A Life of Hermann Cohen

From Franz Liszt to John of the Cross

Hermann Cohen was a star pupil of the great composer/pianist Franz Liszt in Paris in the mid 1800s. Cohen became an international concert pianist in his own right and mixed with many of the famous names of the day. He provided piano accompaniment for Giovanni Mateo De Candia ( Mario), the Pavarotti of his day, on concert platforms in Paris and London. After converting to Catholicism, Cohen became a Carmelite and preached throughout Europe. In1862, he officially restored the Carmelite Order to England (Kensington Church and Priory). In France, he became friends with many future French saints. These will all be mentioned in the course of our story. One of his many Canticles, the The Divine Prisoner`s Little Flower, greatly influenced St. Thrse of Lisieux, often known as the Little Flower. Cohen inspired Raphael Kalinowski to turn from a worldly life and become a Carmelite like himself. Timothy wrote a biography of St. Raphael Kalinowski published last year by Balboa Press. In Timothy Tierney`s book you will witness, through his rich and fluent narrative, the encounter with Cohen, a genius who savoured the intoxicating highs of success as an artist and the despairing depths of a gambler enslaved by his addictions.. Through music, the atheistic Cohen experienced and discovered the spiritual realm (Luis Jorge Gonzalez, OCD, emeritus professor of the Teresianum, Rome).