Textological Aspects of Musicology in Russia and the Former Soviet Union

Textological Aspects of Musicology in Russia and the Former Soviet Union
Author: Tatyana Naumenko
Publisher: Litres
Total Pages:
Release: 2021-01-18
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 504108422X

In this monograph, Tatyana Naumenko, Doctor of Arts and a professor at Moscow’s Gnessin Russian Academy of Music, looks at modern Russian musicology through the prism of texts representing it. She mentions subjects addressed in musicological studies, names genres of music that scholars preference to explore, and describes modern methods of research and criteria of assessment, largely with the aim of overcoming Soviet-era dogmatism. Special consideration is given to the writing of academic degree dissertations on music in the former Soviet Union and post-Soviet Russia. The Annex lists dissertations approved between 1970 and 2013.

Nikolai Medtner's Fairytales, Op. 31, No. 3 and Op. 35, No. 3

Nikolai Medtner's Fairytales, Op. 31, No. 3 and Op. 35, No. 3
Author: Maria Kurchevskaya
Publisher:
Total Pages: 80
Release: 2018
Genre: Piano music
ISBN:

"Based on the detailed analysis of Edna Iles's lesson notes (Medtner's only student after the composer's emigration from the Soviet Union), multiple printed resources on Medtner available in Russian and English languages, and the composer's own literary works, I created a performance guide to two lesser known Medtner's Fairytales: op. 31, no. 3 and op. 35, no. 3. In this guide, the concept of approaching a work as a whole (fil rouge), the principle of al rigore, and flessibile tempos, and the division of music into rounded and energetic types are explored. The topic of Narrative as a servant of pure musical content is discussed. Voicing principles necessary for clarity in dense, contrapuntal textures in Medtner's music are highlighted along with the concept of two-note phrasing, a cornerstone of Medtner's style. Finally, the diverse range of pedaling, that comes from Medtner's admiration of Scriabin's way of pedaling, is explored with recommendation"--Abstract.

Nietzsche's Orphans

Nietzsche's Orphans
Author: Rebecca Mitchell
Publisher: Yale University Press
Total Pages: 336
Release: 2016-01-05
Genre: History
ISBN: 0300216491

A prevailing belief among Russia’s cultural elite in the early twentieth century was that the music of composers such as Sergei Rachmaninoff, Aleksandr Scriabin, and Nikolai Medtner could forge a shared identity for the Russian people across social and economic divides. In this illuminating study of competing artistic and ideological visions at the close of Russia’s “Silver Age,” author Rebecca Mitchell interweaves cultural history, music, and philosophy to explore how “Nietzsche’s orphans” strove to find in music a means to overcome the disunity of modern life in the final tumultuous years before World War I and the Communist Revolution.

Nicolas Medtner

Nicolas Medtner
Author: Barrie Martyn
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 447
Release: 2017-07-05
Genre: Music
ISBN: 1351556355

Nicholas Medtner (1880-1951) has always been a neglected figure in the history of Russian music, and yet his friend Rachmaninoff considered him the greatest of contemporary composers. He wrote three fine piano concertos, more than one hundred solo piano compositions, including a cycle of fourteen sonatas fully worthy to be set alongside those of Scriabin and Prokofiev, and many beautiful songs. He was also a great pianist. Leaving Russia after the Bolshevik Revolution, Medtner lived for a time in Germany and France before finally settling in London, where he passed the final sixteen years of his life. The present work is the first to tell the full story of his eventful life and to consider in turn each of his compositions. The author has drawn on Medtner?s own correspondence and writings and collected the reminiscences of those who knew him personally to build a comprehensive picture of a great, if still largely unrecognised, musician.

Sergei Rachmaninoff

Sergei Rachmaninoff
Author: Valeria Z. Nollan
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 399
Release: 2022-10-03
Genre: Music
ISBN: 1666917605

Valeria Z. Nollan’s biography of perhaps the finest pianist of the twentieth century plunges readers into Rachmaninoff’s complex inner world. Sergei Rachmaninoff: Cross Rhythms of the Soul is the first biography of Rachmaninoff in English that presents him in the fullness of his Russian identity. As someone whose own life in Russian emigration ran in parallel ways to Rachmaninoff’s own—and whose meetings with the composer’s grandson in Switzerland informed her work—Nollan brings important cultural insights into her observations of the activities of this generation of creative artists. She also traces the intricacies of Rachmaninoff’s relations with the women closest to him—whose imprints are palpable in his compositions—and introduces a mystery woman whose existence challenges our established narrative of his life.

The Russian Piano School

The Russian Piano School
Author: Christopher J. Barnes
Publisher:
Total Pages: 264
Release: 2007
Genre: Music
ISBN:

An insight into the views on technique and interpretation of several of the twentieth century's greatest Russian teachers and performers.

Composer Genealogies

Composer Genealogies
Author: Scott Pfitzinger
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 629
Release: 2017-03-01
Genre: Music
ISBN: 1442272252

Throughout the western classical tradition, composers have influenced and been influenced by their students and teachers. Many musicians frequently add to their personal acclaim by naming their teachers and the lineage through which they were taught. Until now, the relationships between composers have remained uncataloged and understudied, but with enough research, it is possible to document entire schools of composition. Composer Genealogies: A Compendium of Composers, Their Teachers, and Their Students is the first volume to gather the genealogies of more than seventeen thousand classical composers in a single volume. Functioning as its own fully cross-referenced index, this volume lists composers and their dates, followed by their teachers and notable students. A short introduction presents the parameters by which composers were selected and provides a survey of the literature available for further study. Gathering records and information from reference books, university websites, obituaries, articles, composers’ websites, and even direct contact with some composers, Pfitzinger creates a valuable resource for music researchers, composers, and performers.