Stravinsky : the second exile : France and America, 1934-1971 / Stephen Walsh.
| Author/creator | Walsh, Stephen, 1942- |
| Format | Book |
| Edition | First edition. |
| Publication Info | New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2006. |
| Description | xvii, 709 pages, 8 pages of plates : illustrations ; 25 cm |
| Subjects |
| Contents | Entr'acte: A house divided -- A gentle and a free spirit -- The poet of Montparnasse -- Graves of academe -- An enemy of democracy -- Death deals... -- ...and wins -- To the magic mountain -- The poetics of survival -- A house in the hills -- To earn is human -- The broad way and the strait gate -- Distant clashes of arms -- Orpheus in a new guise -- The eye of the needle -- The progress begins -- A family happy in its own way -- Death of a prophet -- The time-traveller comes ashore -- Count one, count two, count twelve -- Brief encounter -- Competition of the Gods -- An echo chamber by candlelight -- The eternal footman holds his coat -- Talking the book -- He hath set me in dark places -- The pilot fish at sea -- A strange concoction -- Largo al factotum -- Sinking the ark -- A guest in his own country -- The Sacre Papers -- The sacrifice of Sir Isaiah -- Smiling for the camera -- Final curtain -- A family affair -- A fine and private place -- But none do there embrace -- Stravinsky's works from 1935. |
| Abstract | This, the second and final volume of Stephen Walsh's biography of Stravinsky, begins in 1934, when the composer is fifty-two and living in France. Already regarded by many as the most important composer of his generation, Stravinsky is nevertheless at this point a fairly unhappy expatriate, all too aware of the war clouds beginning to gather. Though he still maintains a family life with his wife and children, much of his time is spent with his mistress, Vera Sudeykina, while traveling around Europe giving concerts in order to earn the money to support his dependents--which include a number of relatives. Composing, of course, remains the center of his existence. But changes are imminent: within only a few years his wife, Katya, will be dead, his family scattered, and Stravinsky himself, together with Vera, starting over again in America. This book follows the composer through the remainder of his long life, years during which he produces such masterworks as The Rake's Progress and Symphony in C, and achieves a new level of fame as a conductor and raconteur in his own right. With a command of sources in several languages and a keen feeling for accuracy in situations where truth and falsehood have become blurred, the author traces and illuminates Stravinsky's increasingly complex and often agonized family relationships along with his crucially important connection with his associate Robert Craft. The author is also, as a musicologist and critic, able to speak with knowledge and wit about Stravinsky's work, describing and assessing the composer's musical journey from the neoclassicism of his late French and early American periods, through his early essays in serial technique, and on finally to the astonishing intricacies of his final compositions. |
| Bibliography note | Includes bibliographical references (pages 679-686) and index. |
| LCCN | 2005047231 |
| ISBN | 0375407529 |
| ISBN | 9780375407529 |
Availability
| Library | Location | Call Number | Status | Item Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Music | Music Stacks | ML410.S932 W355 2006 | ✔ Available | Place Hold |