| Uniform title | Simfonicheskie ėtiudy. English |
| Contents |
A Slavonic liturgy to Eros -- Intermezzo I -- Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908) -- The maid of Pskov -- May night -- Snow-maiden (a tale of spring) -- Incantations -- Christmas Eve (a true-life carol) -- The problem of a city made visible -- Tale -- The legend of the invisible city -- Kingdom of Skomorokhi -- Intermezzo II -- The operas of Tchaikovsky -- The queen of spades -- Modest Petrovich Musorgsky (1839-1881): toward a reappraisal of his works -- Intermezzo III -- Igor Stravinsky and his ballets -- In lieu of a finale. |
| Abstract |
This book is divided into 19 essays, most of which were originally written for program booklets distributed during the 1921-22 season of the St. Petersburg State Theatre. The book's chronological coverage extends from the 1830s until World War I, with particular attention given to Glinka's Ruslan and Lyudmila, the operas of Rimsky-Korsakov, Tchaikovsky, and Musorgsky, and the first two of Stravinsky's ballets. Rather than provide his literate Russian audience with superfluous plot summaries and lists of characters, Asafyev instead created "psychological and stylistic" portraits. As a result, each work discussed emerges as a distinctive achievement as well as a means for examining one or more aspects of an unfolding national tradition. The translator provides a translator's preface and introductory essay that will acquaint the reader with the basic terms, concepts, and significance of Asafyev's operatic aesthetics, while extensive translator's endnotes give accurate score references and serve to illuminate the author's numerous literary and other allusions. With the new accessibility of this pioneering work, Anglophone readers--students, teachers, scholars, and music lovers alike--will have access to an insider's appreciation of Russia's multigenerational contributions to music for the stage. |
| General note | Translation of: Simfonicheskie ėtiudy. |
| Bibliography note | Includes bibliographical references and indexes (index of Russian operas, ballets, asnd principal roles; general index). |
| LCCN | 2007022973 |
| ISBN | 9780810857001 (hardback : alk. paper) |
| ISBN | 0810857006 (hardback : alk. paper) |
| ISBN | 9780810860308 (pbk. : alk. paper) |
| ISBN | 0810860309 (pbk. : alk. paper) |
