Introduction: Gustav Mahler and His Family

Abstract Gustav Mahler’s letters to his family are almost entirely unknown, yet they form the largest and probably most important single source of information about all aspects of his life before the mid-1890s: his personality; his relationships with his family and several close friends; his first positions in Kassel, Prague, Leipzig, Budapest, and Hamburg; and several of his earliest compositions.They also document significant later events such as his campaign to be named director of the Vienna Hofoper, his conducting tours throughout Europe, and his courtship of Alma Schindler. Many of these things will emerge from the letters themselves (or from the annotations), but several elements are worth exploring at the outset, as they do not emerge as clearly from the individual letters, or because the letters themselves do not tell the entire story. First, it will be use-ful to introduce Mahler’s family and provide a brief sketch of each of Mahler’s siblings. Second, in addition to the family members, there are several other individuals worthy of commentary with regard to the roles that they played in Mahler’s life: his friend Natalie Bauer-Lechner; his lover Anna von Mildenburg; and his wife, Alma. Our understanding of Mahler’s relationships with the first and last, in particular, is significantly changed by these letters.