Russian Opera and the Symbolist Movement, Second Edition / Simon Morrison.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Morrison, Simon Alexander, 1964- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Opera--Russia (Federation)--20th century.

Opera.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (328 p.)

Edition:

Second edition.

Place of Publication:

Oakland, California : University of California Press, [2019]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

Acclaimed for treading new ground in operatic studies of the period, Simon Morrison's influential and now-classic text explores music and the occult during the Russian Symbolist movement. Including previously unavailable archival materials about Prokofiev and Tchaikovsky, this wholly revised edition is both up to date and revelatory. Topics range from decadence to pantheism, musical devilry to narcotic-infused evocations of heaven, the influence of Wagner, and the significance of contemporaneous Russian literature. Symbolism tested boundaries and reached for extremes so as to imagine art uniting people, facilitating communion with nature, and ultimately transcending reality. Within this framework, Morrison examines four lesser-known works by canonical composers-Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov, Alexander Scriabin, and Sergey Prokofiev-and in this new edition also considers Alexandre Gretchaninoff's Sister Beatrice and Alexander Kastalsky's Klara Milich, while also making the case for reviving Vladimir Rebikov's The Christmas Tree.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Acknowledgments

A note on transliteration and dates

Introduction

1. Decadence: Tchaikovsky at the Edge

Interlude. Symbolism's Nutcracker

2. Syncretism: Rimsky-Korsakov and Belsky

Interlude. Klara Milich

3.Theurgy: Scriabin and the Impossible

Interlude. Another Church Musician Writes an Opera

4. Mimesis: Prokofiev's Demons

Conclusion

Notes

Index

Notes:

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 06. Apr 2020)

Description based on print version record.

Includes index.

ISBN:

9780520421080

0520421086

9780520973558

0520973550

OCLC:

1125186017