By Gary Barton I once interviewed the conductor, Werner
Torkanowsky. Among other things, we talked of Bruckner's
Symphony No. 9. He said something to me that applies equally to
all of the symphonies of Gustav Mahler: "Gary, for this symphony
you must make time." Mahler's symphonies are deep, and each
builds upon the other. In listening to them, some historical
facts will offer insights to their content and greatly enhance
your enjoyment of them. Mahler's father was Bernhard Mahler, an
innkeeper and later the owner of a distillery. In 1857, he
married a soap maker's daughter who was ten years younger than
he. Marie Herrmann Mahler felt she had married below her family
in social class and it soon became evident that this was a
relationship destined to fail. The couple nonetheless had 14
children, Gustav being the second. His oldest brother died in
early infancy in an accident. Of the 12 following children, six
died in childhood from diphtheria or similar diseases; Otto
committed suicide; Justine had repeated de