Pyotr Tchaikovsky
- Author: Bullock, Philip Ross
Following Jonathan Cross's Stravinsky, another Oxford scholar, Philip Ross Bullock, has produced a no less fine study Pyotr Tchaikovsky to grace the Reaktion Books series of Critical Lives....
Pyotr Tchaikovsky
- Author: Bullock, Philip Ross
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Following Jonathan Cross's Stravinsky, another Oxford scholar, Philip Ross Bullock, has produced a no less fine study Pyotr Tchaikovsky to grace the Reaktion Books series of Critical Lives....
About
When Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky died of cholera in 1893, he was Russia’s most celebrated composer. Drawing extensively on Tchaikovsky’s uncensored letters and diaries, this richly documented biography explores the composer’s life in the artistic culture of nineteenth-century Russian society, revealing how he became a figure of international renown. Setting aside clichés of the composer as a tortured homosexual and naively confessional artist, this engaging biography paints a new and vivid picture of Tchaikovsky that weaves together insights into his music with a sensitive evocation of his inner emotional life. It contains accessible introductions to his key compositions, as well as suggesting less familiar works for readers to explore, making it essential reading for all those who enjoy classical music.
Contents
- Pyotr Tchaikovsky
Awards and reviews
Following Jonathan Cross's Stravinsky, another Oxford scholar, Philip Ross Bullock, has produced a no less fine study Pyotr Tchaikovsky to grace the Reaktion Books series of Critical Lives. Indeed, I realised all the more the value of the strict discipline posed by this brief format – succinct and concentrated as it is, penetrating to the essence of its subject
Short introductory lives of the great composers are getting thin on the ground these days, so its good to welcome one on Tchaikovsky which can be relied on to get its facts right. Philip Ross Bullock knows his Russian sources, and takes advantage of freedom from censorship to paint a more vivid picture of Tchaikovsky's homosexuality which clarifies how much he was, despite his disastrous marriage, happy in his own skin . . . The illustrations are piquant and well selected
Bullock distils a great deal of thought and breadth of knowledge into this slim volume, conjuring up a clear picture of its subject and written in a way that is both stimulating and illuminating
In his concise but pithy study of the composer, blending biography with a perceptive account of the music itself, Bullock explores the individual characteristics of each of the stage works . . . The account of the life into which the discussion of the works is so skilfully woven is no less considered and thoughtful . . . Bullock looks at the various possibilities, as he does everything else in this surprisingly comprehensive account, with complete expertise as well as fair-mindedness
This latest volume in Reaktion's Critical Lives series is concise, comprehensive, clear-sighted and thought-provoking . . . it is refreshing to find an eminently fair and perceptive assessment of Tchaikovsky's life and works
