Examines Joseph Joachim's vital legacy through a range of philological, philosophical and critical approaches. Joseph Joachim (1831-1907), violinist, composer, teacher, and founding director of Berlin's Royal Academy of Music, was one of the most eminent and influential musicians of the long nineteenth century. Born in a tiny Jewish community on the Austro-Hungarian border, he rose to a position of unsurpassed prominence in European cultural life. This timely collection of essays explores important yet little-known aspects of Joachim's life and art. Studies of his Jewish background, early assimilation into Christian society, Felix Mendelssohn's mentorship, and the influence of Hungarian vernacular music on the formation of his musical style elucidate the roots of Joachim's identity. The later chapters focus on his personal and creative responses to the contentious and rapidly evolving cultural milieu in which he lived: his choice of instruments as his musical "voice," his performances as sites of (re)enchantment in the modern age, his pathbreaking British career, his calling and sway as a quartet player, his pedagogical legacy, his influence on the establishment of the musical canon, and several of his most distinctive and original compositions. With a wide variety of approaches-analytical, philological, archival, philosophical, and critical-this collection will prove enlightening to scholars, performers, and others interested in this brilliant artist and the musical aesthetics, culture, and styles of his time.

Published to mark the centenary of Brahms's death in 1897, this is the first comprehensive English language collection of Brahms's letters. It contains over 550 letters, including more than a dozen previously unpublished in any language. The letters are woven together with an extended biographical narrative, and span the entire life of the composer. The book is written for the general music-lover, but is documented with scholarly care. Brahms enthusiasts will enjoy learning from his own words about the man who wrote such great music.

This is the first comprehensive English-language collection of Brahms's letters. It contains over 550 letters, including more than a dozen previously unpublished in any language. The letters are woven together with an extended biographical narrative, and span the entire life of the composer. For the first time, English readers and music-lovers have the opportunity to meet Brahms in person, through his words, and in his own voice.