Anton Rubinstein: A Life in Music

by Philip S. Taylor

Overview

The first modern biography in English of Russian composer-pianist Anton Rubinstein, this book places Rubinstein within the context of Russian and western European musical culture during the late 19th century, exploring his rise to international fame from humble origins in Bessarabia, as well as his subsequent rapid decline and marginalization in later musical culture. Taylor provides a balanced account of Rubinstein's life and his career as a piano virtuoso, conductor, composer, and as the founder of Russia's first conservatory. Widely considered the virtuosic heir to Liszt, and recognized internationally as an equivalent cultural icon, he performed with most leading musicians of the day, including Liszt himself, Joachim, Clara Schumann, Vieuxtemps, Wieniawski, Saint-Saens, and Ysaÿe.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780253348715
Publisher:	Indiana University Press
Publication date:	06/14/2007
Series:	Russian Music Studies
Edition description:	Annotated
Pages:	376
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.25(h) x (d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Philip S. Taylor, who died in 2007, was a member of the Institute of Translating and Interpreting, United Kingdom.

Table of Contents

Contents
Foreword by Leslie Howard
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Note on Transliteration
List of Abbreviations for Sources

1. Prologue: The Historical Context
2. Return to Russia and First Opera, 1848–53
3. Foreign Tour, 1854–59
4. The Founding of the Russian Music Society and Russia's First Conservatory, 1859–67
5. Europe and America Concert Tour, 1867–73
6. A Villa at Peterhof and Operatic Successes, 1873–85
7. The Historical Concerts and Second Term as Director of the St. Petersburg Conservatory, 1885–91
8. Dresden, 1891–94

Appendixes
Notes
Bibliography
Index

What People are Saying About This

Edward Garden

"Anton Rubinstein's multifarious activities as international virtuoso pianist, excellent conductor, important educator and prolific but inconsistent composer are considered in the context of his life by Philip Taylor. In this timely and well-researched book, he has given the Russian maestro his due after years of comparative neglect. Bravo!"--(Edward Garden, Professor of Music, Sheffield University (Emeritus))

Editorial Reviews

"A towering figure in late 19th-century Russian music, pianist-composer Anton Rubinstein (1829-94) was heralded in his day as the greatest piano virtuoso after Franz Liszt. Written in a conservative idiom and generally lacking originality, all but a few of his operas faded into obscurity within 25 years of his death. In this first modern biography of Rubinstein in English, Taylor (Inst. of Translating & Interpretation, UK) documents the musician's life and works-including his concert tours of Western Europe and America and his ideological fight for the high standards of Russian music-and provides an account of the Russian intelligentsia under Tsars Nicholas I and Alexander II. He organizes the eight chapters chronologically, beginning with a prolog on the historical background of 19th-century Russia. The five appendixes contain a list of complete works, synopses of Rubinstein's major operas, recital programs, a genealogy chart, and a selection of Rubinstein's writings on subjects ranging from aesthetics to morality. Intended for the lay reader, this densely footnoted but readable book features no musical analysis. It is a triumph of modern musicological scholarship recommended for all music libraries.-Larry Lipkis, Moravian Coll."—Library Journal

". . . this is a valuable, much—needed and important study. . . I for one take my hat off to the author for a remarkable achievement."—Jeremy Nicholas, Gramophone

"All too often composers who are out of favor are given cursory scholarly attention or sometimes only a brief tome asserting the need for a revival of interest. British scholar Philip Taylor takes a great leap beyond this with his thorough, engaging account of the life of the unjustly forgotten composer—pianist Anton Rubinstein (1829—94). . . . [T]his book will appeal as much to the music scholar as to the music lover seeking to learn more about a unique and understudied artist. . . . Highly recommended."—Choice

"Taylor writes with fluency, economy, precision and judgement, although he is characteristically modest about his aims: 'this author has tried to allow Rubinstein to speak for himself, adding commentaries, where necessary, for the sake of narrative structure and clarity' (p. xxiii). In doing so, Taylor has done us an enormous service, and certainly one which Rubinstein himself would have admired.Vol. 88.3, July 2010"—Slavonic & East European Review

". . . Intended for the lay reader, this densely footnoted but readable book features no musical analysis. It is a triumph of modern musicological scholarship recommended for all music libraries."—Library Journal

". . . Taylor has gathered hundreds of letters, official papers, reviews, and reminiscences. If Rubinstein remains a baffling figure, a least now there is a proper account of his paramount achievement - the establishment of the St. Petersberg Conservatory in 1862.Vol. 53.2 Summer 2009"—Simon Morrison, Princetn University

From the Publisher

. . . this is a valuable, much—needed and important study. . . I for one take my hat off to the author for a remarkable achievement.

Gramophone - Jeremy Nicholas

All too often composers who are out of favor are given cursory scholarly attention or sometimes only a brief tome asserting the need for a revival of interest. British scholar Philip Taylor takes a great leap beyond this with his thorough, engaging account of the life of the unjustly forgotten composer—pianist Anton Rubinstein (1829—94). . . . [T]his book will appeal as much to the music scholar as to the music lover seeking to learn more about a unique and understudied artist. . . . Highly recommended.

Choice

. . . Taylor has gathered hundreds of letters, official papers, reviews, and reminiscences. If Rubinstein remains a baffling figure, a least now there is a proper account of his paramount achievement - the establishment of the St. Petersberg Conservatory in 1862.Vol. 53.2 Summer 2009

Princetn University - Simon Morrison

Taylor writes with fluency, economy, precision and judgement, although he is characteristically modest about his aims: 'this author has tried to allow Rubinstein to speak for himself, adding commentaries, where necessary, for the sake of narrative structure and clarity' (p. xxiii). In doing so, Taylor has done us an enormous service, and certainly one which Rubinstein himself would have admired.Vol. 88.3, July 2010

Slavonic & East European Review

"... Taylor has gathered hundreds of letters, official papers, reviews, and reminiscences. If Rubinstein remains a baffling figure, a least now there is a proper account of his paramount achievement - the establishment of the St. Petersberg Conservatory in 1862." —Simon Morrison, Princetn University, SLAVIC and EAST EUROPEAN JOURNAL, Vol. 53.2 Summer 2009

— Simon Morrison, Princetn University

Slavic And East European Journal

"... this is a valuable, much—needed and important study... I for one take my hat off to the author for a remarkable achievement." —Jeremy Nicholas, Gramophone

— Jeremy Nicholas

Gramophone

. . . this is a valuable, much-needed and important study . . . I for one take my hat off to the author for a remarkable achievement.
—Jeremy Nicholas

Gramaphone