History YMMV / GustavMahler

* VindicatedByHistory: During his lifetime, Mahler was known more for his skills as a conductor than as a composer, with his Symphony No. 2 ''(Resurrection)'' and Symphony No. 8 ''(Symphony of a Thousand)'' being two of his few successes while he was still alive. This reception was justified to an extent, as conducting was Mahler's professional job while composing was [[DoingItForTheArt done in his spare time]]; as a result, his œuvre is relatively limited. His compositions were controversial for their massive orchestral forces (which some groups thought were excessive) and strange tonalities. It didn't help that he was Jewish living at a time when anti-Semitism ran rampant, which eventually pressured him into resigning from his post as director of New York's Metropolitan Opera. After his death in 1911, his music became neglected for several decades, exacerbated when he was blacklisted by the [[UsefulNotes/NaziGermany Nazis]]. After UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, he was rediscovered by conductors such as Music/LeonardBernstein, Music/AaronCopland, and Leopold Stokowski and championed by them, eventually becoming recognized as an influential and great composer.

* TrueArtIsAngsty: A lot of his works are known to be very depressing. For example, he wrote ''Das Klagende Lied'' (Song of Lamentation), ''Kindertotenlieder'' (Songs on the Death of Children), and Symphony No. 6, nicknamed ''Tragic''.

* LoveItOrHateIt: Mahler is a rather polarizing composer, and his music inspires strong emotions. It seems that one either regards his music as the apotheosis of the Austro-German symphonic tradition, or sees it as overwrought and excessive. Of course, there are also those who simply can't get excited about it either way.

* TooBleakStoppedCaring: ''Kindertotenlieder'', or ''Songs on the Death of Children'', is every bit as depressing as its title suggests. Based on five poems by poet Friedrich Rückert that were written in an outpouring of grief over two of his children dying of scarlet fever, Mahler's music here is deeply personal and extremely difficult to listen to. Given the bleak nature of the subject itself, however, it's all about guaranteed that the music reaching Too Bleak, Stopped Caring territory [[JustifiedTrope is completely intentional]].

* HarsherInHindsight: Mahler's song cycle ''Music/{{Kindertotenlieder}}'', literally "Songs on the Death of Children," is already every bit [[TearJerker as heartbreaking as you would expect]]. Some years after the piece was completed, Mahler's own four-year-old daughter tragically died of scarlet fever. He wrote to a friend, "I placed myself in the situation that a child of mine had died. When I really lost my daughter, I could not have written these songs any more."

* VindicatedByHistory: During his lifetime, Mahler was known more for his skills as a conductor than as a composer, with his Symphony No. 2 ''(Resurrection)'' and Symphony No. 8 ''(Symphony of a Thousand)'' being two of his few successes while he was still alive. This reception was justified to an extent, as conducting was Mahler's professional job while composing was done in his spare time; as a result, his œuvre is relatively limited. His compositions were controversial for their massive orchestral forces (which some groups thought were excessive) and strange tonalities. It didn't help that he was Jewish living at a time when anti-Semitism ran rampant, which eventually pressured him into resigning from his post as director of New York's Metropolitan Opera. After his death in 1911, his music became neglected for several decades, exacerbated when he was blacklisted by the [[UsefulNotes/NaziGermany Nazis]]. After UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, he was rediscovered by conductors such as Music/LeonardBernstein, Music/AaronCopland, and Leopold Stokowski and championed by them, eventually becoming recognized as an influential and great composer.

* TrueArtIsAngsty: A lot of his works are known to be very depressing. For example, he wrote ''Das Klagende Lied'' (Song of Lamentation), ''Kindertotenlieder'' (Songs on the Death of Children'', and Symphony No. 6, nicknamed ''Tragic''.

* TrueArtIsAngsty

* HolyShitQuotient: Count the times you utter "holy shit" during listening to Symphony No. 8 in E-flat major.

* HarsherInHindsight: Mahler's song cycle "Kindertotenlieder," literally "Songs on the Death of Children," is already every bit [[TearJerker as heartbreaking as you would expect]]. Some years after the piece was completed, Mahler's own four-year-old daughter tragically died of scarlet fever. He wrote to a friend, "I placed myself in the situation that a child of mine had died. When I really lost my daughter, I could not have written these songs any more."

* AuthorExistenceFailure: He left a sketch for, but did not complete orchestrating, what would have been Symphony No. 10. The sketch is detailed enough that various music scholars have taken up the task of completing it; it has been performed fairly often in several different arrangements. The most widely performed version is by British musicologist Deryck Cooke, which received the blessing of Mahler's widow Alma.

* TrueArtIsAngsty

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: Mahler is considered one of the finest composers of symphonies of all time.

* HolyShitQuotient: Count the times you utter "holy shit" during listening to his 8th symphony.

* AwesomeMusic: Mahler is considered one of the finest composers of symphonies of all time.

* BaseBreaker: His 8th, the ''[[FanNickname "Symphony of a Thousand"]]''. Many were overwhelmed by the sheer epicness and life-affirming nature of the work, others (such as Theodor W. Adorno) found it tasteless and pretentious.