Gustav Mahler was one of the most influential composers to have ever lived, redefining the symphonic form with a cycle of nine symphonies that pushed the boundaries of scope, structure and emotional breadth. Discover more about Mahler below, and find out more about our performances of his works this coming season.
Find tickets for our Mahler series
1.
His symphonies are long and call for many musicians to take to the stage. Mahler’s Symphony No.8 was nicknamed the 'Symphony of a Thousand' by Mahler’s agent because its premiere performance featured over 150 orchestra members and over 800 choral singers.
2.
Mahler was a morning person! He composed during the early morning and later in the day he would exercise: he swam, ran and cycled.
3.
He was also an outdoorsman, who especially loved alpine trails. He composed a lot of his music in a tiny hut on the edge of Lake Attersee in Austria, where he once told the famous conductor Bruno Walter: “Don’t bother looking at the view, I have already composed it." Mahler maintained a strict routine when composing; according to Walter ‘[Mahler] went there at six in the morning, at seven his breakfast was silently placed before him, and only when he opened the door at noon would he return to normal life.’
4.
His music wasn’t very popular when it was written, but it is now considered much more accessible and is very popular these days. According to Naxos, Mahler's Symphony No. 5 is the second most recorded of his all his symphonies. In a survey taken of three traditional Mahler orchestras (Vienna, New York, and the Concertgebouw), it was found that Mahler's Symphony No.1 was the most frequently performed.
5.
Mahler’s music is featured on more than 100 film soundtracks including Death in Venice, Shutter Island, Children of Men and The Tree of Life. One Hollywood producer liked Mahler’s music in the film Death in Venice (which used his Symphony No.5) so much, he asked if he could get Mahler to write more music for movies. He didn’t know that Mahler had been dead for over 60 years!
Discover Mahler's First, Fifth and Sixth Symphonies in our 2025–26 Season in London's Royal Albert Hall with our Music Director Vasily Petrenko.