Oedipus Rex/The Rake's Progress: English National Opera Guide 43

by Igor Stravinsky, Jean Cocteau, Chester Kallman

The English National Opera Guides were originally conceived in partnership with the English National Opera and edited by Nicholas John, the ENO's dramaturg, who died tragically in an accident in the Alps. Most of the guides are devoted to a single opera, which is described in detail—with many articles that cover its history and information about the composer and his times. The complete libretto is included in both the original language and in a modern singing translation—except where the opera was written in English. Each has a thematic guide to the most important musical themes in musical notation and each guide is lavishly illustrated. They also contain a bibliography and a discography which is updated at each reprint. The ENO guides are widely regarded as the best series of their kind and excellent value.

Genres: Music

112 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1991

About the author

Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor. He is widely acknowledged as one of the most important and influential composers of 20th century music.

He was a quintessentially cosmopolitan Russian who was named by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people of the century. He became a naturalized US citizen in 1946. In addition to the recognition he received for his compositions, he also achieved fame as a pianist and a conductor, often at the premieres of his works.

He also published a number of books throughout his career, almost always with the aid of a collaborator, sometimes uncredited. In his 1936 autobiography, Chronicles of My Life, written with the help of Walter Nouvel, Stravinsky included his infamous statement that "music is, by its very nature, essentially powerless to express anything at all."

Reviews

[Illiterate]

Stravinsky may be my favorite modernist composer. Even if you don’t like his music, these librettos are great - distancing Greek tragedy and subverting morality plays.

[NEGAR]

به جای پیروی از اصول و تعالیم مذهبی بهتر است از طبیعت پیروی شود*
باید در جست و جوی زیبایی و لذت بود*

ایگور استراوینسکی
پیشرفت آدمی هرزه