Gustav Mahler

One of my favorite composers of all time is Gustav Mahler. He lived in Bohemia in 1860 in a Jewish German-speaking family. He spent most of his career conducting and was not fully recognized for his composing masterpieces until much later after his death. Many of his symphonies are rich with emotion and melancholy, that serve as a good reflection his life. Shortly after writing Kindertotenlieder, which translates to “Songs on the death of children”, his 4-year-old daughter lost her life to scarlet fever. 

Source 1: http://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/gustav-mahler-401.php

This source contains an in-depth record of Mahler’s biography. He had many obstacles in his life that greatly influenced his work, especially those involving death and melancholy.

Source 2: http://www.violinist.com/blog/Terez/20103/11107/

I found it interesting that Mahler also fell victim to the curse of the 9^th symphony. Shortly after beginning his 10^th, he died like many other composers.

Source 3: http://www.cmuse.org/10-fun-facts-about-gustav-mahler/

Although this website doesn’t have a whole lot of information regarding Mahler’s work, I found the 10 facts listed very interesting and worth noting.