Bohemian Rhapsody

Gustav Mahler, Bohemian composer born on July 7th 1860 - 1911

Gustav Mahler was born into a German-speaking, Jewish family in Kalischt, Bohemia, then the Austrian Empire, today the Czech Republic, the second of fourteen children, of whom only six survived infancy. His parents soon moved to Jjilhava in German Iglau, Moravia, today the Czech Republic

In Mahler's day Vienna was one of the world’s biggest cities and the capital of a great empire in Central Europe. It was home to a lively artistic and intellectual scene. It was home to famous painters such as Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele.

Mahler knew many of these intellectuals and artists.

In 1897, Mahler, then thirty-seven, was offered the directorship of the Vienna Opera, the most prestigious musical position in the Austria Empire. This was an 'Imperial' post, and under Austro-Hungarian law, no such posts could be occupied by Jews. Mahler, who was never a devout or practising Jew, had, in preparation, converted to Roman Catholicism.

Mahler's own music aroused considerable opposition from music critics, who tended to hear his symphonies as 'potpourris' in which themes from "disparate" periods and traditions were indiscriminately mingled. Mahler's juxtaposition of material from both "high" and "low" cultures, as well as his mixing of different ethnic traditions, outraged conservative critics at a time when workers' mass organizations were growing rapidly, and clashes between Germans, Czechs, Hungarians and Jews in Austro-Hungary were creating anxiety and instability.

The final impetus for Mahler's departure from the Vienna Opera was a generous offer from the Metropolitan Opera in New York.

Having signed a contract to conduct the long-established New York Philharmonic Orchestra, Mahler and his family travelled to America. At this time, he completed his Das Lied con der Erde (The Song of the Earth), and his Symphony No. 9, which would be his last completed work. I

n February 1911, during a long and demanding concert season in New York, Mahler fell seriously ill with a streptococcal blood infection, and conducted his last concert in a fever (the programme included the world premiere of Ferruccio Busoni's (Berceuse élégiaque). Returning to Europe, he was taken to Paris, where a new serum had recently been developed. He did not respond, however, and was taken back to Vienna at his request. He died there from his infection on May 18th 1911 at the age of 50, leaving his Symphony No. 10 unfinished.
The real art of conducting consists in transitions.

"A symphony must be like the world. It must contain everything". Gustav Mahler

Photo: Mahler conducting the Beethoven 9th