Karl Straube (1873–1950)

CHRISTOPHER ANDERSON is Associate Professor of Sacred Music, Perkins School of Theology and Meadows School of the Arts, Southern Methodist University, Dallas.

With this comprehensive biography, Anderson brings many new sources to light, especially the voluminous unpublished correspondence. It also functions as a mini biography for those in Straube's orbit. The writing in this book is superb [with] consistently engaging prose. Thanks to this book, we finally understand that worrying about the "correct" historic parameters with German musicians from this era misses the point badly.

A thorough exploration of the life and work of Karl Straube,...a musician of the highest order [whose] solo organ playing was considered revolutionary. If you want to know a lot more about the life of this extraordinary musician...I would wholeheartedly recommend this book.

[This book's] utterly stunning quantity of information from primary sources... makes it an outstanding reference point not merely in debates around [Straube's] life and work ..., but also for interpreting Reger or for understanding Leipzig's musical history.

Written with sensitivity, [Anderson's book] goes into factual matters in fine detail but also gives a satisfying sense of [Straube as a] person. Straube's activities during the Third Reich are laid out with care, avoiding both hagiography and [negative] polemics.

The definitive work in any language. The research is impeccable. More than just a biography of an organist, this book puts the reader in the world of German culture and church music from the 1880s to the middle of the 20th century. Highest recommendation.