I'm a lover of the music of Gustav Mahler, the great late 19th Century Composer who lived during and between the late romantic music period and the modern classic music period that would sweep the world at the end of the Great War.

There is useful information in this book which gives information to the reader about Mahler and how his life affected his music. However, I found the reading very dry drowned by peripheral overthought.

The introduction has Franklin digressesing off Mahler into a whole separate discussion on, what apears to be, the flaws of biographical writings of musicians. It made me forget why I was reading the book.

The focus should have been more on the Great Mahler himself. This is a useful reference book but it's too abstract to really peruse comfortably over a few days. ( )