Leokadiya Kashperova: first book on the composer published
Cambridge University Press has published the first book on rediscovered Russian composer Leokadiya Kashperova. The volume combines a biography by leading expert Graham Griffiths with new translations of her Memoirs and Recollections of Anton Rubinstein.
As the 150th anniversary year of Leokadiya Kashperova (1872-1940) draws to a close, Cambridge University Press has released a new book devoted to the rediscovered Russian composer within its Cambridge Elements: Women in Music series. The 82-page paperback volume has been assembled by leading Kashperova scholar Graham Griffiths, who contributes the first detailed biography of the Romantic composer, together with the first English translation (by Roger and Patricia Cockrell) of her Memoirs and her Recollections of Anton Rubinstein, her esteemed piano teacher at the St Petersburg Conservatoire. The new book is the result of decades of research, and is the perfect accompaniment to the Boosey & Hawkes edition of her works and a growing number of broadcasts and recordings.
Leokadiya Kashperova's Romantic compositions were highly regarded by Rimsky-Korsakov, César Cui, and by Balakirev whose works she premiered and recorded. In 1907, Kashperova performed her own compositions to critical acclaim in Leipzig, Berlin and London. After the 1917 Revolution following her death in 1940, her name joined her fine music in historical anonymity and oblivion. This book is the result of 20 years' research by Graham Griffiths culminating in eight study-visits by the author to St Petersburg, Moscow and the Yaroslavl/Kostroma region.
The Biography (section 1) is the first ever written about this composer. Kashperova's Memoirs (section 2) and her Recollections of Anton Rubinstein (section 3) are made available in translation for the first time. Together with a new edition of her compositions (Boosey & Hawkes, London) this book aims to support the restoration of Kashperova to her rightful place in music history as Russia's foremost female composer of the early twentieth century.
Graham Griffiths comments: “The biography aims to spread the word about Kashperova, to educate and inform, hopefully contributing to the excitement shared by all involved in the composer’s long-awaited and historic return. Knowledge of Kashperova's inspirational life-story can only enhance the experience of her music - for both listener and performer.”
About Graham Griffiths
Dr Graham Griffiths is an Honorary Research Fellow (Musicology) at City, University of London and a member of the editorial board of the St Petersburg Conservatoire (‘Opera Musicologica’). His ground-breaking study Stravinsky’s Piano: Genesis of a Musical Language was published in 2013 and he is editor of and contributor to Stravinsky in Context (Cambridge University Press, 2021). Recent articles have appeared in Abécédaire Stravinsky (Editions La Baconière, 2018) and The Cambridge Stravinsky Encyclopaedia (CUP, 2021). He was founder-director of the contemporary music ensemble Grupo Novo Horizonte de São Paulo (1989-99) and Vice-President of the Sociedade Brasileira de Musicologia (1995-7). He has published in the UK, Brazil, Germany, Russia and Switzerland.
Leokadiya Kashperova
Biography, Memoirs and Recollections of Anton Rubinstein
Author: Graham Griffiths
ISBN: 9781009097239
Publication Date: 2 March 2023
Pages: 82
Format: Paperback
Regular price £17.00 GBP
Also available online from CUP
> View the Kashperova Edition
> Watch the Kashperova video series
> View the documentary feature on Kashperova’s Symphony