Discover new books on Goodreads

See if your friends have read any of Gustav Mahler's books

Gustav Mahler’s Followers (31)

Gustav Mahler

Born

in Kalischt (now Kaliště), Bohemia (Austrian Empire), Czech Republic

July 07, 1860

Died

May 18, 1911

Genre

Music

edit data

Gustav Mahler was a late-Romantic composer and one of the leading conductors of his generation. He was born to a Jewish family in the village of Kalischt in Bohemia, in what was then the Austrian Empire, now Kaliště in the Czech Republic. His family later moved to nearby Iglau (now Jihlava), where Mahler grew up.

As a composer, Mahler acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and the modernism of the early 20th century. While in his lifetime his status as a conductor was established beyond question, his own music gained wide popularity only after periods of relative neglect which included a ban on its performance in much of Europe during the Nazi era. After 1945 the music was discovered and championed by a new genera Gustav Mahler was a late-Romantic composer and one of the leading conductors of his generation. He was born to a Jewish family in the village of Kalischt in Bohemia, in what was then the Austrian Empire, now Kaliště in the Czech Republic. His family later moved to nearby Iglau (now Jihlava), where Mahler grew up.

As a composer, Mahler acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and the modernism of the early 20th century. While in his lifetime his status as a conductor was established beyond question, his own music gained wide popularity only after periods of relative neglect which included a ban on its performance in much of Europe during the Nazi era. After 1945 the music was discovered and championed by a new generation of listeners; Mahler then became a frequently performed and recorded composer, a position he has sustained into the 21st century.

Born in humble circumstances, Mahler displayed his musical gifts at an early age. After graduating from the Vienna Conservatory in 1878, he held a succession of conducting posts of rising importance in the opera houses of Europe, culminating in his appointment in 1897 as director of the Vienna Court Opera. During his ten years in Vienna, Mahler—who had converted to Catholicism to secure the post—experienced regular opposition and hostility from the anti-Semitic press. Nevertheless, his innovative productions and insistence on the highest performance standards ensured his reputation as one of the greatest of opera conductors, particularly as an interpreter of the stage works of Wagner and Mozart. Late in his life he was briefly director of New York's Metropolitan Opera and the New York Philharmonic.

Mahler's oeuvre is relatively small; for much of his life composing was necessarily a part-time activity while he earned his living as a conductor. Aside from early works such as a movement from a piano quartet composed when he was a student in Vienna, Mahler's works are designed for large orchestral forces, symphonic choruses and operatic soloists. Most of his twelve symphonic scores are very large-scale works, often employing vocal soloists and choruses in addition to augmented orchestral forces. These works were often controversial when first performed, and several were slow to receive critical and popular approval; exceptions included his Symphony No. 2, Symphony No. 3, and the triumphant premier of his Eighth Symphony in 1910. Some of Mahler's immediate musical successors included the composers of the Second Viennese School, notably Arnold Schoenberg, Alban Berg and Anton Webern. Shostakovich and Benjamin Britten are among later 20th-century composers who admired and were influenced by Mahler. The International Gustav Mahler Institute was established in 1955 to honour the composer's life and work. ...more

Combine Editions
Gustav Mahler’s books

Average rating: 4.64 · 381 ratings · 26 reviews · 537 distinct works • Similar authors

	Gustav Mahler: Symphonies Nos. 1 and 2 in Full Score 4.66 avg rating — 50 ratings — published 1987 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Gustav Mahler: Letters to his Wife by Gustav Mahler, Henri-Louis de La Grange (editor), Günther Weiss (editor) 4.37 avg rating — 35 ratings — published 1995 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Symphony No. 9 In Full Score 4.77 avg rating — 30 ratings — published 1993 — 13 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Symphonies Nos. 5 and 6 in Full Score 4.80 avg rating — 25 ratings — published 1992 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Symphony No. 8 In Full Score 4.74 avg rating — 23 ratings — published 1987 — 15 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 7 in Full Score 4.52 avg rating — 21 ratings — published 1986 — 17 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Das Lied von der Erde in Full Score 4.89 avg rating — 19 ratings — published 1988 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Symphony No. 2 in C Minor: "Resurrection" 4.53 avg rating — 19 ratings — published 1985 — 10 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Gustav Mahler--Richard Strauss: Correspondence 1888-1911 by Gustav Mahler, Richard Strauss, Edmund Jephcott (Translator) 4.44 avg rating — 18 ratings — published 1985 — 17 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Symphonies Nos. 3 and 4 in Full Score 4.87 avg rating — 15 ratings — published 1990 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Gustav Mahler…

Quotes by Gustav Mahler (?)

“Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire”
― Gustav Mahler

tags: fire, mahler, tradition, worship

353 likes

“If a composer could say what he had to say in words he would not bother trying to say it in music.”
― Gustav Mahler

50 likes

“I am hitting my head against the walls, but the walls are giving way.”
― Gustav Mahler

29 likes

See all Gustav Mahler's quotes »

Topics Mentioning This Author

topics	posts	views	last activity
21st Century Lite...: Holidays	604	389	Jan 10, 2017 10:30PM
Let's Talk About ...: Anything Goes	1510	287	Apr 27, 2017 04:26PM
Goodreads Librari...: Please combine	997	443	Feb 20, 2019 10:10AM

More…

Gustav Mahler’s Followers (31)

Gustav Mahler

Combine EditionsGustav Mahler’s books

Topics Mentioning This Author

Combine Editions
Gustav Mahler’s books