{"product_id":"musorgsky-his-life-and-works-9780199735525","title":"Musorgsky: His Life and Works","description":"Modest Musorgsky was one of the towering figures of nineteenth-century Russian music. Now, in this new volume in the Master Musicians series, David Brown gives us the first life-and-works study of Musorgsky to appear in English for over a half century. Indeed, this is the largest such study of\u003cbr\u003eMusorgsky to have appeared outside Russia. \u003cbr\u003e Brown shows how Musorgsky, though essentially an amateur with no systematic training in composition, emerged in his first opera, \u003cem\u003eBoris Godunov\u003c\/em\u003e, as a supreme musical dramatist. Indeed, in this opera, and in certain of his piano pieces in \u003cem\u003ePictures at an Exhibition\u003c\/em\u003e, Musorgsky produced some of\u003cbr\u003ethe most startlingly novel music of the whole nineteenth century. He was also one of the most original of all song composers, with a prodigious gift for uncovering the emotional content of a text. As Brown illuminates Musorgsky's work, he also paints a detailed portrait of the composer's life. He\u003cbr\u003edescribes how, unlike the systematic and disciplined Tchaikovsky, Musorgsky was a fitful composer. When the inspiration was upon him, he could apply himself with superhuman intensity, as he did when composing the initial version of \u003cem\u003eBoris Godunov\u003c\/em\u003e. Sadly, Musorgsky deteriorated in his final years, \u003cbr\u003esuffering periods of inner turmoil, when his alcoholism would be out of control. Finally, unemployed and all but destitute, he died at age forty-two. His failure to complete his two remaining operas, \u003cem\u003eKhovanshchina\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eSorochintsy Fair\u003c\/em\u003e, Brown concludes, is one of music's greatest tragedies.\u003cbr\u003e Written by one of the leading authorities on nineteenth-century Russian composers, \u003cem\u003eMusorgsky\u003c\/em\u003e is the finest available biography of this giant of Russian music.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e David Brown\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Oxford University Press, USA\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 07\/15\/2010\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 416\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.37lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.26h x 6.42w x 1.08d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780199735525\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e 08\/29\/2010 pg. 24\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDavid Brown\u003c\/strong\u003e, now retired, was Professor of Musicology at the University of Southampton. The editor of the \u003cem\u003eNew Grove Russian Masters\u003c\/em\u003e series, he is the author of two major biographies of Russian composers, \u003cem\u003eMikhail Glinka\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eTchaikovsky\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eThis title is not returnable\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Oxford University Press, USA","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":39937646100595,"sku":"9.7802E+12","price":47.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0555\/9255\/0515\/products\/img_46f27a95-4370-44c9-ab71-79df9e838be1.jpg?v=1647994816","url":"https:\/\/bookstorenmore.com\/products\/musorgsky-his-life-and-works-9780199735525","provider":"Bookstore N More","version":"1.0","type":"link"}