ABSTRACT
The first published biography of the composer, and in many aspects it wears its age well. Some passages regarding the composer’s life and works (especially the early works) have been superseded as a result of new research and rediscovery of previously lost works. The most serious problem is occasionally incorrect data, in some cases no doubt the result of faulty transcription from handwriting (e.g., “Robert Gnaer” for Robert Shaw). One might at times wish Briner had dug more deeply into the composer’s psychology and personal life, but subsequent works, including at least one by Briner himself (cf. his portion of item 45) have made up for this. Certainly the work remains valuable for its various Exkurse, topic-related essays punctuating the biographical narrative. Most of these are on the music itself-the Kammermusik series and Concerto for Orchestra, the early chamber music, Mathis, Die Harmonie der Welt, the mature sonata cycle, and the revised Marienleben-but the last reproduces a chapter rejected from Craft III that represents the composer’s most ambitious attempt to describe metrical and rhythmic phenomena.
