Favorite Mahler Anecdote?

[mahler09]

What's your favorite story from Mahler's life?

[James Meckley]

This is a small thing, but it somehow makes me feel closer to the great man. I visit NYC several times a year and, consequently, spend quite a bit of time underground riding the city's extensive subway system. It seems that Mahler was quite a fan of the then-new NYC subway (it opened in 1904) and would frequently ride it instead of using the private chauffeur-driven cars placed at his disposal by wealthy patrons and symphony board members. He even rode the old IRT line to the Brooklyn Academy of Music on days when the Philharmonic presented its subscription concerts out there.

James

[john haueisen]

One of my favorite anecdotes--because it speaks to Mahler's love and insight in dealing with children, is a story often repeated by his daughter, Anna.
When she was only six years old, Anna had been attracted by the shininess of her mother’s sewing scissors.  As many young children might do, when she was alone, she picked up the scissors and began to use them—cutting holes in her mother’s beautiful carpet.  The governess, Miss Turner, shrieked at her, demanding that she confess to the crime.  For fear of punishment, most young children are afraid to confess, so they stubbornly refuse to admit what they did.

When Mahler came home from rehearsals, and learned of the “situation,” rather than angrily demanding an admission of guilt, he was very reassuring to Anna.  He commented on how pretty and shiny the scissors were and that perhaps she had just picked them up to admire them, when the scissors just sort of slipped and cut the carpet by themselves.  To this Anna immediately agreed with relief.  For the rest of her life she cherished the memory of how understanding and kind her father had been with her.   

[barry guerrero]

"He (Mahler) even rode the old IRT line to the Brooklyn Academy of Music on days when the Philharmonic presented its subscription concerts out there"

Great anecdote. Thanks.

[john haueisen]

Another illuminating anecdote, but I don't remember where I read it, was the story of a musician who kept disappearing from the orchestra during the last movements of various pieces.  Mahler was very angry when he found the player had left--gone home.  Later he discovered that the musician was leaving because it was his last chance to take public transportation home, and avoid the (for him) prohibitive cost of a cab.  Following this incident, Mahler became even more involved in seeing that musicians received a living wage.
--John Haueisen

[vvrinc]

During a rehearsal with Busoni and the New York Philharmonic (Beethoven’s "Emperor" Concerto), Mahler suffered a angina attack which necessitated being rushed to the hospital by ambulance. As Mahler was being wheeled on a gurney into the emergency room, an attending physician leaned down and asked the semi-alert composer if he suffered from any allergies. Struggling for air and weak-of-speech the great man pulled the attendant down by his frock and whispered in his ear:

“Yes. Country and Western music.”

[Matthew]

Heard among the reminiscences of New York musicians: Mahler wasn't able to withstand long rehearsals due to his physical condition, and at the end of each rehearsal he would apparently say: "Everything has an end, except a Wurst -- that has two!" ("Alles hat ein Ende, bloss eine Wurst -- die hat zwei!"). I think this is a nice example of Mahler's earthy sense of humour.

[As an aside, this seems to be a popular German saying even now, most commonly found online as "Alles hat ein Ende -- nur die Wurst hat zwei". A popular song of that name by Stephan Remmler seems to have been a big hit.....]

[barry guerrero]

“Yes. Country and Western music.”

That reminds me of that great scene in the Blues Brothers movie, where John Bulushi asks a waitress - wife of the proprietor, I think - at some dump called The Chicken Shack (or some such name) what kind of music that usually have there. She answers, "oh, we have both kinds: country and western".