From 1891-1897 Mahler had a conducting post at Hamburg. Here there was an opera company of international standard. Mahler soon became world famous. He conducted many operas as well as orchestral concerts. He conducted in London in 1892 and was invited back again but he did not accept because he wanted time to compose. He spent the summer months composing, writing his music down in short score (not showing the orchestration) and during the theatre season he would revise and orchestrate them. The performance of his Second Symphony in Berlin in 1895 was a huge success.
Since the death of his parents Mahler had supported his two sisters. He had encouraged his brother Otto to become a musician, but Otto committed suicide. Mahler continued to support his two sisters until they married two famous brothers: Eduard and Arnold Rosé in 1898 and 1902.
Mahler was becoming very famous. In 1897 he went on tour to Moscow, Munich and Budapest. However, he really wanted a job in Vienna, but because he was Jewish it was going to be very hard for him to find work there, so he became a Roman Catholic. Soon afterwards he became Kapellmeister in Vienna.
In Vienna Mahler soon became famous for his conducting of Wagner and Mozart. His friend Guido Adler paid for the publication of his First and Third Symphonies. Mahler replaced Hans Richter as conductor of the Philharmonic Concerts. Mahler attracted bigger audiences, but he had disagreements with the players. They did not like some of his unusual ideas and he was very strict. After an illness in 1901 he resigned. He bought a house in Maiernigg in Carinthia where he spent his summers composing. In 1901 he fell in love with Alma Schindler whose father Anton Schindler was a famous landscape painter. She was nearly twenty years younger than Mahler. She was studying composition, but Mahler made her give up composing so that she could devote herself to being a good wife. This made the relationship between them rather difficult. In 1910 Mahler went to see the psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud. Freud helped him to understand not only his marriage problems but also his creative nature. He now felt a deeper love for Alma than he ever had before.
At the Hofoper Mahler conducted many of the great operas, but not many new ones. He wanted to conduct Richard Strauss’s new opera "Salomé", but the censors did not allow it to be performed. Nevertheless, Mahler’s years conducting in Vienna were very important because he had many new ideas. Through his wife he met many artists, especially those connected with the Sezession movement. One of them, Alfred Roller, designed the sets for a new production of "Tristan und Isolde". He became Mahler’s chief stage designer. At last Mahler could work closely with someone who shared his views. They staged many operas together: "Fideleo", "Don Giovanni ", "Die Entführung aus dem Serail", "Le Nozze di Figaro", "Die Zauberflöte" and "Iphigénie en Aulide".
Mahler felt much more secure now that he was married. This made him more creative. He composed his "Eighth Symphony" very quickly. It needs a huge orchestra and choir, which is why it is often called "Symphony of a Thousand". Mahler thought it was his best work.
Mahler never became a teacher, but he gave a lot of encouragement to young composers such as Arnold Schoenberg, Alban Berg, Anton Webern and Alexander Zemlinsky. However, there were music critics in Vienna who were anti-Jewish and made things difficult for him. In 1907 his elder daughter Maria died from scarlet fever. More bad news followed when Mahler was found to have a bad heart. The doctor said he must give up his favourite pastimes: going for walks, cycling and swimming. Mahler had done a tremendous amount for the cultural life of Vienna, but he decided it was time to leave. The last thing he conducted in Vienna was his Second Symphony.
Mahler was invited to go to America to conduct the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. It was very different from what he had been used to in Europe. Instead of working with a group of singers who worked together as a team, the operas at the Metropolitan Opera were sung by great operatic stars. Mahler did not try to change this. He even agreed to make cuts to Wagner operas. Then he was invited to be the conductor of the New York Philharmonic so he resigned from the Metropolitan. The last time he conducted there was as a guest artist.
In 1909 he finished his Ninth Symphony. He was very busy conducting in Europe. In January 1911 he conducted his Fourth Symphony in New York. Then he became ill and decided to go to Vienna. He arrived there on 12 May but he died a few weeks later at the age of 50.
Mahler was one of the last composers who belonged to the great musical tradition of Germany and Austria. Although many German composers had written great symphonies (e.g. Beethoven), Mahler found something new to say in his music. His symphonies often have long melodies and he uses folk song as well as new sounds in the orchestra. Mahler worked most of his life in the theatre, and this influences his musical language. A good example is "Symphony No.4" which starts in the happy key of G major where the music describes the early life, but finishes in E major where the soprano soloist sings about the heavenly pleasures.
Mahler became very interested in German folksong and he composed several sets of orchestral songs. He took poems from the collection called "Des Knaben Wunderhorn" ("The Boy’s Magic Horn"). These songs were originally medieval, but Mahler made them feel very different by interpreting them through his own personality. The language of his songs is heard in his symphonies, four of which use singing (nos 2, 3, 4 and 8). He wrote nine symphonies and started a tenth, but died before it was finished.
Mahler was a great orchestrator. Some of his later works need a very large orchestra. He often used unusual effects, e.g. in his First Symphony there is a double bass solo playing very high notes, accompanied by timpani.
His set of orchestral songs "Das Lied von der Erde" ("The Song of the Earth") are like a symphony, but he did not call it a symphony. This was for superstitious reasons: several great composers, including Beethoven, had written nine symphonies and then died.
As a conductor Mahler had a tremendous influence on musical life in Europe. He often conducted his own works. When he conducted works by other composers he played it according to his own ideas. He even made changes to the orchestration of some works by Beethoven. He was not the sort of conductor who tried to make the music as close as possible to what the composer had wanted. He always wanted the music to sound very clear.
Boston Marathon
The Boston Marathon is a famous marathon which is run every April in Boston, Massachusetts on Patriot's Day. The distance of the race is 26.2 miles or 26 miles and 385 yards. To participate, runners need to qualify ahead of time by getting a certain time on another marathon first. This time is different depending on how old the runner is. (Every year, some runners who do not qualify are allowed in by raising money for charity).
During the 2013 Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013, two explosions happened near the finish line at 2:49 PM EDT. Three people were killed and around 183 people were injured.
Ultramarathon
An ultramarathon is a running race that is longer than a 26.2 mile marathon race. The most common distances for ultramarathons are:
The most famous ultramarathon run in the United States is the Western States 100 Mile Race.
Captain Planet
Captain Planet is the main character of the animated television series Captain Planet and the Planeteers. He is summoned when the powers of Earth, Fire, Wind, Water, and Heart are put together. On June 27, 2013, Sony Pictures announced that they are currently producing a live-action movie based on Captain Planet.
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