Rirsky-Korsakoy Tells the Story of His Life MunteaL Lars" By N. A Rimskykoraakoy. "Translated" from the Bihan imusedacise by Cant Vechten. "Martin: Seekers "26a"
Rimsky-Korsakov's autobiography, translated by J. A. Jolfe and edited! with an introduction. by Carl. Van} Vechten, is an invaluable storehouse! of facts for all who wish to know] the truth about Russian composers, their compositions and Russian mus feal life at the end of last century, is, in the author's own words, very "artlessly" written; in fact, so ely that no definite picture of the writer himself emerges. We get al Imuch more definite idea of others of Musorgski, untaught and despise ing education, of Borodin sharing his meals with his eats like a character Dickens, and of the partly fas-mating, partly repellent, personality of Balakirev, whose influence seems! to have been very much greater than generally " supposed. Another! thing that striker one with tragic force is the number of promising] Young men mentioned in' passing, who came to nothing and are dis: finissed with the brief comment: "He! went to the dogs" (or to the bad, [oF to the devi, as the case might be} "through din The men who made Russian music Jat the end of last century were a strange company. They seem to have been a very friendly and cheerfal body of men leading roost irregular lives, who occupied their spare ime in composition and in orchestrating each other's works in a ner resembling that of the legendary folk who gained a precarious livelihood by' taking in each other's washings and time is showing how precarious is the tenure of life of much' of their music, So casual were they in their way of working—starting on operas before the librettos were! fully sketched, tenting them up and! patching them up again—that it is wonder any coherent work ever resulted.
The question of Rimsky-Ko sakov's re-orchestration of "Boris Godonov" still gives rise to much controversy. Both sides will find ammunition "aplenty," as the trans-Tators like to say, in the full statements of facts which this book contains.
The translator has done his work well, bt he has a great fondness for} peculiar phrases, like "bow instruments" and "passages which are stricken out," and be prefers "to con" or "to sean," despising "to read." Personally, I find his way of transcribing Russian names rather trying, age of writing "Alyeksandr" of "Alexander," or "Pyetyerhof" in-Stead of the more homely "Peterhof," in spite of philological arguments in
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.