Puerto Rican born Jesús María Sanromá (1902-1984) was one of the leading pianists in the United States. After graduating from the New England Conservatory, he embarked on an enviable concert career as official pianist for the Boston Symphony Orchestra, as well as soloist with other leading American orchestras. He was an accompanist, a recording artist, and a teacher, and he also stimulated and commissioned composers to write new music, fueled by his eagerness to present it to the general public. Jesús María Sanromá: An American Twentieth-Century Pianist is the first biography of this talented performer and one of the first books written about a native Puerto Rican classical musician. The book depicts many facets of Sanromá's life: his youth in Puerto Rico; his training at the Conservatory and abroad; his amazing concert career and collaboration with first-class musicians, conductors, and composers; his historical performances and recordings; and the zenith of his musical life when he returned home. Alberto Hernández provides abundant information about Sanromá's life, career, and professional relationships, uniquely documenting the pianist's close association and collaboration with Paul Hindemith, Serge Koussevitzky, Walter Piston, Nicolas Slonimsky, Vladimir Dukelsky, Mrs. Edward MacDowell, Arthur Fiedler, William Primrose, and many others. Two appendixes offer the complete sound archives and a list of Sanromá's impressive orchestra repertory, making this book a valuable reference as well as an informative read for music lovers and students of American and Latin American history.

Paul Hindemith had a multifaceted career as an internationally acclaimed composer, performer, festival organizer, teacher, lecturer, and writer. Born in Germany in 1895, he was a leading member of the musical avant-garde, and when the Nazis came to power his compositions eventually were banned as "decadent art." In 1938 Hindemith went into voluntary exile in Switzerland and in 1940 migrated to the United States, where he became a citizen. His return to Europe after the war in response to urgent calls for help in rebuilding European musical life gave rise to many inner emotional problems. This selection of letters written by Hindemith spans his entire career, from the First World War until shortly before his death in 1963. Translated and edited by a leading authority on Hindemith, the letters (some of which were written in English) reveal that he was an observant, engaging, and opinionated correspondent who took a keen interest in contemporary culture and politics. The first such selection to appear in English, the letters deal with personal and professional matters and are addressed to his wife, publishers, and friends in both Europe and America. Among the many important personalities with whom he came into contact were the composers Stravinsky and Milhaud, the conductors Mengelberg, Furtwängler, Koussevitzky, and Klemperer, and the choreographers Massine and Balanchine. Published to coincide with the centenary of Hindemith's birth, the letters fill out our portrait of him and provide an absorbing chronicle of his life and times.

The bibliography lists nearly 5,000 compositions by 200 composers of jazz and "art" music, indicating where scores or realizations can be purchased, rented, or borrowed, and which Boston area libraries have them in their collections.