Medtner photo Nikolai Medtner

Publications

pdf scans

Books

Biographical

  • Nicolas Medtner: His Life and Music by Barrie Martyn (ISBN 0859679594, 1995)

    The definitive biography, with commentary on all Medtner's compositions. Currently cheapest from Ashgate or Amazon; used copies are seldom cheaper.

  • Nicolas Medtner (1879-1951): A Tribute to his Art and Personality edited by Richard Holt (London, 1955).
    Titled Medtner: A Memorial Volume on the book's spine.

    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, and the editing was much influenced by Anna. Available new from Waterstones, and fairly easy to obtain used.

  • Medtner and his music, A tribute to a great Russian composer by Richard Holt (London, 1948).

    24 page booklet with some of the hagiographical character of the 1955 book.

  • N K Metner: Vospominaniya, Staty, Materialy (N K Medtner, Reminiscences, Papers, Materials) ed. Z A Apetyan, Soviet Composer, Moscow (1981)

    A Russian parallel of Holt's 1955 book, with some chapters copied and other material added, including an expanded chapter by Anna Medtner. Formerly available online from a Russian site.

  • N K Metner: Pis'ma (Letters) ed. Z A Apetyan, Soviet Composer, Moscow (1973)

    Includes Rachmaninoff's letters to Medtner, and Emil's letter to Pavel Ettingher.

  • Nikolay Metner by E B Dolinskaya (Moscow, 2013)

    Biography, in Russian

  • Der Komponist Nikolai Medtner. Ein Porträt by Natascha Konsistorum (ISBN 3-89487-500-3, Henschel, Berlin, 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.

  • Nicolas Medtner pianiste, compositeur 1879-1951 by Bernard Pinsonneault (Éditions Beauchemin, Montréal 1956)

    Biography by a pupil of Laliberté, in French. Out of print and difficult to find. A scan has circulated on file sharing networks.

Scholarly

Other

  • The Russian Mephisto: a study of the life and work of Emilii Medtner by Magnus Ljunggren (Almqvist & Wiksell International, Stockholm, 1994).

    Provides background on the musical and intellectual environment in which Nikolai grew up, and details of his personal life not found elsewhere.

  • The Composer-Pianists: Hamelin and the Eight by Robert Rimm (ISBN 1574670727, 2002)

    Contains a chapter on Medtner and Rachmaninoff.

  • Notes of a Moscow Pianist by Dmitry Paperno (ISBN 1-57467-034-4, Amadeus Press, 1998)

    A fascinating account of musical life inside the Soviet Union in the mid-20th century, with a number of references to Medtner. Paperno turned down Anna Medtner's invitation to give the Russian première of the piano concerto no.3, but made two recordings of pieces from Op 38.

  • 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 M. Montagu-Nathan (C. Palmer & Hayward, London, 1917; Greenwood Press, Westport, Conn., 1970)

    An early survey of Russian music, including a chapter on Medtner.

Articles

Dissertations

Most recent theses, and some older ones, are downloadable. Many of the others can be purchased from ProQuest or borrowed from university libraries.

 

Medtner, 1943-44

Medtner, 1943-44

 

group with Medtner, 1925

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

 

N.K.Medtner, P.I.Vasil'ev and N.G.Rayskyi

Medtner, P I Vasil'ev and N G Rayskyi
Moscow Conservatory, 8 March 1927

 

Medtner and Nina Koshetz, 1929

Medtner and Nina Koshetz, 1929

 

Medtner and Rachmaninoff, 1938

Medtner and Rachmaninoff, 1938

 

Medtner and Edna Iles, 1940

Medtner and Edna Iles, 1940

 

Medtner with Anna at London Zoo, 1948

with Anna at London Zoo, 1948

 

with Anna and "Bunny" Swann, c.1930

with Anna and "Bunny" Swann, c.1930

 

with Lawrance Collingwood at Camberley, 1948

with Lawrance Collingwood at Camberley, 1948

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