Hundreds of the letters that Gustav Mahler addressed to his parents and sisters survive in the Mahler-Rose Collection at the University of Western Ontario, yet are almost entirely unknown. These family letters, which date from the mid-1880s through 1910, form the largest and most important single source of information about his life, his personality, and his relationships, particularly before the mid-1890s. They document such things as Mahler's burgeoning career as a conductor and composer, his parents' illnesses and deaths, and the numerous trials and tribulations of his siblings Alois, Justine, Otto, and Emma. They also record his initial impressions of significant contemporaries such as Johannes Brahms, Richard Strauss, and Hans von Bulow, as well as significant events such as Mahler's first big success: his completion of Carl Maria von Weber's Die drei Pintos in 1889. In the fall of 1894, the character of the letters changes when Justine and Emma began living with Mahler in Hamburg, and later, Vienna, thus removing the need to communicate by letter about day-to-day matters. At this point, the letters report significant later events such as his campaign to be named Director of the Vienna Court Opera, his conducting tours throughout Europe, and his courtship of Alma Schindler.

About the Author
Dr. Stephen McClatchie is Professor of Music and the Associate Vice-President (Academic) of the University of Regina and is the author of Analyzing Wagner's Operas: Alfred Lorenz and German Nationalist Ideology (University of Rochester Press, 1998). He has published in Mahler Studies (Cambridge University Press, 1997), Bruckner Studies (Cambridge University Press, 1997), Music & Letters, 19th-Century Music, Notes, and the Cambridge Opera Journal.

Reviews
...a magnificent achievement for Stephen McClatchie as editor, translator, and annotator...this volume will have an important place in the musicological Mahler canon. * Musical Times *



Book Information
ISBN 9780195140651
Author Stephen McClatchie
Format Hardback
Page Count 440
Imprint Oxford University Press Inc
Publisher Oxford University Press Inc
Weight(grams) 767g
Dimensions(mm) 242mm * 165mm * 34mm