with gertrude herman hesse continues his lifelong exploration of the irreconcilable elements of human existence in this fictional memoir the renowned composer kuhn recounts his tangled relationships with two artistshis friend heinrich muoth a brooding selfdestructive opera singer and the gentle selfassured gertrude imthor kuhn is drawn to gertrude upon their first meeting but gertrude falls in love with heinrich to whom she is introduced when kuhn auditions them for the leads in his new opera hopelessly illmatched gertrude and heinrich have a disastrous marriage that leaves them both ruined yet this tragic affair also becomes the inspiration for kuhns opera the most important success of his artistic life