Leo Tolstoy’s Kreutzer Sonata (1889)

Tolstoy’s controversial novella takes the form of a heartrending confession by a conscience-stricken Russian aristocrat, who murders his wife in a fit of intense jealousy. Publication of this scandalous work was initially prohibited by the Russian censors, but the Tsar himself gave permission for it to appear in Tolstoy’s collected works. As we would say now, it went viral! This talk will summarize and analyze the original story, and then describe briefly Tolstoy’s thoughts about classical music, in particular, Beethoven’s Sonata (Kreutzer) for Violin and Piano (1803).