Stravinsky and the Russian Traditions: A Biography of the Works through Mavra, Two-volume set

We are used to thinking of Stravinsky in terms of avant-garde Paris in the 1920s, the epitome of modernism. These two hefty volumes of unassailable scholarship and fascinating detail correct this blinkered vision, which to some extent is a product of Stravinsky's own self-marketing. Richard Taruskin demonstrates Stravinsky's place in the specific cultural traditions of his homeland, pulling together with impressive intellectual breadth the influences of Russian music, art, literature, folklore, religious liturgy, and more. He illustrates the composer's legacy from Rimsky-Korsakov, Glazunov, Scriabin, and Tchaikovsky in the pre-Diaghilev period, and dazzles with his analysis of folk influence in "Petrushka" and on through the famously innovative, yet rooted "The Rite of Spring." Further volumes will be eagerly awaited by all lovers of Stravinsky's music.