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Why Mahler?
Why Mahler?: How One Man and Ten Symphonies Changed Our World | Norman Lebrecht
5 posts | 3 read
Why Mahler? Why does his music affect us in the way it does? Norman Lebrecht, one of the world’s most widely read cultural commentators, has been wrestling obsessively with Mahler for half his life. Following Mahler’s every footstep from birthplace to grave, scrutinizing his manuscripts, talking to those who knew him, Lebrecht constructs a compelling new portrait of Mahler as a man who lived determinedly outside his own times. Mahler was—along with Picasso, Einstein, Freud, Kafka, and Joyce—a maker of our modern world.Why Mahler?is a book that shows how music can change our lives.
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ssravp
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I love Mahler. After DvoÅ™ák, he's my favorite composer. I loved about 90% of this book. What I didn't love was Lebrecht's pre-occupation with cutting down Alma Mahler. The section outlining the recordings could've been cut. So much of that is personal opinion. With all of that, it's still a pick.

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ssravp

It really bums me out how much Mahler's wife, Alma, is disparaged by Lebrecht. I'm going to finish the book because of my love for Mahler, but my rating is going to reflect this unneeded bashing of Alma.

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ssravp
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"What's best in the music is not to be found in the notes."

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ssravp
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I love Mahler. I've been wanting to get to this one for awhile.