"... a rare kind of biography and autobiography: a clear and elegant
exposition of fact, as well as a humane portrait of a great piano virtuoso,
composer, teacher, and democratic soul, as told to and seen through the eyes of one
close to him." -- Mark Mitchell

Ernst von Dohnányi
(1877--1960) was one of the most highly respected musicians of his time. The young
Dohnányi enjoyed an international prestige that brought him into contact with such
19th-century masters as Johannes Brahms and Eugène d'Albert. He is remembered for
his technique and interpretive skills as a pianist and conductor, as well as for the
masterpieces he composed for piano, chamber ensembles, and orchestra. As a teacher
and administrator, Dohnányi was responsible for the training of an entire
generation of musicians in Hungary, and for helping to shape the country's musical
culture. After World War II, his career foundered when he was falsely accused of
being a Nazi sympathizer. In 1953, at the age of 76, Dohnányi returned to
international prominence with a triumphant "re-debut" at Carnegie Hall.
Ernst von Dohnányi: A Song of Life, written from a firsthand perspective by
Dohnányi's widow, is the first full English-language biography of the
artist.