The second volume of the Eisler correspondence comprises eight years of the composer’s life. But there are worlds between the beginning of this segment – the unloved, alleged idyll in Hollywood – and its end. In 1948/49 Eisler, after being expelled from the United States, attempted to regain his footing in Europe. Ultimately he began devoting himself to the construction of the GDR and initially shared the young nation’s optimism, which seems illusionary today. With their unadorned insights into private, professional and political conflicts, the letters of this volume represent source material of great cultural and historical interest not only for Eisler research. Save for a few exceptions, this source material is being presented here for the first time, and supplied with detailed comments by the editor.
