Carl Niekerk
Gustav Mahler’s music is more popular than ever, yet few are aware of its roots in German literary and cultural history in general, and in fin-de-siècle Viennese culture in particular.
Taking as its point of departure the many references to literature, philosophy, and the visual arts that Mahler uses to illustrate the meaning of his music, Reading Mahler helps audiences, critics, and those interested in musical and cultural history understand influences on Mahler’s music and thinking that may have been self-evident to middle-class Viennese a hundred years ago but are much more obscure today.