Book excerpt: The Music Master is a novel based on a theatrical play written by Charles Klein. It follows the life of Anton Von Barwig, the successful conductor of the Leipzig Philharmonic Orchestra. Life it seems couldn't be going better for him. That is until his wife runs off with her American lover, taking their daughter Hellene with them. Von Barwig sets off to New York on a quest to find them. But as the years go by, his hope of finding them fades away...