The image of Hans Pfitzer, unlike that of his fellow composers Mahler, Strauss or Schoenberg, still is under a veneer of myth-making: Benevolent biographers stylized him as a national fighter, the last romantic or the other-worldly loner while critics generalized individual negative traits and regarded him as a querulous person and misanthropist, a reactionary and conservative. In fact, his thinking and music-making were rooted in the 19th century, and it is only today that the independence and originality of his works seem to be noticed much clearer from an evolved historical perspective. Based on the meticulous studies of all sources, the author draws an understanding as well as critical and differentiated picture of Pfitzner and, looking beyond the main work 'Palestrina', turns the reader's gaze to a multi-faceted oeuvre.
