Alma Mahler was a vibrant figure in the Viennese art scene, whose salon served as a nexus for intellectual and artistic discourse. She was a gifted composer, creating numerous works for voice and piano, demonstrating a significant artistic output beyond her social influence. Her life and creative endeavors captured the dynamic spirit of the era's cultural landscape. Mahler's enduring legacy is rooted in her multifaceted contributions to the arts and her prominent role within influential circles.
The original manuscript of these diaries, which present an eye-witness record of historical events in the worlds of art and music at the turn of the century, lay unread in the library of an American university until Antony Beaumont read it in search of the truth about Mahler-Werfel and Zemlinsky. But he found more: an account, in intimate detail, of the four years during which Mahler-Werfel grew from adolescence into womanhood.