Gustav Mahler

Gustav Mahler was one of the supremely gifted musicians of his generation. His contemporaries came to know him as a composer of startling originality whose greatest successes with the public never failed to provoke controversy among the critics. As a conductor, his relentless pursuit of perfection was sometimes viewed as tyrannical by the singers and musicians who came under his baton. Professor Henry-Louis de La Grange has devoted over thirty years of painstaking research to this study of Mahler's life and works. His biography, ultimately to be completed in four volumes, is drawn from a vast archive of documents, autographs, and pictures, assembled by La Grange at the Bibliotheque Musicale Gustav Mahler, Paris. In his fourth volume on the life and works of Gustav Mahler, Professor Henry-Louis de La Grange covers the years 1907-1911 when, following the setbacks and tragic events in both his private and professional life in Vienna, Mahler sees a new life in New York as the opportunity to realise his dreams. Against the background of the rivalries within the theatres of the great New York families Mahler achieves his goal of establishing a truly professional orchestra worthy of that name, the new New York Philharmonic. Throughout this period Mahler continued with European tours including France where he finally met Faure, Dukas, Debussy, and Rodin. In September 1910 his eighth symphony was enthusiasticlly received in Munich. Alma however, remained dissatisfied with this new life and its successes. Her affair with Walter Gropius revealed to Mahler the extent of the decline of their life together. Returning to Vienna in 1911 and approaching his 51st birthday, Mahler died, leaving unfinished his 10th symphony. For more than 50 years following his death, Mahler's work was consigned to the wilderness until, revived by interest and performance, it took its rightful place in the repertoire.