The Three Apostles of Russian Music looks at three figures in the Soviet avant-garde who led modernist music in the 1920s. Mosolov, Popov, and Roslavets were popular composers who are now unfortunately forgotten. These remarkable musicians produced compositions like the sensational machine music Foundry by Mosolov. The first symphony by Popov attracted musicians in Europe and America but was banned after the premiere, while Roslavets discovered serialism before Schoenberg, opening up a new trend in modernism. This book is the first study in English of the work, lives, and legacies of these "apostles" of the Russian avant-garde.
Gregor Tassie writes for Musical Opinion, Classical Record Collector, Gramophone, and has worked as a consultant for BBC Radio.
Introduction 1.The Young Paganini 2.The Revolutionary Messiah 3.The Prisoner of Tashkent 4.The First Symphony 5.Cinema and Theater 6.1948 and Decline 7.Man and Machines! 8.The Stage Works 9.Trial and Renewal Conclusion
Based on extensive archival research, this study explores the cultural background, lives, and careers of Soviet composers Nikolay Roslavets (1880-1944), Gavriil Popov (1904-72), and Alexander Mosolov (1900-73), all of whom are virtually unknown outside Russia.... Tassie describes the thought processes and accomplishments of these gifted composers in meticulous detail.... [W]ith this volume they are finally getting well-deserved attention beyond their country. Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals. * Choice Reviews * Gregor Tassie is inseparably connected with cultural figures of the Soviet Union and Russia. His biographies about such outstanding figures as Nikolay Myaskovsky, Kirill Kondrashin, and Yevgeny Mravinsky leave a huge impression, not only through the brightness of his language as a writer but also as a real expert whose works are interesting and informative to read. I am sure that his The Three Apostles of Russian Music: The Soviet Avant-Garde will be a huge success among connoisseurs, music lovers, and critics. -- Alexander Sladkovsky, Director and Conductor, Tatarstan National Symphony Orchestra Gregor Tassie' s The Three Apostles of Russian Music: The Soviet Avant-Garde is a welcome and insightful contribution to a vital but inadequately understood subject---the musical innovations and creativity in the decades immediately following the Russian Revolution and the careers of its major protagonists. Tassie integrates a vast knowledge of Russian history, politics, literature and art into his provocative, wide ranging and insightful account, built around the work and careers of Roslavets, Popov, and Mosolov, all composers who have too long been in the shadows. It is elegant, lucid and original, and will be of tremendous value to performers, scholars, and students. -- Leon Botstein, President and Leon Levy Professor in the Arts and Humanities, Bard College The Russian Avant-Garde was a brilliant phenomenon in 20th-century art that unified the greatest artists, poets, actors, and musicians and offered new hope in a changing world. After many years of neglect, for the first time Gregor Tassie presents this little-known group of composers who contributed hugely to world art. I hope this book will receive the widest possible acclaim and support. -- Andrey Zolotov, Russian Academy of Art
