His personality seems to me far more interesting than
his art.
This is often the case with artists in Germany; Hugo Wolf is another
example of it. Mahler's case is really rather curious. When one studies
his works one feels convinced that he is one of those rare types in
modern Germany--an egoist who feels with sincerity. Perhaps his emotions
and his ideas do not succeed in expressing themselves in a really
sincere and personal way; for they reach us through a cloud of
reminiscences and an atmosphere of classicism. I cannot help thinking
that Mahler's position as director of the Opera, and his consequent
saturation in the music that his calling condemns him to study, is the
cause of this. There is nothing more fatal to a creative spirit than too
much reading, above all when it does not read of its own free will, but
is forced to absorb an excessive amount of nourishment, the larger part
of which is indigestible. In vain may Mahler try to defend the sanctuary
of his mind; it is violated by foreign ideas coming from all parts, and
instead of being able to drive them away, his conscience, as conductor
of the orchestra, obliges him to receive them and almost embrace them.
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