A core addition to Music History supplemental reading lists

books:


	• Sergei Prokofiev: A Biography Harlow Robinson Northeastern, 2002 - 584 pages average customer review:based on 6 reviews view larger image
	for more information click here

highly recommended

popular biography that brings rewards

Robinson's is a useful popular biography of Prokofiev that is better researched and better written than any other English language bio of the great composer. Equal measure is given to Prokofiev's time in the West, and to his life after returning to Russia. There's much that's interesting here - a persistent exploration of Prokofiev's quixotic relationship with Diaghilev, generous delving into the composer's personal life, including especially some revealing passages on the almost uncharacteristic affection Prokofiev lavished on his children, and a resonant view of his work habits. Prokofiev's career disappointments were many, some even tragic, and the author doesnt beat around the bush, but the admirable thread of fierce devotion maintained by Prokofiev toward his own unquenchable musical purpose is thoughtfully argued by Robinson throughout the book, indeed it's one its strengths. The author even notes details of some of Prokofiev's foppish Parisian clothing that helped start him off on the wrong foot on his return to Russia. There are a number of subtle moments like that where one can discern the winning hand of a committed biographer. The importance of Prokofiev's canon of works is denied a hearing for the most part, but the book suffers little for that. The useful appendices include a chronology and a catalogue (by genre) of the composer's works, in addition to a healthy bibliography. I recommend this book for anyone just taking up the subject of Prokofiev. Listening again to the seventh Piano Sonata would perhaps serve more succinctly for the already initiated.

for more information click here

Riveting, and thorough

Thoroughly researched, well written, concise and to the point, full of facinating details -- this is a masterly biography of Prokofiev. I was riveted to this book from the first page to the last.

for more information click here

The Mind and Music of Prokofiev

Harlow Robinson spent years in Soviet Russia researching Prokofiev during the height of the Cold War. His research does not just include manuscripts and letters but also involves many personal conversations with those who knew Prokofiev and even with those who persecuted Prokofiev. As a result he navigates his way through Prokofiev's life with that added dimension of relating personally to those events. Robinson's writing is interesting and warm without being too academic or dry. This book seems to be intended for any real fan of Prokofiev. Lastly, this book really strives to explain some of the perplexities of Prokofiev's decisions. In particular, Robinson strives to explain why Prokofiev needed to return to Russia after his extended residence in Paris. This book is well worth the time to read.

for more information click here

A core addition to Music History supplemental reading lists

Sergei Prokofiev: A Biography by Harlow Robinson (Professor of Modern Languages and History, Northeastern University) is an exhaustive, detailed, scholarly, and documented account of the life, times, inspiration, and personal history of acclaimed Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953). A handful of black-and-white photographs and a brand new foreword and afterword by author Harlow Robinson enhance this reprint of the most thorough Prokofiev biography to be found in the English language to date. A superbly written, insightfully informated, and ighly recommended for anyone with a keen interest in the evolution of individual musical greatness as reflected in the life and work of a seminal European composer, Sergei Prokofiev is a core addition to any Music History supplemental reading lists and academic reference collections.

for more information click here

Well worth reading

Harlow Robinson's book is excellent; well worth reading. He strikes the right balance between the composer's personal charateristics and the body of his musical creation. The book is rich in detail, yet to-the-point; it is objective, yet reflects the complexity of this sometimes very unpleasant genius. It is perfectly comprehensible for the interested non-expert who has invested a good deal of time listening to Prokofiev's music, and seeing his movies, ballets and operas. As a Russian speaker familiar with every day speech and everyday life in the Soviet Union, I can say that Mr Robinson has a keen understanding of that culture, right down to having a very fine ear for transliterations. The composer is the Beethoven of the twentieth century: the one who has created the musical language which is so much a part of us that we take it for granted. Robinson brings us the man and the mind behind that language.

for more information click here

reviews: page 1, 2

The prolific creator of such classic popular works as Romeo and Juliet, Peter and the Wolf, and Cinderella, Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953) was one of the most important and influential composers of the twentieth century.

Drawing on unprecedented access to previously unknown or unavailable Russian-language sources, including extensive archival material, Harlow Robinson traces Prokofiev's extraordinary life from the fairy-tale world of Czarist Russia, through his many years abroad in America and Europe, to his perlexing permanent return to Moscow in 1936 under the Soviet Regime. That Prokofiev died on the very day as Josef Stalin, his principal persecutor, was the final irony of his intense and enigmatic career.

for more information click here

hot