Alan Walker is Professor Emeritus of Music at McMaster University, Canada, and author of numerous books, including Franz Liszt: The Virtuoso Years, 1811-1847 (volume 1); The Weimar Years, 1848-1861 (volume 2); and The Final Years, 1861-1886 (volume 3), available in paperback from Cornell. He has been awarded the Royal Philharmonic Society Prize and the medal Pro Cultura Hungarica, presented by the President of Hungary.