Publisher's Synopsis
"Living in the realm of music is such a source of joy to me that I was determined to share it in my teaching with all the means in my power." Nadia Boulanger
Although she was a performer, a composer, and a conductor of some of the world's great orchestras, it was through her genius as a pedagogue that Nadia Boulanger won world renown. Venerated, feared, or opposed, she was as famous as the most prestigious performers, or the best-known conductors. And for the first three-quarters of this century, a host of musicians, young and old, crowded around Boulanger's piano where, with rigor and passion, she revealed a musical universe previously unknown to them.
Jérôme Spycket's biographical work (originally published in French by Editions Payot, Lausanne, on the centenary of Boulanger's birth) explores the eminent teacher's life through certain key events and through those that formed her circle (Fauré, Milhaud, Stravinsky, and Poulenc, to name but a few). A wealth of photographs provide a striking visual history, from the salon of the rue Ballu, to l'Ecole de Fountainebleau, to Boulanger conducting the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of London. The spirit of this remarkable musical force shines through on every page.
