AB III-03

Description

Albert Brussee

MAZEPPA IN THE ROMANTIC ARTS

An interdisciplinary cultural-historic study

Soon after the appearance of the Dutch version (AB III-02), I decided to translate this cultural-historic study into English: Mazeppa in the Romantic Arts. However, this English version is not a literal translation. I have tried to tailor the content to the interests of an international readership, for example by adding a paragraph about ‘The American Mazeppa’ and abridging the sections in which I dwelt on typically Dutch matters (‘The historical Mazeppa in The Hague?’; ‘Mazeppa performances in Dutch circuses and theaters’, ‘The search for a Dutch Mazeppa painting’). The major difference between the two versions, however, lies in the fact that I decided to narrow down the sections about Liszt’s Mazeppa music and to go in depth about this is a separate monograph. Liszt worked on his Mazeppa music for about fifty years, resulting in a total of ten different versions, not counting an early Mazeppa sketch and transcriptions of the Symphonic Poem Mazeppa by others. The interesting genesis of this opus is followed step by step in The Mazeppa Music of Franz Liszt; for more information, see AB III-06. Mazeppa in the Romantic Arts outlines the background against which Liszt’s Mazeppa music can be better understood. The present book can be seen as a monograph in its own right, but can also be regarded as an introduction to The Mazeppa Music of Franz Liszt. For Liszt lived in a time which was buzzing with Mazeppa performances, a time in which dozens of Mazeppa poems and dramas were written and around sixty Mazeppa compositions were created. These are all discussed in this book, which is written for the reader interested in (Romantic) art and culture.

REVIEWS
See AB III-02.

PRACTICAL INFORMATION
© 2017 AB Music Productions & Editions – The Hague.
ISBN: 978-90-808920-3-3.
Paperback edition in full-colour, 240 pages.