The New Grove Russian Masters I: Glinka, Borodin, Balakirev, Musorgsky, Tchaikovsky

I decided to order this book as part of my growing collection of Russian music literature. In preparing various lecture recitals, an eventual DMA dissertation topic, and out of pure interest, I thought it necessary to an overview of some of the most important Russian composers of the 19th century. This book is essentially a leaner version of complete Grove (which is available in many volumes and online). The composers discussed include Glinka, Borodin, Balakirev, Musorgsky, and Tchaikovsky. Certainly this set of composers represents the development of Russian art as it tried to separate itself from the common European practices at the time. Each composer is discussed by highly-respected experts in the field, including Gerald Abraham, David Brown, Edward Garden, and David Lloyd-Jones. The writing is succinct, albeit a bit brief. The research, although it is quite incredible, is not the most recent in all cases, though the authors do explore many facets of the composers' lives, their compositional styles, their works, and their affect on and influences from other Russian and European composers. Each "essay" is divided into sections, for example, Tchaikovsky (Brown) is split into the following sub-categories: 1840-70; High nationalism, 1870-74; Increasing problems, 1874-7; Marriage: crisis and aftermath, 1877-8; Creative trough, 1878-84; Creative renewal, 1884-90; Last Years, 1891-3; Technique and style. In addition, there is a compiled works' list and bibliography at the end of each section (essay on a specific composer). My only complaint is that the book is indeed so short that is cannot possibly cover all the necessary content to give an in-depth portrayal of these great composers, much less a complete one. There are very few visual musical examples to accompany the written text. Of course, this book is only meant to be a cursory view of the larger subject matter. In that, it succeeds.