Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926) was one of the twentieth-century’s finest and most influential poets.

This program interweaves extracts from his letters and readings from his Duineser Elegien (Duino Elegies), the intensely personalized visions which are the culmination of his literary achievement.

The biographical details of his restless and emotionally-troubled life add substantially to an appreciation of his complex, philosophical work, which is left, without critical analysis, to speak for itself.