Tchaikovsky's Last Days - A Documentary Study (Hardcover, New)

Do we really need a whole book that documents Tehaikovsky's final illness and rails against the theory that he committed suicide? Poznansky, author of an unsatisfying 1991 Tchaikovsky biography, assembles much of the relevant evidence here but fails to shape it into either a commanding argument or an involving narrative. Scornful of speculation that the composer took his own life to avoid a homosexual scandal, Poznansky contends that Tchaikovsky was comfortable with his homosexuality in later years; that a gay lifestyle was no great problem in upper-class, artistic Russian circles; and that the powers-that-be would have protected the great composer from any serious repercussions. The bulk of the book is a week-by-week chronicle of Tchaikovsky's last month (October 1893), chiefly presented through underedited excerpts from letters, diaries, memoirs, and newspaper reports. Poznansky points out that the composer was busy and cheerful, making future plans, prior to falling ill with cholera. He scoffs at "idle and naive" debate about the "'secret' programme" behind the Sixth Symphony (the "Pathetique"), which premiered two weeks before the composer's death. And he finds nothing improbable in the sketchy, inconsistent record of Tchaikovsky's illness, noting that he was hardly the only aristocrat to succumb during that period. Finally, the rumors of self-annihilation and coverup - including the familiar "Russian roulette" tale of Tchaikovsky insisting on drinking a glass of unboiled water - are elaborately, if not conclusively discounted. (He attributes such rumors to a bohemian milieu "fraught with a peculiar mixture of philistinism and libertinage and singularly prone to the perpetuation of all manner of gossip and real or imagined psychodramas.") Future biographers will appreciate the gathering of materials here, some of which Poznansky discovered in Russian archives. Non-scholras - aside from those with special interest in cholera - will find this an unengaging patchwork, without enough texture, drama, or ingenuity to hold the documentary pieces together. (Kirkus Reviews)

Tchaikovsky's death in October 1893 in St Petersburg, shortly after the premiere of his sixth symphony, The Pathetique, is one of the most thoroughly documented deaths of a prominent cultural figure in modern times. He was treated by no fewer than four physicians and surrounded by a group of relatives and friends. The official account of the circumstances of his death was that he died from cholera, possibly by drinking infected water. But almost since the day of his death there have been rumours that it was not accidental. It is alleged that Tchaikovsky was forced to commit suicide in order to avoid the scandal and disgrace of being unmasked as a homosexual. Alexander Poznansky is the first Western scholar to have gained access to the Tchaikovsky archives in Klin, Russia. He here provides much hitherto unknown documentary material - memoirs, diary entries, letters, and newspaper reports - and adds his own commentary on the status of homosexuality in nineteenth-century Russia and on various conspiracy theories that have been advanced to account for Tchaikovsky's death. His conclusion is that there is no factual evidence to support the notion that Tchaikovsky's death was brought about by anything other than cholera.

General

Imprint:	Clarendon Press
Country of origin:	United Kingdom
Release date:	October 1996
First published:	October 1996
Authors:	Alexander Poznansky (Librarian at Slavic and East European Collection)
Dimensions:	241 x 160 x 20mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Hardcover
Pages:	254
Edition:	New
ISBN-13:	978-0-19-816596-5
Categories:	Books > Arts & Architecture > Music > Composers & musicians Books > Language & Literature > Biography & autobiography > Film, television, music, theatre Books > Arts & Architecture > Music > Western music, periods & styles > Romantic music (c 1830 to c 1900) Books > Biography > Film, television, music, theatre Books > Music > Composers & musicians Books > Music > Western music, periods & styles > Romantic music (c 1830 to c 1900) Promotions
LSN:	0-19-816596-X
Barcode:	9780198165965

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