Gustav Mahler was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic composer and one of the leading conductors of his generation. He was born on July 7, 1860, in Kaliště, Bohemia, then part of the Austrian Empire, and passed away on May 18, 1911, in Vienna, Austria1. Mahler’s compositions act as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and the modernism of the early 20th century.
As a composer, Mahler’s status was established beyond question only after periods of relative neglect, which included a ban on its performance during the Nazi era. His music gained wide popularity after 1945 and he became one of the most frequently performed and recorded composers, a position he has sustained into the 21st century.
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 (Hofoper). 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.
His oeuvre is relatively limited; for much of his life, composing was a part-time activity while he earned his living as a conductor. His works are generally designed for large orchestral forces, symphonic choruses, and operatic soloists. These works were frequently controversial when first performed, and several were slow to receive critical and popular approval; exceptions included his Second Symphony and the triumphant premiere of his Eighth Symphony in 1910.
Mahler’s immediate musical successors included the composers of the Second Viennese School, notably Arnold Schoenberg, Alban Berg, and Anton Webern. Later 20th-century composers who admired and were influenced by Mahler include Dmitri Shostakovich and Benjamin Britten. The International Gustav Mahler Society was established in 1955 to honor the composer’s life and achievements.
