Gudonov: the music -- Life alongside Boris I: The Nursery completed -- Life alongside Boris II ; Khovanshchina begun -- Two relationships: Pictures at an Exhibition and Sunless -- Khovanshchina -- Songs and Dances of Death: last songs -- Sorochintsy Fair -- Final years -- Postlude: the century since -- Appendices: Calendar ; List of works ; Personalia ; Select bibliography. |
| Abstract | This is the largest study of Musorgsky to have appeared outside Russia. The book shows how Musorgsky, though essentially an amateur with no systematic training in composition, emerged in his first opera, Boris Godunov, as a supreme musical dramatist. In this opera, and in certain of his piano pieces in Pictures at an Exhibition, Musorgsky produced some of the most startlingly novel music of the whole nineteenth century. He was also one of the most original of all song composers, with a prodigious gift for uncovering the emotional content of a text. As the author illuminates Musorgsky's work, he also paints a detailed portrait of the composer's life. He describes how, unlike the systematic and disciplined Tchaikovsky, Musorgsky was a fitful composer. When the inspiration was upon him, he could apply himself with superhuman intensity, as he did when composing the initial version of Boris Godunov. Sadly, Musorgsky deteriorated in his final years, suffering periods of inner turmoil, when his alcoholism would be out of control. Finally, unemployed and all but destitute, he died at age forty-two. His failure to complete his two remaining operas, Khovanshchina and Sorochintsy Fair, the book concludes, is one of music's greatest tragedies. |
| Bibliography note | Includes list of works (pages 371-375), bibliographical references (pages 383-385), and index. |
| LCCN | 2002020154 |
| ISBN | 0198165870 |
Available Items
| Library | Location | Call Number | Status | Item Actions | |
| Music | Music Stacks | ML410.M97 B75 2002 | ✔ Available | Place Hold |