Romain Rolland, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1915, was a writer whose mind was sculpted by a passion for music and admiration for exceptional musicians. The famous novelist who was at the same time a reputed pacifist with interets in socialsim and Eastern mysticism has also authored a history of opera and a biography of Beethoven, maybe the best we have so far. In between, he wrote this wonderful volume on some of his contemporary giants in the realm of music, such as Wagner, Berlioz, Debussy, Strauss, and Saint-Saens. A book that still fascinates today, and which can be the perfect introduction to the musical works of these great luminaries.