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 taverns 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.