"It is difficult to resist the temptation to use musical language when describing A Life in Music. Tumanov, in a lucid English translation by academician Vladimir Tumanov (whom I presume to be Alexander's son, but who is not identified as such in the book), regales the reader with a romantic and far-reaching personal epic that is connected by the common thread (dare I say note?) of choral music. Part Bildungsroman and part travel narrative, Tumanov's book is indeed an “inspiring portrait of one person's devotion to his art under trying circumstances” as the book's dust jacket description states [...]"
