Publications
pdf scans
Books
- Nicolas Medtner: His Life and Music by Barrie Martyn (ISBN 0859679594, 1995)
The definitive biography, with analysis or commentary on all Medtner's compositions.
- Medtner: A Memorial Volume edited by Richard Holt (1955).
Also titled Nicolas Medtner (1879-1951): A Tribute to his Art and Personality.
A collection of essays and photographs put together by Medtner's friends and admirers after his death on the initiative of the Mysore Foundation. Not a scholarly work; the contributions are in the nature of reminiscences, tributes and eulogies. Still in print, and widely available used.
- N K Metner: Vospominaniya, Staty, Materialy (N K Medtner, Reminiscences, Papers, Materials) Soviet Composers State Publishing House, Moscow (1981)
A Russian parallel of the Holt book, with some chapters copied and many of Medtner's letters (from the time of his 1924 US tour onwards) reprinted.
- Der Komponist Nikolai Medtner. Ein Porträt by Natascha Konsistorum (ISBN 3894874872, 2004)
German translation by Christoph Flamm; also available in the original Russian. A personal account of Medtner's life and music, with selected letters and a good number of photographs. Includes two CDs with recordings of the piano quintet and a number of piano works and songs.
- Nikolai Metner: Voprosy Biografii i Tvorchestva (Issues of biography and creativity) (Moscow, 2009)
Material from the international conference "The Metner Family and the Culture of the Silver Age"
- Einführung in die Klaviermusik von Nikolai Medtner by Alexander Alexejew and others (Kuhn, Berlin 2008)
Vol 42 of studia slavica musicologica
- Nikolaj Karlovic Medtner - der Pianist : sein kompositorisches Schaffen, seine Interpretationskunst und Pädagogik by I Zetel' (Studio, Sinzig, 2003)
Translated into German from the Russian publication (1981).
- Nicolas Medtner pianiste, compositeur 1879-1951 by Bernard
Pinsonneault (Éditions Beauchemin, Montréal 1956)
Biography by a pupil of Laliberté. Out of print and difficult to find. A scan has circulated on file sharing networks.
- The Composer-Pianists: Hamelin and the Eight by Robert Rimm (ISBN 1574670727, 2002)
Contains a chapter on Medtner and Rachmaninoff.
- Modern Russian Composers by Leonid Sabaneev, translated by Judah A. Joffe (ISBN 0306706733, 1927; reprinted 1967 and 1975)
An important early work on Russian and Soviet music through the late 1920s. Typical of the period, it tends to emphasise Medtner's German connections.
- Contemporary Russian Composers by Montagu Montagu-Nathan (C. Palmer & Hayward, London, 1917; Greenwood Press, Westport, Conn., 1970)
An early survey of Russian music, including a chapter on Medtner.
Articles
- Medtner and the Muse
Hamish Milne's inaugural lecture to the University of London.
- Medtner's key preferences
My statistical analysis of the frequency of occurrence of keys in Medtner's output. Also available in Excel.
- Russian Piano Music in Deepest Warwickshire by Duncan Honeybourne, BMI Insight, issue 4, 2001.
Interviews with Edna Iles with details of the Medtners' stay at Wootton Wawen.
The Edna Iles Medtner Collection, containing letters, notes, photographs and other memorabilia, is kept in the British Library.
- Journal of the British Institute of Recorded Sound, April-July 1978
Contains the following articles:
- Medtner, friend and master by Edna Iles
- Medtner Recordings by Eric Hughes, Barrie Martyn and Gerald Stonehill
- Recordings of Edna Iles in the BIRS collection
- Metner and the Muse by Malcolm Boyd, The Musical Times, January 1980
Article exploring Medtner's concept of the muse as inspirer and teacher through his use of the "muse" theme in The Muse Op.29 no.1, the Sonata-Ballade Op.27 and the Piano Quintet.
- The Songs of Nicolas Medtner by Malcolm Boyd, Music and Letters, January 1965
Penetrating article on the most neglected part of Medtner's output.
- Guide to the Daily Work of the Pianist by Nikolai Karlovitch Medtner
Translation of part of The Daily Work of the Pianist and Composer. See also the thesis by Bondar.
Dissertations
The following dissertations may be obtainable from University libraries. A few are downloadable. Many of the others can be purchased from ProQuest.
