This is a love story. It tells of an extraordinary epistolary relationship between Hugo Wolf, one of the greatest masters of the German art song, whose dedication to the poetic spirit of his music was equaled only by Franz Schubert and Robert Schumann, and Melanie Köchert, the wife of a prominent Viennese jeweler with whom Wolf shared a lifelong emotional, spiritual, and artistic bond. Wolf's letters to Köchert--he wrote 245 between 1887 and 1899--were composed during a period of almost unprecedented cultural upheaval in Europe, in the shadow of Vienna during the era of Freud, Mahler, and Klimt. They reveal Wolf at his most optimistic, celebrating his concert successes and the solitude he believed was so precious to his ability to compose. They follow Wolf through times of overwhelming despair, when his musical failures left him profoundly alienated, overcome, as he revealed to Köchert, "by a feeling of unspeakable emptiness and desolation." And they follow Wolf as he struggled to compose the 250 astounding art songs that are his creative legacy, and his almost simultaneous descent into madness. Hugo Wolf: Letters to Melanie Köchert, sensitively translated by Wolf scholar and interpreter Louise McClelland Urban, is a literary and musical even of the highest order

The Complete Songs of Hugo Wolf gathers together for the first time every poem Wolf set to music. Alongside the original German texts are translations by leading Lieder expert Richard Stokes, who also provides illuminating commentary. The 36 poets set by Wolf are each given their own chapter: a brief essay on the poet is followed by a note on Wolf's connection with the writer, extracts from letters that throw light on the Songs and convey his mood at the time of composition, and the texts and translations. Short biographies of all Wolf's correspondents flesh out the extraordinary life of this genius. This will be an indispensable volume for all lovers of Lieder.

With a foreword by the legendary accompanist, Gerald Moore, Eric Sams' study (Faber 1961, revised 1983) is a notable landmark in the establishment of Wolf as one of the supreme masters of German song. Comprehensively revised and enlarged in 1983, the main subject matter remains the 242 published songs that Wolf wrote for voice and piano, though the Ibsen songs for voice and orchestra are also discussed. English translations are provided and the backgrounds to the original poems by Morike, Eichendorff and Goethe, as well as the Italian and Spanish sources from which the songbooks were drawn, are fully explored. Each song is dated, its keys identified and vocal range determined. 'This is the most important book in the English language on the songs of Hugo Wolf since Ernest Newman proclaimed the composer's genius in 1907 . . . To the English-speaking student this work is a treasure to which he will find himself returning again and again: it is indispensable to those of us anxious to gain a deeper knowledge of Wolf.' Gerald Moore

In spite of growing interest in the songs of Hugo Wolf, there is still a lack of serious critical discussion of the nature of his achievements. This book offers an in-depth study of his music, including detailed analyses of selected songs. Perspectives from musical analysis and history are brought together to show how this composer and late-nineteenth-century song have a far more significant role in helping us to understand Wagner's musical and aesthetic influence than has yet been realized.

The tragic story of an erratic genius's life and a survey of some of his works, including his art songs and operas. "Very interesting and very stimulating." — The New York Times.