Descriere
A century after his death, Gustav Mahler is the most important composer of modern times. Displacing Beethoven as a box-office draw, heard in Hollywood films and on state occasions, his music inspires particular devotion. Some believe it helps heal emotional wounds, others find intellectual fascination in its contradictory meanings, and many feel that the music captures the yearnings and anxieties of our post-industrial society. In this highly original account of the composer's life and work, Norman Lebrecht explores the Mahler Effect, asking why Mahler's music has become the soundtrack to our twenty-first-century lives.
'This incisive account of the composer's life and work reveals the ways in which his music still permeates 21st century life.' -- The Times
>> 'Why Mahler indeed? Because, argues Norman Lebrecht in this erudite, passionate study, his music has the power to transform human lives. Not every civilised person is susceptible to Mahler, Lebrecht acknowledges before writing so lyrically about Mahler s songs and symphonies that you want to rush out and buy the lot. The book brilliantly blends scholarship and personal reminiscence to justify its claim that Mahler is the most important composer of modern times.' -- Sunday Telegraph
>> 'Part biography, part critical appreciation, part highly personal tribute, there's a degree of structural eccentricity to Why Mahler? that, like one of the legend's symphonies, keeps you on your toes ... Though gushing, even hyperbolic, at times, this is a book of enormous passion and persuasive power.' -- Editor's Choice, Classic FM magazine
>> 'An accessible introduction as well as a heartfelt attempt to answer the question of Mahler's enduring appeal.' -- Sunday Times
>> 'Norman Lebrecht's characteristically turbo-charged account of the Mahler phenomenon seeks answers to the question of precisely what it is about Mahler that so transfixes the modern psyche ... Weaving in personal reminiscence and anecdote, he creates a highly unconventional but richly detailed collage that draws deeply on his own experience as an editor, researcher and Jew. Indeed, some of the most valuable insights stem from Lebrecht's identification with Mahler's Jewish identity.' -- The Scotsman
>> 'Why Mahler? ... sparked lively fury and debate - rare for a book on music.' --Observer
A fan text for Mahler fans.' -- Guardian >> 'A fascinating, passionate, fast-paced book.' - Irish Times
'Compelling book ... [Lebrecht] makes a forbidding subject seem approachable.' -- Independent on Sunday