Biography of Gustav Mahler

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven are two of the greatest composers ever to write music. Both men lived in the early 18th and 19th century, but their music and influences are still felt today. The men faced similar experiences, yet they both lead very different lives. All together the pieces that these men composed amounts to over 300 published, and unpublished works of art. The people of their time period often had mixed feelings about these men, some “complained that Mozart’s music presented them with too many ideas and that his melodies moved from one to the next faster than audiences could follow, yet the ideas themselves seem effortless and natural, clear and

Mendelssohn was a famous German composer of the Romantic period. Although he was born into a Jewish family and grew up without a religion he soon became a reformed Christian. Mendelssohn was born with the talent to be able to play instruments and make music, but his parents never really supported his talent and didn’t help him to improve his talent. He went on to pursue what he loved to do and that was to compose and conduct music. Mendelssohn was born in Hamburg, Germany, 1809.

“Without Craftsmanship, inspiration is a mere reed shaken in the wind.” Johannes Brahms was an extraordinarily talented composer of his time, and, as said in one of his famous quotes, he truly crafted each piece of music he wrote with much care and delicacy. Ever since the early age of six years old, Brahms was infatuated with playing the piano, composing music, as well as conducting choral groups as well as symphonies throughout the entirety of his life. He was tremendously popular amongst friends, fellow composers, and other notable people of his time. His fame not only stood in the barriers of his lifetime, but also stood the test of time. His works are often compared to the likes of people such as the famous Johann Sebastian Bach and Ludwig van Beethoven. This impeccable trio

In this essay, I will be discussing the music of Jewish composers who were unable to showcase their pieces, due to the massive animosity towards their race, despite having composed several outstanding pieces of music. Although they were persecuted severely during the Nazi era, they too contributed to the international music community. For many of the Jewish composers, the rise of the Nazi Party in Germany and Austria was an increasing danger to their safety in the country. They had to make difficult choices to survive –To stay in Germany and remain oppressed in their very own country, or to leave, and be detached from their own cultural roots forever.

One of few great composers to be recognized in their lifetime, Johannes Brahms stood out among the crowd of composers in the Romantic period of music. During this period, musicians discarded the intelligence and form of the Classical period in favor of emotion and feeling. Experiencing one's inner-child became a prominent inspiration as well as forces of nature, including thunderstorms and crop-circles. Brahms developed talent early on and, with the help of his father, flourished into a powerful composer blending the sounds of the Classical and Romantic periods.

“A symphony is like the world. It must contain everything.” (Gustav Mahler). This quote accurately describes Mahler’s outlook and perspective on not just his music, but the way he views life. Mahler’s artistic interpretation served as a stepping stone future musicians would be influenced by for generations to come. Because of this, Mahler has cemented himself in history by pushing the limits of the universal language that is music.

his projection of a single unifying idea as the founding principles of the symphony. These

In June 1906, 46-year-old Gustav Mahler was struck with inspiration unlike any he had ever had in his life. With this inspiration, he composed his Eighth Symphony in less than two months. Dedicated to “My dear wife, Alma Maria” and known as Mahler’s “search for redemption”, this symphony was the first of Mahler’s works to be an overwhelming success.

Joseph Haydn composed 108 symphonies in his life, 67 more than Mozart! Joseph Haydn is my chosen composer. I chose him because he was poor as a child with special musical gifts and started to be musically trained when he was only 6 years old. Joseph Haydn is a valuable composer he started training when he was 6, because he was an extremely prolific composer, and because he composed many symphonies, quartets, and other pieces of music.

During the romantic period in 1838, a German composer, Max Bruch, was born. By the early age of ten, Bruch was already composing and playing at an extremely high level of proficiency. His teacher, Ferdinand Hiller, guided him to compose in a meticulous manner which firmly laid the foundation for his strong composition abilities. However, this instruction lead him to struggle later with traditional musical styles. At the age of twenty-two, his career was primarily focused on composition, conducting, and teaching in addition to his many travels.

It is, maybe, the tragedy of Mahler’s shorter, simpler, principle movements to be return to a certain level of shadowiness. In second movement, for example, there is no thundering bass drum, no sharp cymbal clash, no seriously intoning trombone. Yet, from any other composer, this movement would be a great work, standing out from the background. The Romantic composers tried to do too much in their

Wilhelm Richard Wagner was one of the greatest opera writers of all time. He helped to take opera to a whole new level from even Verdi and Puccini. Some say that Wagner was very egotistic, however; “his extreme egotism rested on conviction, Wagner had the ability to do great things” (Colles 207). He was extraordinary at composing music as well as formulating words. He was not a prodigy however his musical skills surpassed many other composers from his time period.

Mahler was born in Kalischt, Bohemia, on July 7, 1860. At the time, Bohemia (later to form a major component of Czechoslovakia, and later the Czech Republic) was part of the Austro-Hungarian empire, then enduring its final crumbling decades, and the region where Mahler spent his youth was strongly associate with the Czech independence movement. However, Mahler also was a Jew, and Jews in the region were associated by ethnic Czechs with Germans. Mahler famous quote is: "I am thrice homeless, as a native of Bohemia in Austria, as an Austrian among Germans, and as a Jew throughout the world. Everywhere an intruder, never welcomed." Then add to that the fact that the public considered Mahler to be a gifted conductor with a habit of

Putting together a performance of a Mahler symphony, with its massive forces length, always requires tremendous resources. As such, it can be very disappointing when, investement in these resources result in a subpar performance. Take for example Christoph Eschenbach’s performance with L’Orchestre de Paris in 2009, which is very underwhelming, especially when compared to Gergiev’s performance with the World Orchestra for Peace at the BBC proms in 2010, based on, the technical skill exhibited, attention to details in the score, and interpretation of emotional content.

This simply corresponds to Robert Schumann’s saying: “Mendelssohn is the one who most clearly sees through the contradictions (between the classical and romantic style) of the age and for the first time reconciles them.”