Gustav Mahler, a memorable Bohemian-Austrian composer of the post-Romantic era
His works included nine symphonies, a symphonic song cycle, Das Lied von der Erde (The Song of the Earth), and over 40 songs.
His music was influenced by Anton Bruckner and Richard Wagner. His symphonies were very long and involved large orchestras, often with vocal parts.
Mahler was also renowned as a conductor, appearing frequently in Vienna and New York.
Gustav Mahler - Symphony No. 2 ("Resurrection") - Movement 5, Part 4
Spring
"With the coming of spring, I am calm again."
-- Gustav Mahler
Gustav Mahler: A Life in Crisis
Gustav Mahler: A Life in Crisis
Amazon Price: $35.39 (as of 12/18/2009)
"The crises in Mahler's life concerned death and relationships. Several siblings died very young. At 19, Mahler (1860-1911) lost his parents and thereafter cared for two brothers (one of whom later committed suicide) and a sister. His oldest daughter died early as well. No wonder death and fate figure in his compositions, including Kindertotenlieder and movements of his symphonies (hope and redemption are also in them).Further, Mahler prohibited Alma, his 20-years-younger wife, from composing and performing as a condition of marriage, and when he withdrew from her sexually to pursue conducting in Europe and New York as well as his own composing during summers, she turned to architect Walter Gropius. The stresses of conducting, composing, and marriage led Mahler to consultation with Freud in 1910 and ultimately to his death. Though psychiatrist Feder concentrates on Mahler's relationships and mental states, he also covers Alma after Mahler, Freud, Mahler's daughter, and his other doctors to reveal the psyche that governed the composer's life and influenced his music. A good addition to Mahler biography."
-- Alan Hirsch
5th Symphony, 1st Movement (by Gustav Mahler)
Claudio Abbado, conductor
Gustav Mahler Photo (1898) and Autograph
Das Lied von der Erde (The Song of the Earth) (by Gustav Mahler)
With Fritz Wunderlich and Otto Klemperer
Mahler: Das Lied von der Erde (The Song of the Earth) (Cambridge Music Handbooks)
Mahler: Das Lied von der Erde (The Song of the Earth) (Cambridge Music Handbooks)
Amazon Price: $27.99 (as of 12/18/2009)
"Since its premiere Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde (The Song of the Earth) has been widely regarded as his finest masterpiece. It was written in the wake of personal events that shook the foundations of his life in 1907 and, like all his earlier works, it is deeply influenced by the composer's individual and philosophical worldview. Stephen Hefling provides a background to this symphony for voice and orchestra, describes its genesis, summarizes reviews of the premiere, and gives a careful account of all six movements."
-- CUP
Gustav Mahler on CD
Mahler: Das Lied von der Erde
Amazon Price: $10.99 (as of 12/18/2009)
Mahler - Symphony No. 2 "Resurrection" / Claudio Abbado, Eteri Gvazava, Anna Larsson, Orfeon Donostiarra, Lucerne Festival Orchestra
Amazon Price: $22.49 (as of 12/18/2009)
Mahler: Symphony No. 5
Amazon Price: $13.99 (as of 12/18/2009)
Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 1 / Songs of a Wayfarer - Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau / Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra / Rafael Kubelik
Amazon Price: $11.98 (as of 12/18/2009)
Gustav Mahler: Conducting Mahler/I Have Lost Touch With the World
Amazon Price: $22.49 (as of 12/18/2009)
Symphonie Nr.1 "Titan" - Gustav Mahler
Conductor: Leonard Bernstein
Program Notes on Famous Gustav Mahler Works
- Symphony No. 1, in D Major (Mahler)
- Mahler's First Symphony was finished in 1888 and was first performed at Budapest under the composer's direction. The various movements were thus described on the original program: I. Spring and no end. II. Mosaic. III. Under full sail. IV. The Hunter's funeral procession...
CLICK ON ABOVE LINK TO READ FULL NOTES ON THIS WORK - Symphony No. 4, in G Major (Mahler)
- Mahler's Fourth Symphony was written in 1900 and performed for the first time in Munich in 1904. It is scored for a very full orchestra, including in addition to the usual instruments, bass drum, triangle, gong, glockenspiel, and has besides a soprano part in the last movement...
CLICK ON ABOVE LINK TO READ FULL NOTES ON THIS WORK - Symphony No. 8 (Mahler)
- Mahler's gigantic Eighth Symphony was first produced in the United States by the Philadephia Symphony Orchestra, March 1, 1916, under the direction of its conductor, Leopold Stokovski, and was repeated eight times. It was also given by the same orchestra in New York, April 9, 1916. That the appellation "gigantic" is not exaggerated is shown by the fact that upon these occasions in addition to the regular orchestra, celeste, pianoforte, organ and mandolin, and an extra force of four trumpets and three trombones, a total of 110 instruments, were employed. The choral force numbered 950, including three sopranos, two altos, one tenor, one baritone and one bass soloist, two mixed choruses and a boy choir...
CLICK ON ABOVE LINK TO READ FULL NOTES ON THIS WORK
Shots from the movie, Death in Venice (1971) with Mahler 5th Symphony Soundtrack
Behind Me
"Behind me the branches of a wasted and sterile existence are cracking."
-- Gustav Mahler
Interesting Internet Resources on Mahler
- Gustav Mahler WWW Pages
- Book-length biography; discography; articles.
"Ablösung im Sommer" (The Changing of the Summer Guard) from Das Knaben Wunderhorn (The Youth's Magic Horn) (Mahler)
Singer: Simon Keenlyside. Conductor: Simon Rattle.
Gustav Mahler - "Das Knaben Wunderhorn" (Simon Rattle, 1998)
Simon Keenlyside sings with the City of Birmingham Chorus, Youth Chorus, and Symphony Orchestra conducted by Simon Rattle, in Gustav Mahler's, Des Knaben Wunderhorn, 'Ablösung im Sommer'.
Runtime: 103
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Gustav Mahler (article)
Gustav Mahler (7 July 1860 18 May 1911) was a Bohemian-born Austrian composer and conductor. He was best known during his own lifetime as one of the leading orchestral and operatic conductors of the day. He has since come to be acknowledged as among the most important late-Romantic/early-Modernist composers, although his music was never completely accepted by the musical establishment of Vienna while he was still alive. Mahler composed primarily symphonies and songs; however, his approach to genre often blurred the lines between orchestral Lied, symphony, and symphonic poem.
Extract from Mahler's 2nd Symphony, 4th Movement
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- ironsjon ironsjon Jun 23, 2009 @ 2:46 pm
- Hi, we've just launched a Gustav Mahler blog over at http://www.universaledition.com/mahler, with video interviews with Pierre Boulez, Daniel Barenboim, Daniele Gatti, Jonathan Nott and Franz Welser-Möst. More to come ...
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