Gustav Mahler

Gustav Mahler (1860–1911) – an Austrian composer and conductor. He studied at the conservatory and the university in Vienna. On completing his studies, he devoted himself to a career as a conductor. He was permanent conductor or director of operatic houses in Prague (1885), Leipzig (1886), Budapest (1888), Hamburg (1891–1897) and Vienna (1897–1907), where he prepared as many as thirty-two premieres. In 1907, he left for New York, where he initially conducted at the Metropolitan Opera (1907–1909) and later become musical director of the New York Philharmonic Society (1909–1911). He is one of the pre-eminent representatives of late romanticism (neo-romanticism) in music. He wrote songs and symphonic music, in which he combined various genres and kinds: instrumental and vocal music, orchestral and chamber music, symphony with song and cantata. His oeuvre was inspired by literature, theatre, painting and nature.