Russian composer Alexander Skryabin's life spanned the late romantic era and the momentous early years of the twentieth century, but was cut short before the end of the first world war. In a predominantly conservative era in the Russian musical scene, he drew inspiration from poets, philosophers, and dramatists of the Silver Age, a period of radical artistic renewal in Russia. Possessed by an apocalyptic vision of transformation, aspects of which he shared with other Russian thinkers and artists of the period, Skryabin transformed his musical language from a ripe Romantic style into a far-reaching, radical instrument for the expression of his ideas. This newly translated collection of the composer's writings and letters allows readers to experience and understand Skryabin's worldview, personality, and life as never before. The Notebooks of Alexander Skryabin features commentary based on original materials and accounts by the composer's friends and associates, dispelling popular misconceptions about his life and revealing the dazzling constellation of philosophies that comprised his world of ideas, from Ancient Greek and German Idealist philosophy to the writings of Nietzsche, and Indian culture to the Theosophical writings of H. P. Blavatsky. Close textual readings and new biographical insights converge to present a vivid impression of Skryabin's thought and its impact on his musical compositions.

Depicts the life of the Russian composer, Alexander Scriabin, and examines the influence of his mystical beliefs on his music.

This unique collaboration between a musicologist and two pianists – all experts in Russian music – takes a fresh look at the supercharged music and polarizing reception of the Russian composer Alexander Scriabin. From his Chopin-inspired miniatures to his genre-bending symphonies and avant-garde late works, Scriabin left a unique mark on music history. Scriabin’s death centennial in 2015 brought wider exposure and renewed attention to this pioneering composer. Music lovers who are curious about Scriabin have been torn between specialized academic studies and popular sources that glamorize his interests and activities, often at the expense of historical accuracy. This book bridges the divide between these two branches of literature, and brings a modern perspective to his music and legacy. Drawing on archival materials, primary sources in Russian, and recently published books and articles, Part One details the reception and performance history of Scriabin’s solo piano and orchestral music. High quality recordings are recommended for each piece. Part Two explores four topics in Scriabin’s reception: the myths generated by Scriabin’s biographers, his claims to synaesthesia or “color-hearing,” his revival in 1960s America as a proto-Flower Child, and the charges of anti-Russianness leveled against his music. Part Three investigates stylistic context and performance practice in the piano music, and considers the domains of sound, rhythm, and harmony. It offers interpretive strategies for deciphering Scriabin’s challenging scores at the keyboard. Students, scholars, and music enthusiasts will benefit from the historical insights offered in this interdisciplinary book. Armed with this knowledge, readers will be able to better appreciate the stylistic innovations and colorful imagination of this extraordinary composer.

Drawing on a wealth of unexplored sources, this biography offers the first comprehensive critical reappraisal of the life and works of Nikolay Myaskovsky. Zuk's account is far removed from Cold War clichés of the regimented Soviet artist or sentimental stereotypes of persecuted genius.

Though the Russian Symbolist movement was dominated by a concern with transcending sex, many of the writers associated with the movement exhibited an intense preoccupation with matters of the flesh. Drawing on poetry, plays, short stories, essays, memoirs, and letters, as well as feminist and psychoanalytic theory, Beyond the Flesh documents the often unexpected form that this obsession with gender and the body took in the life and art of two of the most important Russian Symbolists. Jenifer Presto argues that the difficulties encountered in reading Alexander Blok and Zinaida Gippius within either a feminist or a traditional, binary gendered framework derive not only from the peculiarities of their creative personalities but also from the specific Russian cultural context. Although these two poets engaged in gendered practices that, at times, appeared to be highly idiosyncratic and even incited gossip among their contemporaries, they were not operating in a vacuum. Instead, they were responding to philosophical concepts that were central to Russian Symbolism and that would continue to shape modernism in Russia.

A Russian novel which looks at childhood, seen through the eyes of a boy from the age of three to five years, in the 1800s.

No two people were more responsible for the current way lessons are taught worldwide than Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky. Both men had an important impact worldwide on how a person should be taught--starting in the last century and continuing today. Jean Piaget's Genetic Epistemology concentrated on the individual in learning. Lev Vygotsky's Cultural–Historical Theory concentrated on the social in learning. All over the world, teachers today use each man's ideas. Some use them at different times in their classrooms and others have learned to use them combined into the same lesson--bringing us to the crux of this book; namely, there are many lessons to learn by discovering the dynamics in the lives of both men. While both were from very different countries, there are many similarities in their lives. While most professors teaching introductory educational psychology courses focus on the difference in their lesson strategies, there are some remarkable similarities between their respective pedagogies. While differences in their families and countries were obviously significant, the two men differed surprisingly little in their pedagogical views and their basic ideas. Their similarities in views and ideas are due to the similarities in their lives. Chapter 1 looks at those similarities by looking at influences in their childhood. Chapter 2 observes their adolescence. Chapter 3 concentrates on young adulthood. Chapter 4 covers their postgraduate work. Chapter 5 traces the origins of their major ideas. For Jean Piaget, we look at the origin of chronological stages of development, the role of language, the role of the teacher, optimal mismatch, equilibration, error, and play. For Lev Vygotsky, we look at the origin of zone of proximal development, internalization, stage of development, "the social other," role of language, error, sociohistorical context of learning, scaffolding and play. Chapter 6 deals with how Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky were able to overcome adversity and the lessons that can be learned by such overcoming. Chapter 7 provides a new pedagogy based on the communications that Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky had with each other, noting the influence such communications had on their mutual ideas.