What is Gustav Mahler?
[[File:Gustav Mahler 1909 2.jpg|thumb|Gustav Mahler]] '''Gustav Mahler''' (born Kalischt (now Kalište), [[Bohemia]], July 7 1860; died [[Vienna]], May 18 1911) was a [[Austria|Czech-Austrian]] [[composer]] and [[Conductor (music)|conductor]]. He was one of the last great composers of the [[Romantic music|Romantic period]]. He wrote ten [[symphony|symphonies]] (he left the tenth symphony unfinished) and several collections of [[song]]s with [[orchestra]]l [[accompaniment (music)|accompaniment]]. He was very interested in [[German language|German]] [[folk song]] and he found new ways to use folk song in large orchestral symphonies. His work ''[[Das Lied von der Erde]]'' (''The Song of the Earth'') is one of his greatest works, combining song with the [[Sonata form|sonata]] [[musical form|form]] of a symphony. He was also a great conductor and helped to make the [[Vienna Opera]] world famous. == Life == === Childhood === Gustav Mahler was born on 7 July 1860 into a [[Jewish]] family. He was the second of 12 children and the first one of the six who were to survive childhood and grow up to adults. His father worked hard to build up his business. He owned a [[distillery]] and seven [[tavern]]s in Iglau to where the family moved in the autumn of 1860. There he heard a lot of music: military music, folk music and different kinds of art music. He learned the piano and performed in public in 1870 and started to compose. In 1875 he went to study at the [[Vienna Conservatory]]. After a while he gave up studying the piano and concentrated on [[Composition (music)|composition]] and conducting. He was very interested in [[Richard Wagner|Wagner’s]] ideas about [[philosophy]] and [[politics]], and he studied philosophy at the [[University of Vienna]]. He started to earn some money by teaching. His first important composition was a [[cantata]] called ''Das klagende Lied''. === Early career === Mahler’s first job as a conductor was at Bad Hall in Upper Austria. The small opera company there was not very good and the music they