Better known during his lifetime as a conductor, Gustav Mahler was a composer
whose work was long forgotten before being rediscovered, establishing himself as
an important milestone in the transition from Romanticism to Modernism, with his
unusual symphonies and poignant Lieder, notably Song of the Earth. Born in
Kalište, Bohemia, on July 7, 1860, Gustav Mahler was the second of fourteen
children born to a Jewish brewer. Growing up in Iglau, he learned to play the
piano, began composing, and became immersed in the tunes sung at home and the
sound of the bugle in the nearby milita...