Richard Taruskin (1945–2022) was professor emeritus of music at the University of California, Berkeley, and a regular contributor to the New Republic, the New York Times, the New York Review of Books, and Opera News. His books include Musorgsky: Eight Essays and an Epilogue (Princeton), Opera and Drama in Russia, and Stravinsky and the Russian Traditions.

One of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles for 1997 "A passionate vision of what Russian music has meant both as an expression and as a shaping force of the country's character... [Taruskin is] an exceptionally gifted critic... [T]he connections between technique and expression are formidably argued, and it is the capacity to do this, with patience and depth of understanding and with a vast knowledge of the literature, that gives Taruskin's criticism its quality."--John Warrack, Time Literary Supplement "Taruskin's work is far too rich and multi-layered, steeped in Russian intellectual history, literature, and culture, even to synopsize in a short review... His newest book is essential for musicologists wishing to understand Russia's place in music, and for Slavists wishing to understand music's place in Russia."--Robert W. Oldani, The Russian Review "More than a musicologist, Richard Taruskin is a cultural critic who deserves non-scholarly readers. His brilliant and alarmingly timely book Defining Russia Musically is about the battle for a nation's soul--fought between Europe and Asia, modernity and primitivism--in the music of Tchaikovsky and Shostakovich."--Peter Conrad, The Observer "Taruskin's hallmarks are evident throughout: research of almost astonishing breadth, impatience with facile views and those who propound them, and contempt for formalist modes of analysis that ignore the extramusical. This is an important, challenging book; no other book in English covers this ground with equal depth or brilliance."--Choice "When this controversial book first appeared in hardback, it sparked a debate ... both because of and despite the way it tore into big names in the musicological world. Now it seems like a landmark... Richard Taruskin raises important questions about how cultural and artistic judgements are made."--Literary Review

• Others: A Mythology and a Demurrer (By Way of Preface)Pt. IDefining Russia Musically (Seven Mini-Essays)11N. A. Lvov and the Folk32M. I. Glinka and the State253P. I. Chaikovsky and the Ghetto484Who Am I? (And Who Are You?)615Safe Harbors816After Everything997Objectives105Pt. IISelf and Other1118How the Acorn Took Root1139"Entoiling the Falconet"15210Ital'yanshchina186Pt. IIIHermeneutics of Russian Music: Four Cruxes23711Chaikovsky and the Human: A Centennial Essay23912Scriabin and the Superhuman: A Millennial Essay30813Stravinsky and the Subhuman36014Shostakovich and the Inhuman468Index545

Richard Taruskin (1945–2022) was professor emeritus of music at the University of California, Berkeley, and a regular contributor to the New Republic, the New York Times, the New York Review of Books, and Opera News. His books include Musorgsky: Eight Essays and an Epilogue (Princeton), Opera and Drama in Russia, and Stravinsky and the Russian Traditions.

One of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles for 1997 "A passionate vision of what Russian music has meant both as an expression and as a shaping force of the country's character... [Taruskin is] an exceptionally gifted critic... [T]he connections between technique and expression are formidably argued, and it is the capacity to do this, with patience and depth of understanding and with a vast knowledge of the literature, that gives Taruskin's criticism its quality."--John Warrack, Time Literary Supplement "Taruskin's work is far too rich and multi-layered, steeped in Russian intellectual history, literature, and culture, even to synopsize in a short review... His newest book is essential for musicologists wishing to understand Russia's place in music, and for Slavists wishing to understand music's place in Russia."--Robert W. Oldani, The Russian Review "More than a musicologist, Richard Taruskin is a cultural critic who deserves non-scholarly readers. His brilliant and alarmingly timely book Defining Russia Musically is about the battle for a nation's soul--fought between Europe and Asia, modernity and primitivism--in the music of Tchaikovsky and Shostakovich."--Peter Conrad, The Observer "Taruskin's hallmarks are evident throughout: research of almost astonishing breadth, impatience with facile views and those who propound them, and contempt for formalist modes of analysis that ignore the extramusical. This is an important, challenging book; no other book in English covers this ground with equal depth or brilliance."--Choice "When this controversial book first appeared in hardback, it sparked a debate ... both because of and despite the way it tore into big names in the musicological world. Now it seems like a landmark... Richard Taruskin raises important questions about how cultural and artistic judgements are made."--Literary Review

• Others: A Mythology and a Demurrer (By Way of Preface)Pt. IDefining Russia Musically (Seven Mini-Essays)11N. A. Lvov and the Folk32M. I. Glinka and the State253P. I. Chaikovsky and the Ghetto484Who Am I? (And Who Are You?)615Safe Harbors816After Everything997Objectives105Pt. IISelf and Other1118How the Acorn Took Root1139"Entoiling the Falconet"15210Ital'yanshchina186Pt. IIIHermeneutics of Russian Music: Four Cruxes23711Chaikovsky and the Human: A Centennial Essay23912Scriabin and the Superhuman: A Millennial Essay30813Stravinsky and the Subhuman36014Shostakovich and the Inhuman468Index545

Richard Taruskin (1945–2022) was professor emeritus of music at the University of California, Berkeley, and a regular contributor to the New Republic, the New York Times, the New York Review of Books, and Opera News. His books include Musorgsky: Eight Essays and an Epilogue (Princeton), Opera and Drama in Russia, and Stravinsky and the Russian Traditions.

One of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles for 1997 "A passionate vision of what Russian music has meant both as an expression and as a shaping force of the country's character... [Taruskin is] an exceptionally gifted critic... [T]he connections between technique and expression are formidably argued, and it is the capacity to do this, with patience and depth of understanding and with a vast knowledge of the literature, that gives Taruskin's criticism its quality."--John Warrack, Time Literary Supplement "Taruskin's work is far too rich and multi-layered, steeped in Russian intellectual history, literature, and culture, even to synopsize in a short review... His newest book is essential for musicologists wishing to understand Russia's place in music, and for Slavists wishing to understand music's place in Russia."--Robert W. Oldani, The Russian Review "More than a musicologist, Richard Taruskin is a cultural critic who deserves non-scholarly readers. His brilliant and alarmingly timely book Defining Russia Musically is about the battle for a nation's soul--fought between Europe and Asia, modernity and primitivism--in the music of Tchaikovsky and Shostakovich."--Peter Conrad, The Observer "Taruskin's hallmarks are evident throughout: research of almost astonishing breadth, impatience with facile views and those who propound them, and contempt for formalist modes of analysis that ignore the extramusical. This is an important, challenging book; no other book in English covers this ground with equal depth or brilliance."--Choice "When this controversial book first appeared in hardback, it sparked a debate ... both because of and despite the way it tore into big names in the musicological world. Now it seems like a landmark... Richard Taruskin raises important questions about how cultural and artistic judgements are made."--Literary Review

• Others: A Mythology and a Demurrer (By Way of Preface)Pt. IDefining Russia Musically (Seven Mini-Essays)11N. A. Lvov and the Folk32M. I. Glinka and the State253P. I. Chaikovsky and the Ghetto484Who Am I? (And Who Are You?)615Safe Harbors816After Everything997Objectives105Pt. IISelf and Other1118How the Acorn Took Root1139"Entoiling the Falconet"15210Ital'yanshchina186Pt. IIIHermeneutics of Russian Music: Four Cruxes23711Chaikovsky and the Human: A Centennial Essay23912Scriabin and the Superhuman: A Millennial Essay30813Stravinsky and the Subhuman36014Shostakovich and the Inhuman468Index545