James Galston: Gustav Mahler

Conductor, composer, and writer Bruno Walter (1876 1962) worked closely with Gustav Mahler as the composer's assistant and protégé. His revealing recollections of Mahler were written in 1936, marking the twenty-fifthanniversary of the composer's death. Walter first encountered Mahler more than 40 years earlier, when he served as the composer's assistant conductor in Hamburg. He worked with Mahler again at the Vienna Opera, and after thecomposer's death conducted the debut of the Ninth Symphony and Das Lied von der Erde.A staunch supporter of Mahler's genius and defender of his dour personality, Walter cites the pressures faced by a gifted artist striving forperfection. This edition of his tribute to his friend and mentor features supplemental materials that include a biographical sketch of Mahler as man and artist by Ernst Krenek, the composer's son-in-law and musical heir, and a newIntroduction by Erik Ryding, author of Bruno Walter: A World Elsewhere.

Reprint of Greystone Press, Inc., New York, 1941 edition.