A century after his death, Gustav Mahler is the most important composer of modern times. Displacing Beethoven as a box-office draw, heard in Hollywood films and on state occasions, his music inspires particular devotion. Some believe it helps heal emotional wounds, others find intellectual fascination in its contradictory meanings, and many feel that the music captures the yearnings and anxieties of our post-industrial society. In this highly original account of the composer's life and work, Norman Lebrecht explores the Mahler Effect, asking why Mahler's music has become the soundtrack to our twenty-first-century lives.

Why Mahler?: How One Man and Ten Symphonies Changed the World, by Norman Lebrecht, is a fascinating and lively history of one of the most enduringly popular of classical composers.

About the Author

Norman Lebrecht is one of the most widely read commentators on music and cultural affairs. Based in London, he is a regular contributor to BBC Radio 3, Bloomberg and New York's WNYC.

He has written twelve books about music, among which The Maestro Myth (1991) and Maestros, Masterpieces and Madness (2007) provoked lasting debate. He is also an award-winning novelist, collecting a Whitbread Prize for The Song of Names in 2002.

Book Information
ISBN 9780571260799
Author Norman Lebrecht
Format Paperback
Page Count 384
Imprint Faber & Faber
Publisher Faber & Faber
Weight(grams) 300g
Dimensions(mm) 25mm * 130mm * 200mm