Composer biographies

[Mark Thomas]

I'm reading the newly published biography of Rubinstein by Philip S Taylor which I bought a couple of years ago but was only spurred on to start by all the Rubinstein talk here recently. It's a frustrating read. Taylor chronicles Rubinstein's busy life but goes into very little detail about the compositions. Indeed, only the major works are mentioned and even then there is absolutely no musical description or analysis apart from plot synopses of a few of the operas. I'd have thought a pretty thorough description of at least the major works would be essential in a book about such a relatively unknown composer. Taylor doesn't really talk about Rubinstein's style of piano playing either, or his teaching methods whilst head of the St Petersburg Conservatory. It's very odd. Rubinstein's marriage is only peripherally referred to and his death, apart from the date, not at all. All very unsatisfying.

On the other hand Jeremy Dibble's biographies of Parry and Stanford are models of their kind, an equal mix of biography and satisfyingly complete descriptions of their music. The same is true of Chris Fifield's book on Bruch and Brian Rees' life of Saint-Saens. I have quite a few others on my bookshelves but most of the rest, and particularly the older ones, pretty much skate over the music and concentrate on the life.

Does anybody have any recommendations for any other worthwhile biographies of the relatively unsung?

[thalbergmad]

I rather like a nice balance between life and works myself. One of my favourite reads is The Life & Music of John Field by Patrick Piggott. Some nice lighter moments as well, especially when Clementi & Field were found washing their own clothes in the sink as Clementi would not pay for it to be done.

If you are interested in Rubinstein, the excellent "From Paris to Peoria" by R Allen Lott covers his travels and concerts in America. As a bonus, you get to read about De Meyer, Herz, Thalberg and von Bulow as well. Informative and an eye opener as well.

Thal

[mbhaub]

I have a number that I have enjoyed very much.

Anthony Beaumont's on Zemlinsky.
Lewis Foreman's excellent one for Bax.
Edward Garden's bio of Balakirev.
Steven Smith's on Bernard Herrmann.
Adrienne Block on Amy Beach.
Norbert Tschulik's bio on Franz Schmidt. There is an English translation if you don't read German.

I pine for well-written biographies of Glazunov, Raff, and Ketelby (I can always wish).

[eschiss1]

Have already mentioned how much I like Walker's 3-volume set on Liszt, but also Self's book on Moeran (which a friend sent me by accident once- it's a story...) I liked very much. Both helped change my opinion for the music of their subject for the better, and were just generally excellent I think...
Eric

[Mark Thomas]

Yes, I'd forgotten about Walker. He's very good. Thanks for the suggestions so far.

[Jonathan]

Alan Walker's latest book is on Hans von Bulow.  I've read it and it too is very good.
His "volume 4" on Liszt - a translation of the diary kept by Lina Schmallhausen's of Liszt's last 2 weeks alive is also very interesting, if rather morbid.

[jerfilm]

Well this is not exactly a biography but it's one of my favorite books on music history - Harold Schonberg's "The Great Pianists:  From Mozart to the Present".  It chronicles many of our favorite composer/pianists of the 19th century with many good stories and anecdotes.  And of course, it's not really "to the Present" anymore as the author has been dead for some years.  Mostly 19th and early 20th century pianists.    Still available, I believe, from Amazon.

[albion]

For a really fascinating read, I would strongly recommend Malcolm Arnold: Rogue Genius by Anthony Meredith and Paul Harris (Thames, 2004). The turbulence and psychological complexity of the composer's life makes this a real page-turner.

[John H White]

Clive Brown's "Louis Spohr, A Critical Biography" contains numerous musical examples and, I would say is a must for anyone who wants to know more about that composer. I also enjoyed reading Hector Berlioz's autobiography sometime back although he, of course, does not qualify as an unsung.

[giles.enders]

I wonder if it is worth expanding on this thread and try and list the biographies of more unsung composers.  Many seem to be below the 'radar' and are hard to trace even with the help of Google. It would also be useful , to me at any rate, if a short critique such as that given by Alan were included.

[Mark Thomas]

I've just started reading an entertainingly well written, but thorough biography of Edward Macdowell. It's by E Douglas Bomberger and I can enthusiastically recommend it.

[kolaboy]

Emil F. Smidak's book on Moscheles (based on his diary and correspondence) is a wonderful - if far too brief - a read. I'd love to delve into the unabridged diary...

[Amphissa]

Personally, I don't really care if there is a lot of music analysis in a biography. Since I am not a trained musician and am not very good at reading music at all, I don't really care about the intricacies of a composer's music. I don't want to see pages of music with analytical discussion. That is the kind of stuff that should be in an appendix or supplementary volume, not a *biography*. A biography, by definition, is an account of a person's life. That's what I enjoy reading.

What I want are the *accurate* details about the composer's life and relationships with others, the social and political context, and his own perspectives on music and the world around him. For me, it's all about the life context.

Although it meets the definition of biography, it's hard to recommend Alexandrei Ikonnikov's "Myaskovsky: His Life and Work." It provides factual details, but wrapped in Soviet beatification. It was published in 1944 (the English translation in 1946) -- several years before his condemnation (along with Shostakovich, Prokofiev, et al) by the Union of Composers of the USSR for "formalism." That said, it does discuss the origins and basic ideas behind his works up until that time, and some of his influence while at the Moscow Conservatory.

[eschiss1]

I quite like the Ikonnikov though I admit that the newish biography? material? monograph? (only available in German and Russian) on Myaskovsky's symphonies probably supercedes it- haven't read it, have only heard of it and seen many references to it. (Hoping someone will translate it into English!)
One of my favorites lately I admit (for all its faults) -is- Walker's 3-part Liszt biography (some issues with its lack of application of scientific method in footnotes etc. - documentation that can't be accessed until after the author is deceased is not, erm, terribly useful or reproducible, let us say - but very, very much that I do like- coverage of issues more and less connected to the subject (analysis of the music, detail of his family history and life and writings and &c and &c- with new detail-some of which does seem to be more verifiable than what I just complained about - even a chapter-long description of context such as the 1848 Revolution which I did -not- know much about but which is important for understanding a work like Funerailles- for example, and of Wagner's exile. So yes, so much that I want in a biography -is- there...) As I see I already mentioned in 2010 in this thread- apologies. (Eep!)

(Haven't read -that- many bios of lesser-known Romantic composers- though IMSLP has a few uploaded, I think, including some autobios, of musicians from that era. Will have to contribute thoughts later, there, I think, or if I remember... Sorry 'bout.)

[John H White]

I've just remembered that, a couple of years back, Alan Howe produced a very readable translation of Helene Raff's biography of her father which I gather is still available via Mark Thomas along with Mark's catalogue of Raff's works at www.raff.org. Am I right Mark?