The story of influentiual music critic, Hans Keller's months in British internment camps in 1940 and its effect on his intellectual development. After World War II, the musical life of Britain was transformed by the Hitler emigres. None was more influential than the writer and broadcaster Hans Keller who arrived in London from Vienna in 1938. Although his thought was grounded in the work of Kant and Freud, he devoted himself to music after hearing Benjamin Britten's Peter Grimes. His remarkable development was accelerated during the nine months he spent in British internment camps, where from 1940 onwards the deracinated flower of European culture was confined . This book sets the story of Keller's internment in the context of what is still a too-little remembered part of British wartime history and traces its remarkable effects in the decade following his release as he gradually found his niche in London life. It includes several important texts, including that of his famous broadcast on the Kristallnacht, 'Vienna 1938', a selection of poignant letters from his two camps (in translation) and ends with a spirited memoir by Donald Mitchell of 'Hans Keller in the Early Years'. It is a remarkable and elegant contribution to our understanding both of Keller's development and of Britain in the 1940s.

Hans Keller 1919-1985: A musician in dialogue with his times is the first full biography of Hans Keller and the first appearance in print of many of his letters. Eight substantial chapters, integrating original documents with their historical context, show the development of Keller's ideas in response to the people and events that provoked them. A musician of penetrating insight, Keller was also an exceptional writer and broadcaster, whose remarkable mind dominated British musical life for forty years after the Second World War. It was a vital time for music in Britain, fuelled by unprecedented public investment in the arts and education and the rapid development of recording and broadcasting. Keller was at the centre of all that was happening and his far-sighted analysis of the period is deeply resonant today. Illustrated throughout by extracts from Keller's writings, diaries and correspondence with musicians including Arnold Schoenberg, Benjamin Britten and Yehudi Menuhin, this book vividly conveys the depth of his thought and the excitement of the times. Published for the centenary of Keller's birth, it is an illuminating celebration of his life and works for all those interested in the music and history of post-war Britain.

Hans Keller 1919-1985: A musician in dialogue with his times is the first full biography of Hans Keller and the first appearance in print of many of his letters. Eight substantial chapters, integrating original documents with their historical context, show the development of Keller's ideas in response to the people and events that provoked them. A musician of penetrating insight, Keller was also an exceptional writer and broadcaster, whose remarkable mind dominated British musical life for forty years after the Second World War. It was a vital time for music in Britain, fuelled by unprecedented public investment in the arts and education and the rapid development of recording and broadcasting. Keller was at the centre of all that was happening and his far-sighted analysis of the period is deeply resonant today. Illustrated throughout by extracts from Keller's writings, diaries and correspondence with musicians including Arnold Schoenberg, Benjamin Britten and Yehudi Menuhin, this book vividly conveys the depth of his thought and the excitement of the times. Published for the centenary of Keller's birth, it is an illuminating celebration of his life and works for all those interested in the music and history of post-war Britain.