Un siècle de musique russe (1830-1930): Glinka, Moussorgsky, Tchaïkowsky, Strawinsky; et autres écrits: Strawinsky, Berg, Messiaen et Boulez by Pierre s> Souvtchinsky Frank Langlois (review)

Abstract

132 SEER, 84, I, 2006 Has, I964); Obchod nakorze (ShopontheMainStreet, directed byJan Kadar and Elmar Klos, I965); Szege'nylegenyek (T-he RoundUp,directed by MiklosJancs6, I965); Ostfrsledovane vlaky(CloselyObserved Trains,directed by Jifi Menzel, I966); Sedmikrasky (Daisies,directed by Vira Chytilova, I966); 0 slavnostia hostech (AboutthePartyandtheGuests, directed by Jan Nimec, I966); Marketa Lazarova (directed by FrantisekVlacil, I967); Vta6kovia, sirotya blazni(Birds, Orphans andFools,directed by JurajJakubisko, I969); Szerelem (Love,directed by Karoly Makk, 1970); Clowiek z marmuru (ManofMarble,directed by Wajda, I977); Japlo gyermeimnek (Diary for My Children directed by Marta Mezsaros, I982); Redlezredes (Colonel Redldirected by Istvan Szabo, I984); JNeco z Alenky (Something About Alice,directed byJan Svankmajer,I987);Dekalog (directedby Krzysztof Kieslowski, I989); Satdntango(Satan'sTango, directed by Bela Tarr, 1994); Zahrada(The Garden, directed by Martin Sulik, 1995); and BoIse vita (directed by Jbolya Fekete, I996). The collection also includes essays, in translation, written by Central and East European scholars which offer the Westernreadera first-handinsightinto the responsesof contemporary,'local' critics. Without necessarilyattempting to be exhaustive, the aim of the volume, as Peter Hames argues, is to 'drawattention to some remarkableachievements' in Central European film-making. Each essay gives a synopsis of the film under discussion, places it in a historical context, analyses its themes and concludes with a consideration of its reception by both criticsand audiences. Specific consideration of the stylesof these films and the techniques deployed by particular film-makers is, however, largely missing, except in Ewa Mazierka's perceptive study of Polish director Andrzej Munk's Eroica,in which she compares camera work and editing styles with those of his contemporary, Andrzej Wajda:Wajda tends to employ close-ups and pointof -view shots, for example, whereasMunk distanceshis protagonistsfrom the camera. Mazierkaalso discussesdirectorof photographyJerzy Wojcik'suse of deep focus which markeda significanttechnical innovation in East European film-making.Otherexcellent essaysincludeDavid Robinson's essayon Karoly Makk'sLove, John Cunningham's on Istvan Szots'sPeople oftheMountains, and Janina Falkowska'son AndrzejWajda'sAshesandDiamonds. Perhapsthe most valuable essay in the volume, however, is director Istvan Szabo'sprefacewhich, injust one page, lucidlyand succinctlyoutlinesthe key elements of CentralEuropeancinema. School ofSlavonic andEastEuropean Studies CESAR BALLESTER University College London Souvtchinsky,Pierre. Unsiecle demusique russe (I830-I930). Glinka, Moussorgsky, Tchaikowsky, Strawinsky; et autresecrits.Strawinsky, Berg,MessiaenetBoulez. Edited by FrankLanglois. Preface by Pierre Boulez. Actes Sud, Arles, 2004. 304 pp. Illustrations. Notes. Select bibliography. Index. ?25.00 (paperback). 'FIGURE of exile': this is how Pierre Boulez introduces Petr Suvchinskii(art critic, thinker and founding member of the Eurasianist movement) in his REVIEWS I33 preface (writtenin 2002) to this collection of essaysby his former friend and collaborator. The phrase encapsulates, according to Boulez, Suvchinskii's attitude to life and consequently accounts for the mysterythat still surrounds him, notwithstandingthe attention he has received in recent scholarship.For, throughout his engagement with the arts, music especially, for over seventy years, Suvchinskii preferred to remain a shadowy figure. He acted as an intermediaryfor othersleaving hardlyany trace of his agency otherthan their recollections. Small wonder that no entry on Suvchinskii exists in TheNew Grove Dictiona?y ofMusicandMusicians. Yet, reading the circumstances of this emigre's life in Frank Langlois's 'Introduction', of his numerous contacts and multiple activities outside the emigre community in a country whose language was effectively a second mother tongue to him, one would have thought that Suvchinskiiwas pretty much at home in France, where he spent most of his life. That would have seemed to be the case had it not been for his fixationwith his motherland, his determinationto graspits 'spirit',the meaning of itshistory,its destiny.To the end of his life Suvchinskii reflected on these issues through one aspect of culture: music. Such are the preoccupations underlying Un sieclede musique russe(written in 944 and rejected by publishers at that time) which is notably 'not a historicalsummary',but 'an attempt to trace a typology of the Russian creative genius' through music and place 'the musical phenomena with which it deals in a historical and cultural trajectory' as Suvchinskii declaresin his 'Preface'(pp. 99, I02). Langlois's'Introduction'is the firstsoundundertakingtowardsa biography of Suvchinskii. The scarcity and peculiarity of sources, that is, mainly oral testimonies and correspondence which is inconveniently dispersedin various librariesand collections around...