The tender tyrant, Nadia Boulanger : a life devoted to music : a biography / by Alan Kendall ; introduction by Yehudi Menuhin.
| Author/creator | Kendall, Alan, 1939- |
| Format | Book |
| Publication Info | Wilton, CT : Lyceum Books, 1977. |
| Description | xvi, 144 pages, 4 unnumbered leaves of plates : illustrations, portraits ; 23 cm |
| Subjects |
| Contents | The rue Ballu and the Boulangers -- Stravinsky, and the twenties -- The thirties -- The teacher -- World War Two and since -- Nadia Boulanger's teaching -- The basis of Nadia Boulanger's teaching -- The uniqueness of Nadia Boulanger. |
| Abstract | "It is well over sixty years since Nadia Boulanger decided to devote her life to the teaching of music. For most of that time she has been in the forefront of those who have shaped the musical taste and music making of the twentieth century. Her precepts on the arts of composing and performing have influenced most of the leading musicians of our time. In this, the first account of her life as a teacher, Alan Kendall discusses her methods, her ideals and what music means, her ideals and what music means to Nadia Boulanger and what Nadia Boulanger wants music to mean to the world. She began her long career in 1904. At the age of seventeen Nadia Boulanger recognized that the musical talents of her younger sister Lili were far superior to her own. From that time on she devoted more of her attention to her brilliant sister, but still had enough time to work on her own career and in 1908 Nadia Boulanger won the Prix-de-Rome, second class. Lili Boulanger's youthful genius was recognized in 1913 when she became the first woman to win the Prix-de-Rome, first class. Unfortunately Lili's brilliance was one 'with the instinct of genius marked by death' and she died in 1918. This tragic loss to Nadia Boulanger has not diminished with the passing of time. It was the summer of 1921, when she began her courses at the American Conservatory in Fontainbleau, that Nadia Boulanger's career took on an international dimension. In that year three young American composers, Melville Smith, Aaron Copland and Virgil Thomson, each found his way independently to her studio. From then on the trickle of foreign students grew stronger. In 1927 Lennox Berkeley, on Ravel's advice, studied with her. The list of the now-famous grew and grew and includes Dinu Lipatti, Clifford Curzon, Igor Markevitch, Yehudi Menuhin, Edwin Roxburgh, Hughes Cuenod, Nicholas Maw, Walter Piston, Roy Harris, Quincy Jones among others. Running like a leit-motiv through her teaching life is the close association between Nadia Boulanger and Stravinsky until the time of his death. Now in her ninetieth year, Nadia Boulanger still conducts her courses, still teaches and still guides aspiring musicians with an inextinguishable devotion and zeal."--Dust jacket. |
| General note | Includes index. |
| Biographical note | "Alen Kendall was a Choral Scholar of King's College Cambridge. After graduation, when living in Paris, he studied initially under Nadia Boulanger and performed on French radio and television. His previous publications include a history of musical instruments, an account of the development of the carol, and a biography of Benjamin Britten. He is also a lay-clerk of the Queen's Free Chapel of St. George, Windsor Castle, and sings frequently for the BBC."--Dust jacket. |
| LCCN | 76027098 |
| ISBN | 0915336170 |
Availability
| Library | Location | Call Number | Status | Item Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Music | Closed Stacks - Ask at Circulation Desk | ML423.B52 K4 1977 | ✔ Available | Place Hold |