Gustav Mahler

Mahler, Gustav (1860–1911), Austrian composer and conductor. He completed 9 symphonies and a number of song cycles, most notably Songs of a Wayfarer (1883–85) and Kindertotenlieder (Songs on the Death of Children; 1901–04). The symphonies are a culmination of 19th-century romanticism, but their startling harmonic and orchestral effects link them with early 20th-century works. Mahler was director of the Imperial Opera in Vienna (1897–1907).