The Skazki (Fairy Tales) of Nikolai Medtner: the evolution and characteristics of the genre with compositional and performance aspects of selected Fairy Tales by Ekaterina Chernaya-Oh (North Texas, 2008). May be downloadable here.
Three one-movement sonatas of the Russian silver age : a comparative study by David Westfall (Hartford, 2008).
Nicholas Medtner's piano music with special emphasis on his Fairy tales by Sungeun Kim (Peabody Conservatory, Baltimore, 2006)
Genres of piano ensemble and its realization in the art of I. Stravinsky and N. Medtner by Olga Grines (Nizhnyi Novgorod, 2005)
Medtner: His beliefs, influences and work by Natalya Kalendarev (Washington, 2005)
An analysis of Medtner's Piano concerto no. 2 op. 50 in C minor by Bo Won Hong (Illinois, 2003)
Performance Practice Issues in Russian Piano Music by Gregory Michael Smith (Newcastle, Australia, 2003). Chapters 3 and 4 (downloadable) include commentary and analyses of several works by Medtner.
Thematic unity in Nicolas Medtner's works for piano : Skazki, sonatas, and piano quintet by David J Skvorak (Cincinnati, 2003).
An introduction to Nikolai Medtner and performance analysis in dialogue form of his works for two pianos: Russian Round Dance and Knight Errant by Saida Kafarova (Texas, 2003)
Nicolas Medtner composer, pianist, and teacher (translation of Medtner's notes compiled into a book, "The Daily Work of the Pianist and Composer" by Gurvich and L. Lukomsky, with an introduction by his student, P. Vasiliev) by Liudmila E Bondar (Michigan, 2003)
Lecture-recital: the piano music of Nicolas Medtner by Felix Tao Chang (Kansas, 2003)
Symmetrical features of Medtner's language: the Grozovaya sonata, opus 53, no. 2 by James L Pitts (North Texas, 1999).
Der russische Komponist Nikolaj Metner : Studien und Materialien by Christoph Flamm. Originally presented as the author's Ph.D thesis (Heidelberg, 1995). Includes letters, reviews and other documents in German, Russian, English and French, bibliography (1903-1994) and discography. Published by Kuhn (ISBN 3928864246, 1995); out of print.
The fairy tales of Nikolai Medtner by William Bloomquist (Texas, 1993).
The songs of Nikolai Medtner by Terence Kelly (Maryland, 1988). Available elsewhere in microfilm.
The fairy tales of Nikolai Medtner by Emily Alice Kelley (Virginia, 1981).
Orchestral transcriptions of selected piano compositions of Nicholas Medtner by Ronald Lamar Ackerman (Boston, 1976).
The solo piano music of Nicolas Medtner by Ronald D. Surace (Cincinnati, 1973).
Some Stylistic Considerations in the Piano Sonatas of Nikolai Medtner by Cenieth Catherine Elmore (North Carolina, 1972).
Six lesser-known piano quintets of the twentieth century by James Gwynn Staples (Rochester, 1972). Now downloadable.
The Piano Sonatas of Nicolas Medtner by Charles William Keller (Ohio State, 1971).
The Piano Sonatas of Nicolai Medtner by Bobby Hughes Loftis (West Virginia, 1970).
A performer's analysis of eight piano sonatas of Nicholas Medtner by Sarah Louise Kinley (Butler University, Indianapolis, 1970).
The piano solo music in smaller forms of Nicholas Medtner by M Annette Teresa Covatta (Boston, 1965). I am custodian of the author's copy. Please contact me for information.
The piano sonatas of Nikolai Medtner by Lona Ruth Ginsburg (Los Angeles, 1961).
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Medtner, 1940s
group of musicians at Steinway, 11 Jan 1925
front: Stravinsky Medtner Furtwängler F.Steinway Hoffmann
2nd row: Ibbs (impressario) Kreisler Rachmaninoff ?
3rd row: ? ? Montyo ? Ziloti
Medtner, P I Vasil'ev and N G Rayskyi
Moscow Conservatory, 8 March 1927
Medtner and Nina Koshetz, 1929
Medtner and Rachmaninoff, 1938
Medtner and Edna Iles, 1940
with Anna at London Zoo, 1948
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