"Most Russian scholars and musicologists consider Fendeizen's Ocherki po istorii musyki v Rossee (1928-29) the starting ground for any research on the history of Russian music. The work details the origins and development of music in Russia from antiquity through the beginning of the 19th century, with a focus on the differences between Russian music as it developed in court life and in folk traditions. In examining Russian music from antiquity to the beginning of the 18th century, volume 1 offers chapters on early Russian society, musical instruments, relig! ious and secular music, court music, important individuals (composers, singers, music theorists), and the reign of Peter the Great. Volume 2 looks at the courts of Elizabeth I and Catherine II, the music of Russian domestic life, and the interesting development of the Russian horn band. This is a groundbreaking, important translation, and it benefits from the expertise of its editors, all well-known musicologists whose research has focused on Russian music. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Large collections supporting music scholarship at the upper-division undergraduate levels and above. —Choice"—B. L. Eden, University of California, Santa Barbara, January 2008
". . . truly the cornerstone for the study of Russian music before the nineteenth century . . . a refreshingly balanced presentation of both sacred and secular music traditions that is truly remarkable in its breadth of scholarship and detail. . . . Findeizen's History deserves high praise and enthusiastic endorsement; it belongs on every post secondary-course reading list as the preeminent source for the study of Russia's musical heritage.April 2009"—Gregory Myers, Port Moody, BC, Canada
". . . Meticulously indexed, it includes relevant musical scores as appendices and is wonderfully illustrated with everything from images of instruments to skomorokhi. There are copious tables of little known musical terms, samples of chastushki, synopses of operas, lists of published works and famous musicians and composers. . . If it took place in Russia from 1 AD to the end of the 1800s and had to do with music, you are likely to find something in here about it. An invaluable reference work.July 2008"—Russian Life
"Copiously illustrated, comprehensive, and exhaustive . . . . a historical first. . . . deserves high praise and enthusiastic endorsement . . . as the preeminent source for the study of Russia's musical heritage.Vol. 68.2 April 2009"—Gregory Myers, Port Moody, BC, Canada
"Certainly, there is still much to be learnt about Russian music before Glinka, and even for those working on the music of the nineteenth, twentieth and now twenty-first centuries, Findeizen and his editors are models for us all.Vol. 88, no. 4, October 2010"—Slavonic & East European Review
"Findeyzen's major work . . . remains the foundation-stone on which all later work on the history of Russian music before the 19th century has been built."—Gerald Abraham, The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians
"Findeizen's prose provides a fascinating narrative, and the translator, Samuel William Pring, has succeeded in conveying its original flavour. . . . I can attest that undertaking a translation and commentary that would meet present-day academic criteria must have seemed an almost impossible task. That is why I wish to emphasize that the completion of this project is one worth celebrating, and that the collective labour of those involved deserves the approbation of the wider musicological community.Vol. 6.2 2009"—Marina Ritzarev, Eighteenth-Century Music
