Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897-1957) was an extraordinary figure who bridged the worlds of serious music, operetta and film music. He worked with such disparate artists as Mahler and Errol Flynn. As a child prodigy of a composer in Vienna, he achieved legendary status, but personal pressure later drew him into operetta arrangement and thence to Hollywood where he spent the war years becoming a highly influential composer of film music.

Ignoring the changing tides of musical fashion, Korngold continued to write in his own lush, romantic idiom. Now, as his music is currently enjoying a great revival of interest, this study offers an in-depth reappraisal of his unique life and work.