Donald G. Daviau – författare

This book presents in comprehensive fashion the extraordinary development of Ariadne auf Naxos from its conception to the final operatic version. The unique collaboration of Hofmannsthal and Strauss is examined and the classical myths that served as a basis for the libretto are investigated. The detailed analysis and interpretation of both the text and the music demonstrate that this work is epochal in the history of early nineteenth-century opera and commands central importance in the overall production of its authors.

This correspondence is a firsthand record of a literary and personal friendship that spanned the years 1906 to 1931. It is significant for both its insights into the lives and works of these two important writers and for its information concerning the eventful time in which they lived. The previously unpublished aphorisms of Auernheimer serve as a means of introducing a writer who had long been unjustly neglected. The aphorisms demonstrate the similarities of the two men in their broad range of interests as well as in the depth and perceptiveness of their thought, and help to explain Schnitzler's high regard for his friend.