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All his life, William Gedney had an interest in serious music, and around 1965 he began a series of portraits of American composers. Over several years, Gedney wrote to the composers he wanted to photograph and arranged visits to make pictures of them at work in their home or studio. Eventually, Gedney produced a book dummy of this series, choosing photographs of fifty composers, each represented by one or two portraits. The project was accepted and scheduled for publication in 1969 by Crowell, Collier, and Macmillan, Inc., but unfortunately, the book's author failed to deliver a text. William Gedney did not receive final notification that the book would not be published until 1975.