Publisher's Synopsis
IN a series of essays on Grieg, Dvorak, Saint-Saens, Cesar Franck, Tchaikovsky, and Brahms, Mr. Mason has undertaken to show how each man has brought to his work his own particular temperament and conception of his art, how each has contributed some special quality of expression or beauty to modern music. While the purpose of the book is thus chiefly biographical, the author has considered in an introductory essay, "The Appreciation of Music," and a concluding essay, "The meaning of Music." points of more general interest, such as the process by which music has developed and the place of the art among men's other activities.
Mr. Mason's method is indicated by a sentence in the preface: - "Music may be hard to understand, but musicians are men."
So clearly is the human aspect of the subject presented throughout, the book will interest all music-lovers, whether or not they have a technical knowledge of the art. Each essay is accompanied by a portrait of the musician written of and a brief bibliography of those of his works which best illustrate the points touched on in the essay.
-"The Musical Times," Volume 44"
