In his memoirs, the famous composer Koun narrates his ill-fated love for the beautiful, sweet Gertrude. Koun falls in love with her at first sight, but she will love and marry his good friend Heinrich, a charming, impulsive opera singer. Completely mismatched, Gertrude and Heinrich will find themselves in a disastrous marriage. However, the pain of love becomes the inspiration for an opera that will become Koun's greatest success.

The Nobel laureate Hermann Hesse speaks about love, friendship, inspiration, and Nietzschean theory on the genesis of art in a novel flooded with music.