Anton Rubinstein: A Life in Music

The first modern biography in English of Russian composer-pianist Anton Rubinstein, this book places Rubinstein within the context of Russian and western European musical culture during the late 19th century, exploring his rise to international fame from humble origins in Bessarabia, as well as his subsequent rapid decline and marginalization in later musical culture. Taylor provides a balanced account of Rubinstein's life and his career as a piano virtuoso, conductor, composer, and as the founder of Russia's first conservatory. Widely considered the virtuosic heir to Liszt, and recognized internationally as an equivalent cultural icon, he performed with most leading musicians of the day, including Liszt himself, Joachim, Clara Schumann, Vieuxtemps, Wieniawski, Saint-Saens, and Ysaÿe.

"... Taylor has gathered hundreds of letters, official papers, reviews, and reminiscences. If Rubinstein remains a baffling figure, a least now there is a proper account of his paramount achievement - the establishment of the St. Petersberg Conservatory in 1862." --Simon Morrison, Princetn University, SLAVIC and EAST EUROPEAN JOURNAL, Vol. 53.2 Summer 2009

"All too often composers who are out of favor are given cursory scholarly attention or sometimes only a brief tome asserting the need for a revival of interest. British scholar Philip Taylor takes a great leap beyond this with his thorough, engaging account of the life of the unjustly forgotten composer--pianist Anton Rubinstein (1829--94).... [T]his book will appeal as much to the music scholar as to the music lover seeking to learn more about a unique and understudied artist.... Highly recommended." --Choice Indiana University Press Indiana University Press Indiana University Press

"... Intended for the lay reader, this densely footnoted but readable book features no musical analysis. It is a triumph of modern musicological scholarship recommended for all music libraries." --Library Journal

"... this is a valuable, much--needed and important study... I for one take my hat off to the author for a remarkable achievement." --Jeremy Nicholas, Gramophone

"Taylor writes with fluency, economy, precision and judgement, although he is characteristically modest about his aims: 'this author has tried to allow Rubinstein to speak for himself, adding commentaries, where necessary, for the sake of narrative structure and clarity' (p. xxiii). In doing so, Taylor has done us an enormous service, and certainly one which Rubinstein himself would have admired." --Slavonic and East European Review, Vol. 88.3, July 2010

A towering figure in late 19th-century Russian music, pianist-composer Anton Rubinstein (1829-94) was heralded in his day as the greatest piano virtuoso after Franz Liszt. Written in a conservative idiom and generally lacking originality, all but a few of his operas faded into obscurity within 25 years of his death. In this first modern biography of Rubinstein in English, Taylor (Inst. of Translating and Interpretation, UK) documents the musician's life and works-including his concert tours of Western Europe and America and his ideological fight for the high standards of Russian music-and provides an account of the Russian intelligentsia under Tsars Nicholas I and Alexander II. He organizes the eight chapters chronologically, beginning with a prolog on the historical background of 19th-century Russia. The five appendixes contain a list of complete works, synopses of Rubinstein's major operas, recital programs, a genealogy chart, and a selection of Rubinstein's writings on subjects ranging from aesthetics to morality. Intended for the lay reader, this densely footnoted but readable book features no musical analysis. It is a triumph of modern musicological scholarship recommended for all music libraries.-Larry Lipkis, Moravian Coll.Library Journal

The first modern biography of this virtuosic pianist and composer available in English

Philip S. Taylor, who died in 2007, was a member of the Institute of Translating and Interpreting, United Kingdom.