Rudolf Serkin: A Life - Hardcover

Lehmann, Stephen; Faber, Marion

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0195130464 ISBN 13: 9780195130461

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2002

Synopsis

This book is the first biography of 20th-century pianist Rudolf Serkin, providing a narrative of Serkin's life with emphasis on his European roots and the impact of his move to America. Based on his personal papers and correspondence, as well as extensive interviews with friends, family, and colleagues, the authors focus on three key aspects of Serkin's work, particularly as it unfolded in America: his art and career as a pianist, his activities as a pedagogue, including his long association with the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia, and his key role in institutionalizing a redefinition of musical values in America through his work as artistic director of the Marlboro Music School and Festival in Vermont. A candid and colorful blend of narrative and interviews, it offers a probing look into the life and character of this very private man and powerful musical personality.

About this title

About the Author

Stephen Lehmann is the Humanities Bibliographer at the University of Pennsylvania Library. Marion Faber is Professor of German at Swarthmore College.

Reviews

*Starred Review* Given a self-effacing biographical subject--"All I did," Serkin (1903-91) averred, "was practice, practice, practice"--Lehmann and Faber exploit the publicness of being one of an era's finest pianists to produce this absorbing account of a musician qua musician. The first three chapters trace Serkin's life but include remarkably few anecdotes of family and friendship. Serkin's exceptional talent was recognized very early, and he was accepted very early by his peers, which for him meant becoming inextricably involved with the German violinist Adolf Busch (1892-1952). Serkin was Busch's preferred pianist in duo, orchestral, and chamber performances; in 1935 he married Busch's daughter; and he kept Busch before the public after their intertwined families fled from the Nazis to the U.S., where his star flared as Busch's dimmed. The remaining three chapters focus on Serkin's performing, teaching, and directing of the summer Marlboro Festival, which he and Busch founded to nurture chamber music performance in America. Between these latter chapters, excerpts of conversations with Serkin pupils and associates fill out the portrayal of him as rather a high priest of music, one distinguished by his belief that the greatest music was always greater than any performer of it, including himself. A profoundly rewarding book--not least for the accompanying CD of previously unissued public performances--about a profoundly influential musician. Ray Olson
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Edition details

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0195130464
• ISBN 13: 9780195130461
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 360