Daniel Swartz

Sexy snaps from the Mahler Häuschen!

I found this posting on Alex Ross’s blog “The Rest Is Noise” rather amusing. I myself was at Mahler’s second composing hut this summer. The first hut was at Lake Atter in Steinbach, Austria, as mentioned in his blog. The second was at Lake Woerth, just above his lake side home in Maiernigg, and the third was in Toblach, Austrian Tyrol (now Dobbiacho, Italy).

Probably the most significant of these huts is the one at Maiernigg where he worked on his symphonies four through eight, most of the Kindertotenlieder, Des Knaben Wunderhorn and much more. It is also where his daughter died, causing him to move to another location to spend his summers.

The quote I found most amusing in Ross’s blog is:

“If the view from inside the hut is anything like what Mahler experienced during his summers in Steinbach — and, in truth, there is so far no evidence that it is — scholars may have to reconsider their conception of the sources of Mahler’s creative inspiration.”

If you already don’t know about this blog, it’s one of my favorite, and it is frequently updated.