From Musical Folklore to Twelve Tone Technique Memoirs of a Musician between East and West

The memoirs of the Russian-born German composer Georg von Albrecht are an important document of 20th-century musical history. Dictated to his son Michael von Albrecht and first published in German, von Albrecht's autobiography recounts his dramatic experiences during the 1917 Russian revolution and the Nazi terror. His reports of encoutners with such other composers as Taneyev, Glazunov, Scriabin, Stravinsky, Hindemith, Frommel, David, and others, and his thoroughgoing discussion of tonal systems and compositional methods, reflect the approach and critical response to many procedures typical of 20th-century music. His analyses shed light on the works of other composers and the development of modern and postmodern compositional strategies..