Böcker i Royal Musical Association Monographs-serien

L'incoronazione di Poppea is the most compelling of all early Italian operas and this has, in part, been responsible for the way in which it has become separated from its social and historical context. In this book, Iain Fenlon and Peter Miller show how an understanding of contemporary Venetian intellectual currents and preoccupations provides a key to the structure of the opera's libretto, the progress of the action and the points of emphasis in both the music and the text.

Looks at the life and works of Rosa Newmarch (1857-1940), one of the leading authority on Russian music and culture in late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century England. This title traces the details of Newmarch's busy life, followed by an overview of English interest in Russian culture around the turn of the century.

In 1946 Schoenberg wrote of Sibelius and Shostakovich, ''I feel they have the breath of symphonists.'' This book poses the question of what exactly that ''breath'' means in the context of Shostakovich''s 10th Symphony (1953). Written shortly after Stalin''s death, the work marks a turning point in the composer''s output and in the history of Russian music, heralding the possibility of a new creative direction for Soviet artists. David Fanning''s close analysis of the 10th sheds light on issues associated with the genre of the twentieth-century epic symphony, issues of structure and expression, unity and contrast. The book reveals how the work displays some of Shostakovich''s most effective strategies for confronting these issues.