 |
 |
   |
|
|
|
|
ZemlinskyEditions
Review
This volume goes some way towards explaining why this never happened, and in Antony Beaumont the composer has found an extraordinary champion. By the 1980’s little was remembered of the man and his works; his papers and diaries were destroyed lest they fell into the hands of the Gestapo. It is therefore by dint of painstaking literary archaeology in Vienna and the United States (where Zemlinsky finally settled), that Beaumont has unearthed material enabling him to give us a detailed and affectionate portrait of this sensitive, consummate musician who produced some of the most beautiful music of the last century, particularly in his music for voice, pace even the great Richard Strauss. (Sample if you will, James Conlon conducting the Cologne Philharmonic with various artists singing a wonderful assortment of Zemlinsky songs, on EMI Classics CD 5 57024 2.) The author, who is a professional conductor, has been working on this comprehensive study for up to ten years. A by-product of this edition has been the fascinating Alma Mahler-Werfel: The Diaries 1898-1902 Beaumont claims that his objective was “essentially that of a performing artist in search of interpretative insights” and while it is true that there is much herein to engross the musicologist, the book is a beautifully written and moving testimony to an unjustly forgotten genius. - review by Stewart Grimshaw |
|
John Sandoe [Books] Ltd |
In the heady atmosphere of Vienna during the first decade of the Twentieth Century, Alexander Zemlinsky, composer, conductor, pianist, pupil of the great Brahms and later teacher of Schoenberg, was a much lauded figure. Great things were anticipated of him. Indeed, Schoenberg’s often misunderstood remark that “Zemlinsky can wait” was undoubtedly intended to imply that while others might still have some work to do, Zemlinsky’s immortality was assured.
Fax:
020 7581 2084