Hans Keller: A Portrait in His Own Words

The list of Hans Keller's correspondents reads like a list of 'who's who in music'. Among performers there are Alfred Brendel, Yehudi Menuhin and Peter Pears; composers include Benjamin Britten, Alexander Goehr and Peter Maxwell Davies. He also corresponded with many of the leading critics including H.C. Robbins Landon, Deryck Cooke and Nicholas Kenyon, now controller of Radio 3.A musician of penetrating insight, Keller was also an exceptional writer whose importance for post-war music in Britain is fundamental. Witty, passionate, sometimes disarmingly honest, Keller's letters present not only a vivid picture of an extraordinary mind, but also a significant insight into his musical times.