Gustav Mahler
Gustav Mahler
Gustav Mahlerwas an Austrian late-Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th century Austro-German tradition and the modernism of the early 20th century. While in his lifetime his status as a conductor was established beyond question, his own music gained wide popularity only after periods of relative neglect which included a ban on its performance in much of Europe during the Nazi era. After 1945 his...
NationalityAustrian
ProfessionComposer
Date of Birth7 July 1860
CountryAustria
I don't let myself get carried away by my own ideas - I abandon 19 out of 20 of them every day.
Spring won't let me stay in this house any longer! I must get out and breathe the air deeply again.
A true "personality" . . . is like a robust organism that, with unconscious sureness, seeks out and digests the nourishment appropriate to it and vigorously rejects that which is unsuitable.
Fortissimo at last!( on seeing Niagara Falls )
Can this be endured at all? Won't people kill themselves afterwards?
The important thing is never to let oneself be guided by the opinion of one's contemporaries; to continue steadfastly on one's way without letting oneself be either defeated by failure or diverted by applause.
Even if people censure me, they should do so hat in hand.
Life's been nothing but paperwork.
I live like a Hottentot. I cannot exchange one sensible word with anyone.
A true personality . . . is like a robust organism that, with unconscious sureness, seeks out and digests the nourishment appropriate to it and vigorously rejects that which is unsuitable.
Don't bother to look, I've composed all this already.
If I weren't the way I am, I shouldn't write my symphonies.
I hope you will no longer accuse me of a lack of delicacy. as I now count on your understanding.
The longer you live and the more you learn, the more clearly you will feel the difference between the few men who are truly great and the mere virtuosi.