Great Masters: Mahler—His Life and Music

Overview

Course No. 756

Delve into the musical study of Gustav Mahler, who, along with being a composer, was the greatest opera conductor of his time. Mahler’s works are profound expressions of his inner world marked by alienation and loneliness. This course features 8 lectures that explore Mahler’s influence and significance, tracing his evolution as a composer and conductor, as well as examining his masterpieces that champion emotional depth and complexity.

Video Lectures

1. Introduction and Childhood
   • Explore Mahler’s early musical inclinations and the roots of his alienation.
   • Duration: 47 min

2. Mahler the Conductor
   • Analyze Mahler’s early influences and his rise as a conductor.
   • Duration: 44 min

3. Early Songs and Symphony No. 1
   • Study Mahler’s initial success and his inspiration from folk music.
   • Duration: 46 min

4. The Wunderhorn Symphonies
   • Examine Mahler’s symphonies that reflect his emotional and thematic concerns.
   • Duration: 48 min

• Alma and Vienna
  • Investigate Mahler’s personal life and achievements during his time in Vienna.
  • Duration: 42 min

6. Family Life and Symphony No. 5
   • Discuss the impact of Mahler’s family on his compositions and social life.
   • Duration: 47 min

7. Symphony No. 6 and Das Lied von der Erde
   • Explore the challenges Mahler faced during tumultuous times in his life.
   • Duration: 45 min

8. Das Lied, Final Symphonies, and the End
   • Reflect on Mahler’s final works and his contemplations on mortality.
   • Duration: 47 min