Sollertinsky, V. I. Symphonic Poems of Richard Strauss (Sinfonicheskie poemy Rikharda Shtrausa), 1934. In Russian.

Соллертинский В. Симфонические поэмы Рихарда Штрауса.
Ленинград : Издание Ленинградской филармонии, 1934.
39 с. Мягкая издательская обложка, уменьшенный формат. Тираж 3200 экз. Первое издание.
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Sollertinsky, Ivan. Symphonic Poems of Richard Strauss.
Leningrad : Leningrad Philharmonia Publishing, 1934.
39 pp. Softcover, pocket format. Print run: 3,200 copies. First edition.

This 1934 first edition is a seminal musicological study by Ivan Ivanovich Sollertinsky (1902–1944), one of the most brilliant and polymathic figures in Soviet cultural life. Published by the Leningrad Philharmonia in a small, accessible format with a limited print run of 3,200 copies, this book reflects the high intellectual standards of the pre-war Leningrad music circles. Sollertinsky, a close friend and intellectual mentor to Dmitry Shostakovich, was renowned for his encyclopedic knowledge and his ability to synthesize complex musical structures with broad historical and philosophical contexts. In this work, he provides a profound analysis of Richard Strauss's symphonic poems, works that were central to the transition from late Romanticism to early Modernism.
The text provides a deep dive into the internal logic of Strauss's orchestral narratives, including the arrangement of thematic development in masterpieces like Don Juan, Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks, and Death and Transfiguration. Sollertinsky’s prose is characterized by its sharp critical edge and its effort to reconcile Strauss’s decadent brilliance with the developing tenets of Soviet musical thought. As a 1934 imprint, the volume serves as a witness to a specific moment in Soviet musicology where sophisticated formal analysis still flourished alongside emerging ideological frameworks. For historians of music, researchers of the Shostakovich era, and collectors of rare Leningrad Philharmonia imprints, this 39-page guide is an essential primary source that captures the vibrant intellectual energy of one of the USSR’s greatest critics during his most productive years.