Gustav Mahler definitely lived by the statement, “Music is life. The rest is just details.” Mahler was a composer in the summer and a conductor during the main orchestra season, and he was so obsessed with musical perfection that he earned a reputation as a harsh and terrifying tyrant. In fact, he was a tiny little fellow who tied so much of his vulnerable inner self to his music that he felt completely compelled to draw the best performance out of his players. He was so very attached, in fact, that he feared that elements of his own musicÑ-such as three hammer blows in the 6th Symphony, or the concept of sure death after writing a 9th–would kill him. He tried to steer around these things through editing and creative numbering, but that gesture only further proves how close Mahler was to his own music.
A few key works: Kindertotenleider, Das Lied von der Erde, Symphony No. 6, Symphony No. 9 Take the Dead German Composer Test!
Michael Sauers is the Director of Logan Library in Logan, UT. Prior to this he was one of the founding staff and Technology Manager for Do Space in Omaha, NE. After earning his MLS in 1995 from the University at Albany's School of Information Science and Policy Michael spent his first 20 years as a librarian training other librarians in technology along with time as a public library trustee, a bookstore manager for a library friends group, a reference librarian, a technology consultant, and a bookseller. He has written dozens of articles for various journals and magazines and has published 14 books ranging from library technology, blogging, Web design, and an index to a popular horror magazine. In his spare time, he blogs at TravelinLibrarian.info, runs The Collector's Guide to Dean Koontz website at CollectingKoontz.com, takes many, many photos, and typically reads more than 100 books a year.
Unless otherwise stated, all opinions are my own and are not to be considered those of the City of Logan, UT.
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