Exil et musique

Music in exile and music from exile. How did exile affect the works of various composers and musicians? Étienne Barilier attempts to answer this question in this book. He investigates the different historical contexts (Polish uprising, Russian revolution, Stalinism, National Socialism …) and what happened in exile. Did it have a major impact on their creativity (Stravinsky, Schönberg, Milhaud)? Did it more or less dry up their creative juices (Rachmaninov, Bartók)? What happened after the return from exile (Prokofiev, Korngold)? Taking Zemlinsky, Hindemith, Kurt Weill and many others as examples, Barilier shows how the most immaterial of all arts, music, can embody both the inner conflict and constancy of identity.