The renowned concert pianist and teacher Hans von Bülow gave a series of piano master classes in the summers of 1884-1887. Detailed notes of the lessons by Theodor Pfeiffer, entitled Studien bei Hans von Bülow, were published around the turn of the century along with a Nachtrag (Supplement) by José Vianna da Motta.

Richard Zimdars has rendered Pfeiffer's and da Motta's often cryptic notes into fully understandable instructions and has transcribed the more than 250 musical examples in the original volume. Particularly valuable is an appendix containing finger exercises from a contemporaneous book by Pfeiffer, now long out of print.

Bülow's teaching, which is in the Liszt tradition, is as vital today as it was almost one hundred years ago. Students, performers, and teachers have much to learn from his high standards and artistic insight.