Talks With Great Composers: Candid Conversations With Brahms, Puccini, Strauss And Others

Between the years 1890 and 1917 Arthur M. Abell engaged in lengthy, candid conversations with the greatest composers of his day-- Johannes Brahms, Giacomo Puccini, Richard Strauss, Engelbert Humperdinck, Max Bruch, and Edvard Grieg-- about the intellectual, psychic, and spiritual tensions of their great creative endeavors. The result of their probing and insightful discussions is quite simply a masterpiece-- a document that reveals the agony, triumphs, and the religiosity inherent in the creative mind.

The six composers readily agreed to explore with their friend their innermost thoughts regarding the psychology of the creative process. Brahms insisted, however, that his disclosures not be published until fifty years after his death, because, he said, "I will not find my true place in musical history until at least half a century after I am gone."

A tribute to creative inspiration, "Talks with Great Composers" sparkles with wit, candor, humor, and the genius of the most cherished composers of all time.