What do you think?
Rate this book
Arnold & Igor
In 1990s Los Angeles, composer and professor Simon Grafton uncovers a lost manuscript that suggests previously unknown links between modernist rival composers he idolizes, Arnold Schoenberg and Igor Stravinsky. It's a find that could make Simon's career—if his obsession with decoding the document doesn’t destroy him and his family first. Interwoven into the story is the sometimes-tortured friendship between Schoenberg and Stravinsky as it unfolds in Berlin, Vienna, Paris, through the war years, and then in Los Angeles during Hollywood's Golden Era when modern music’s dissonant experiments first outraged the public prior to entering the mainstream, even to the point of being co-opted by Hollywood. Music is at the heart of the novel, as well as the ways we try to break free of convention and hold on to the people we love.
378 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 17, 2024
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
September 14, 2024
Review (9/12/2024)
Howard Rappaport’s novel Arnold and Igor is a wonderful mix of history and imagination. Rappaport is steeped in the fascinating history of early twentieth- century revolutions in music, exemplified here by the two storied protagonists of his title: Schoenberg and Stravinsky. Those convulsions’ effect on music and musicians today is captivatingly related in the tragic/comic travails of its main character, Simon Grafton, a modern-day composer obsessed with the relationship with his two heroes. The narrative toggles back and forth between Los Angeles, where Grafton lives and where in real life Schoenberg and Stravinsky escaped Europe’s political spasms – and the scintillating Paris/Berlin axis before WWI. Rappaport’s rich fantasy illuminates the sad lives of “serious” composers – even celebrated ones – and the pressures of modern family life today. An entertaining tour de force for musicians and music lovers!
Daniel Stepner
Artistic Director, Aston Magna Festival and Foundation
Former first violinist, Lydian String Quartet
Professor Emeritus, Brandeis University
Howard Rappaport’s novel Arnold and Igor is a wonderful mix of history and imagination. Rappaport is steeped in the fascinating history of early twentieth- century revolutions in music, exemplified here by the two storied protagonists of his title: Schoenberg and Stravinsky. Those convulsions’ effect on music and musicians today is captivatingly related in the tragic/comic travails of its main character, Simon Grafton, a modern-day composer obsessed with the relationship with his two heroes. The narrative toggles back and forth between Los Angeles, where Grafton lives and where in real life Schoenberg and Stravinsky escaped Europe’s political spasms – and the scintillating Paris/Berlin axis before WWI. Rappaport’s rich fantasy illuminates the sad lives of “serious” composers – even celebrated ones – and the pressures of modern family life today. An entertaining tour de force for musicians and music lovers!
Daniel Stepner
Artistic Director, Aston Magna Festival and Foundation
Former first violinist, Lydian String Quartet
Professor Emeritus, Brandeis University
Displaying 1 of 1 review