Gustav Mahler: A Life Amid Triumph and Tragedy
Adult (Ages 16+) | Available (Membership Required)
In this class, students will explore examples of Mahler's musical chaos expressed through the use of dynamic shifts, changes in tempo, and unusual instrumentation. During the five classes, students will explore the roots of Mahler's personality and the music he produced; consider the writers, artists, and other composers who influenced his work; and probe Mahler's relationship with women. Each student should come away with a sense of Mahler's philosophical thinking applied to his compositions, a sense of emotional intensity heard in the music, which attempts to link two dissimilar emotions like joy and despair or peasant life versus elite society. This class is open to all adults, regardless of any prior knowledge of music.
With music historian Dotty Burstein
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Dotty Burstein
she/her/hers
Dotty Burstein has had a lifelong interest in the intersection of composers' lives and their music. As such she has developed classes for exploring the music of composers from the Classical and Romantic eras, first at the Tufts Lifelong Learning Institute and most recently at Arlington Center for the Arts. During her musical training, Dotty was inducted into the honorary music fraternity Sigma Alpha Iota, studied with the composer Edwin Gerschefski and the pianist Edward Kilenyi, and played piano in a trio that included her cellist friend and her violinist sister. Today, Dotty continues to enjoy attending concerts and recitals and encouraging others to find joy and inspiration in music.