150th birthday - Austria / II. Republic of Austria 2010 - 100 Euro Cent

Gustav Mahler (1860 - 1911) is considered a genius of the fin de siècle and pioneer of new music. For the 150th anniversary of his birthday, the Austrian Post now issues a special stamp in honor of the great composer. Coming from Bohemia, Gustav Mahler studied composition and piano as a 15-year-old at the Vienna Conservatory. The highly gifted, who appeared as a pianist at the tender age of ten, soon won prizes for his lectures and compositions. Mahler also enrolled at the University for courses in philosophy, history and musical aesthetics, deepened his literary knowledge and attended Anton Bruckner's courses in harmony. After several years of travel and stations in Ljubljana, Olomouc, Prague, Leipzig, Budapest and Hamburg Mahler received in 1897 the appointment to the prestigious Vienna Opera House. In his new role he was initially Kapellmeister, a little later he was appointed by Emperor Franz Joseph Director. Previously, Mahler had removed an obstacle to his calling, his Judaism, by converting to Catholicism. The epoch of the late 19th and early 20th century was a time of upheaval, marked by vacillations between the spirit of departure and the end-time mood, future euphoria and world pain, renewal and decadence. The appointment of Mahler as Court Opera Director also marked the beginning of a new era for this institution. Determined by his unconditional pursuit of perfection, he initiated a fundamental reform. His compositional oeuvre, on the other hand, was received by the Viennese critics quite rudely, as was his first two symphonies in 1899. Abroad, however, especially in Germany, Holland and France, Mahler became more and more important. His world view was shaped by natural-religious and philosophical theories, which flowed virtuously into his music and hit the nerve of the time. Among his greatest admirers were Arnold Schoenberg, Alban Berg, Anton Webern, Gustav Klimt, Stefan Zweig, Adolf Loos and Thomas Mann, who also set a literary memorial to him with the novella "Death in Venice". 1907 brought the end of Mahler's time in Vienna - and beyond a heavy stroke of fate: His eldest daughter died of diphtheria, he himself learned of his heart condition. He submitted his resignation and said goodbye to the performance of his Second Symphony on 24.11.1907 from Vienna. The following years Mahler spent as a commuter between New York and Vienna - in the winter months he conducted in America, in the summer he was in Europe on concert tours and devoted himself to composing. On May 18, 1911, Gustav Mahler finally died in Vienna, but he still lives on in his great musical work. Incidentally, the brand image shows sketch fragments for the 4th Symphony 1st movement, 1st version, c. 1899 (score Fragments with certificate of authenticity by Alma Mahler - Werfel).