Alfred J Swan (1890–1970)

Anyone who loves Russian music has discovered the experience of "pesennost", even if they've never heard that word before. It means that unmistakable quality which identifies a piece of music as "Russian". Alfred Swan, indefatigable collector of folk songs, accurately pegs "pesennost" as a compound of the melodic flow of the folksong and the measured solemnity of the liturgical chant, in Russian called the "znamenny" chant. The first part of Mr. Swan's book does a good job of describing and illustrating (with numerous musical examples) "pesennost" and its two sources. Regrettably, the remainder basically summarizes the history of Russian music in the 19th & early 20th centuries with each significant composer judged by how much, if at all, he (no she's) displays the influence of either folksongs or chants.… (más)