Gustav Mahler

Kurt Blaukopf

Jun 2023 · Plunkett Lake Press

About this ebook

“Mahler’s great orchestral works have been gathering a massive audience. Perhaps his strongest following is among the young... As a logical corollary of the burgeoning interest in the music has come a new interest in the man. What kind of mind shaped the music, what social experience shaped the mind? [Blaukopf’s] portrait of Mahler [1860-1911] as a developing individual is securely drawn, despite the complexities of the subject.” — Carl Schorske, New York Times Book Review

“The study makes fascinating reading... Mostly an account of [his] life and career, the book clears up a number of questions regarding the composer’s life and sheds new light on various aspects of his personality... the final chapter, a review of the Mahler literature and a discussion of the changing opinions about Mahler, is especially valuable.” — Library Journal

“Goodwin’s excellent translation makes Blaukopf’s work readily available to English readers, and the book is filled with important insights [into] Mahler and his contemporaries... will be meaningful to all readers who enjoy Mahler’s music, and help convert those who do not.” — Choice

“[A] concise and... comprehensive survey of Mahler’s life and work.” — Stereo Review

About the author

Born in Czernowitz (Austria-Hungary, now Ukraine), Kurt Blaukopf (1914-1999) moved with his family to Vienna where he studied law and political science. After the Anschluss in 1938, Blaukopf left Austria to work in Paris, and in 1940 he moved to Jerusalem. Blaukopf never completed his studies. He was a freelance musicologist and music critic starting in 1947.

From 1962 until his retirement in 1984, he lectured at the Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna where he became an honorary professor in 1974 and Austria’s first and only full professor of music sociology in 1977. In 1994 Blaukopf received an honorary doctorate from the University of Vienna. He initiated the founding of the MEDIACULT Institute (International Research Institute for Media, Communication and Cultural Development) and was its director until 1985. Blaukopf was also a member of the Executive Council of UNESCO from 1972 to 1976. His books include Musical Life in a Changing Society, published in 1982 and expanded in 1996, which provides a comprehensive overview of his conception of music sociology and Gustav Mahler.