Gustav Mahler (July 7, 1860 ? May 18, 1911) was a Bohemian-Austrian composer and conductor.
Mahler was best known during his own lifetime as one of the leading orchestral and operatic conductors of the day, but he has since come to be acknowledged as among the most important post-romantic composers ? a remarkable feat for a figure whose mature creativity was concentrated in just two genres: symphony and song. Besides the nine completed numbered symphonies, his principal works are the song cycles Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (usually rendered as 'Songs of a Wayfarer', but literally 'Songs of a Travelling Journeyman') and Kindertotenlieder ('Songs on the Death of Children'), and the synthesis of symphony and song cycle that is Das Lied von der Erde ('The Song of the Earth'). (Hide extended text)...(Read all) Source : Wikipedia