Alicja Usarek-Topper is a professor of Music at Collin College in Texas. She maintains a diverse profile as teacher, solo violin recitalist, chamber and orchestra musician, and scholar in twentieth-century music. The "Professor Alicja Usarek Annual Scholarship Award" of the Collin College Foundation and the "Scholarship Award in Recognition of the String Area" were established in her honor. Usarek helps students appropriate their ethnic background to foster the mutual enrichment of music and heritage. She is married to Matson Topper, a professor of Music at Dallas College. Their sixteen-year-old son Austin, who etched the drawing for the cover of this book, is preparing for a career as cellist.

• Prologue – 1907 - Béla and Stefi:　Auspicious Beginnings - Béla and Stefi:　Coda of Anguish - Béla and Stefi:　An Unendurable Farewell - Béla and Stefi:　In the Spirit of Tristan - Form and Poetic Content - Stefi’s Leitmotif:　Variants and Transformations - Chain of Thirds as Nonfunctional Vehicle for Leitmotivic Progression - Epilogue

Alicja Usarek-Topper is a professor of Music at Collin College in Texas. She maintains a diverse profile as teacher, solo violin recitalist, chamber and orchestra musician, and scholar in twentieth-century music. The "Professor Alicja Usarek Annual Scholarship Award" of the Collin College Foundation and the "Scholarship Award in Recognition of the String Area" were established in her honor. Usarek helps students appropriate their ethnic background to foster the mutual enrichment of music and heritage. She is married to Matson Topper, a professor of Music at Dallas College. Their sixteen-year-old son Austin, who etched the drawing for the cover of this book, is preparing for a career as cellist.

• Prologue – 1907 - Béla and Stefi:　Auspicious Beginnings - Béla and Stefi:　Coda of Anguish - Béla and Stefi:　An Unendurable Farewell - Béla and Stefi:　In the Spirit of Tristan - Form and Poetic Content - Stefi’s Leitmotif:　Variants and Transformations - Chain of Thirds as Nonfunctional Vehicle for Leitmotivic Progression - Epilogue

Alicja Usarek-Topper is a professor of Music at Collin College in Texas. She maintains a diverse profile as teacher, solo violin recitalist, chamber and orchestra musician, and scholar in twentieth-century music. The "Professor Alicja Usarek Annual Scholarship Award" of the Collin College Foundation and the "Scholarship Award in Recognition of the String Area" were established in her honor. Usarek helps students appropriate their ethnic background to foster the mutual enrichment of music and heritage. She is married to Matson Topper, a professor of Music at Dallas College. Their sixteen-year-old son Austin, who etched the drawing for the cover of this book, is preparing for a career as cellist.

• Prologue – 1907 - Béla and Stefi:　Auspicious Beginnings - Béla and Stefi:　Coda of Anguish - Béla and Stefi:　An Unendurable Farewell - Béla and Stefi:　In the Spirit of Tristan - Form and Poetic Content - Stefi’s Leitmotif:　Variants and Transformations - Chain of Thirds as Nonfunctional Vehicle for Leitmotivic Progression - Epilogue