These three essential volumes on classical music theory and history explore the lives and contributions of some of music’s greatest minds.

In Legend of a Musical City: The Story of Vienna, renowned Austrian music critic Max Graf shares his recollections of life with Anton Bruckner, Gustav Mahler, Johannes Brahms, Richard Strauss, Arnold Schoenberg, and other immortals of the music world. Bringing to life several iconic composers as well as the city of Vienna itself, Graf recounts a charming, personal, and highly educational story of Austria’s musical legacy.

In Schoenberg and His School, noted composer, conductor, and music theorist René Leibowitz offers an authoritative analysis of Schoenberg’s groundbreaking contributions to composition theory and Western polyphony. In addition to detailing his subject’s major works, Leibowitz also explores Schoenberg’s impact on the works of his two great disciples, Alban Berg and Anton Webern.

In Shostakovich: The Man and His Work, Ivan Martynov presents a compelling and intimate biography of this pioneering legend. Martynov draws on extensive research, including interviews and conversations with Shostakovich himself, as well as his own expertise in the field of musicology.