Composer Gustav Mahler

In the small Bohemian village of Kalist in 1860, Marie and Bernhard Mahler welcomed a son into their lives, 1 of 14 children that would be born to them. His name was Gustav and he would become one of the world's foremost composers. Marie had married Bernhard against her wishes, as she loved another man, thus the marriage was not an ideal pairing and the family members suffered from it. Especially Gustav, who was a dreamer and a music lover; music and dreaming gave him the tools to retreat from a tyrannical father who behaved brutally toward his mother.

Although Bernhard was not a pleasant man, he arranged to have Gustav take piano lessons, hoping that his son would attain the status of a 'piano virtuoso' which would give the father some social standing in the community. Being Jewish, he knew that he was looked on as a second-class citizen who was never accepted in society and he would do anything to improve his lot. In later life Gustav remarked, " I am thrice homeless; as a native of Bohemia in Austria, as an Austrian among Germans, and as a Jew throughout all the world. Everywhere an intruder, never welcomed."

Vienna Conservatory

When Gustav was 10 years old he performed for the first time in public. It was very successful and it was decided that he should go to Prague fro further study. This turned out to be disatrous and Bernhard finally sent the boy to the Vienna Conservatory where he played for Professor Julius Epstein who pronounced him "A born musician." This led to piano studies with Epstein, harmony with Robert Fuchs and composition with Franz Krenn. Hugo Wolf, the German composer, was a fellow student with Mahler at the Conservatory. Unfortunately the 2 would part ways after a nasty confrontation, and Wolf would descend into insanity.

Mahler's graduation from the Conservatory took place in July of 1878, and his diploma was accompanied with many prizes and accolades for his pianistic skills. He had abandoned the thought of a career as a piano virtuoso after hearing Franz Liszt and Anton Rubinstein in concert. He spent the summer of 1879 in Hungary, where he taught piano and at the family home, now in Iglau, where he fell in love for the first time. The young lady was Josephine Poisl, one of his pupils, but the affair was short-lived and resulted in depression for the young composer. The rest of his life would bring more sorrow and illness, but his career as a composer was assured.

For further reading about composers see: Gustav Mahler and Frederic Chopin

Source

Mahler by Edward Seckerson, Omnibus Press, New York, 1982

Gustav Mahler

Gustav Mahler

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