Editing Gustav Mahler (section)

===Early conducting career 1880–1888===

====First appointments====
From June to August 1880, Mahler took his first professional conducting job, in a small wooden theatre in the spa town of [[Bad Hall]], south of [[Linz]].<ref name=Carr23 /> The repertory was exclusively [[operetta]]; it was, in Carr's words "a dismal little job", which Mahler accepted only after Julius Epstein told him he would soon work his way up.<ref name=Carr24 /> In 1881, he was engaged for six months (September to April) at the Landestheater in Laibach (now [[Ljubljana]], in Slovenia), where the small but resourceful company was prepared to attempt more ambitious works. Here, Mahler conducted his first full-scale opera, Verdi's ''[[Il trovatore]]'', one of 10 operas and a number of operettas that he presented during his time in Laibach.<ref name=Carr31>Carr, pp. 30–31</ref> After completing this engagement, Mahler returned to Vienna and worked part-time as chorus-master at the Vienna [[Carltheater]].<ref name=Franklin2>Franklin, (2. Early conducting career, 1880–83).</ref>

From the beginning of January 1883, Mahler became conductor at the Royal Municipal Theatre in Olmütz (now [[Olomouc]]) in [[Moravia]].<ref name=Carr31 /> He later wrote: "From the moment I crossed the threshold of the Olmütz theatre I felt like one awaiting the wrath of God."<ref name=Carr32>Carr, pp. 32–34</ref> Despite poor relations with the orchestra, Mahler brought nine operas to the theatre, including [[Georges Bizet|Bizet]]'s ''[[Carmen]]'', and won over the press that had initially been sceptical of him.<ref name=Carr32 /> After a week's trial at the Royal Theatre in the [[Hesse|Hessian]] town of [[Kassel]], Mahler became the theatre's "Musical and Choral Director" from August 1883.<ref name=Franklin2 /> The title concealed the reality that Mahler was subordinate to the theatre's [[Kapellmeister]], Wilhelm Treiber, who disliked him (and vice versa) and set out to make his life miserable.<ref name=Carr35>Carr, pp. 35–40</ref> Despite the unpleasant atmosphere, Mahler had moments of success at Kassel. He directed a performance of his favourite opera, Weber's {{lang|de|[[Der Freischütz]]}},<ref name=Sadie507>Sadie, p. 507</ref> and 25 other operas. On 23 June 1884, he conducted his own incidental music to [[Joseph Victor von Scheffel]]'s play {{lang|de|Der Trompeter von Säckingen}} ("The Trumpeter of Säckingen"), the first professional public performance of a Mahler work.{{refn|The music of {{lang|de|Der Trompeter von Säkkingen}} has been mostly lost. A movement entitled "Blumine" was included in the first, five-movement version of [[Symphony No. 1 (Mahler)|Mahler's First Symphony]].<ref name=Sadie507 />|group=n}} An ardent, but ultimately unfulfilled, love affair with soprano Johanna Richter led Mahler to write a series of love poems which became the text of his song cycle {{lang|de|[[Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen]]}} ("Songs of a Wayfarer").<ref name=Carr35 />

In January 1884, the distinguished conductor [[Hans von Bülow]] brought the [[Meiningen]] Court Orchestra to Kassel and gave two concerts. Hoping to escape from his job in the theatre, Mahler unsuccessfully sought a post as Bülow's permanent assistant. However, in the following year his efforts to find new employment resulted in a six-year contract with the prestigious [[Leipzig Opera]], to begin in August 1886. Unwilling to remain in Kassel for another year, Mahler resigned on 22 June 1885, and applied for, and through good fortune was offered, a standby appointment as conductor at the Royal {{lang|de|[[State Opera (Prague)|Neues Deutsches Theater]]}} in Prague by the theatre's newly appointed director, the famous [[Angelo Neumann]].<ref name=Franklin3>Franklin, (3. Kassel, 1883–85).</ref>

====Prague and Leipzig====
[[File:Leipzig GustavMahler Wohnhaus.jpg|thumb|alt= Light-coloured two-storey stone building with an ornamental ledge below the roof. There are rows of five windows at ground level and the floor above, with a balcony at the middle upper window.|Mahler's home in [[Leipzig]], where he composed his [[Symphony No. 1 (Mahler)|First Symphony]]]]
In Prague, the emergence of the [[Czech National Revival]] had increased the popularity and importance of the new [[National Theatre (Prague)|Czech National Theatre]], and had led to a downturn in the {{lang|de|Neues Deutsches Theater}}'s fortunes. Mahler's task was to help arrest this decline by offering high-quality productions of [[Opera in German|German opera]].<ref name=Franklin4>Franklin, (4. Prague 1885–86 and Leipzig 1886–88).</ref> He enjoyed early success presenting works by Mozart and Wagner, composers with whom he would be particularly associated for the rest of his career,<ref name=Sadie507 /> but his individualistic and increasingly autocratic conducting style led to friction, and a falling out with his more experienced fellow-conductor, Ludwig Slansky.<ref name=Franklin4 /> During his 12 months in Prague he conducted 68 performances of 14 operas (12 titles were new in his repertory), and he also performed [[Ludwig van Beethoven|Beethoven]]'s [[Symphony No. 9 (Beethoven)|Ninth Symphony]] for the first time in his life. By the end of the season, in July 1886, Mahler left Prague to take up his post at the {{lang|de|Neues Stadttheater}} in Leipzig, where rivalry with his senior colleague [[Arthur Nikisch]] began almost at once. This conflict was primarily over how the two should share conducting duties for the theatre's new production of Wagner's ''[[Der Ring des Nibelungen|Ring]]'' cycle. Nikisch's illness, from February to April 1887, meant that Mahler took charge of the whole cycle (except {{lang|de|Götterdämmerung}}), and scored a resounding public success. This did not, however, win him popularity with the orchestra, who resented his dictatorial manner and heavy rehearsal schedules.<ref name=Franklin4 /><ref>Carr, p. 43</ref>

In Leipzig, Mahler befriended Captain {{ill|Carl Maria von Weber (Hauptmann)|de|lt=Carl von Weber}} (1849–1897), grandson of the composer, and agreed to prepare a performing version of [[Carl Maria von Weber]]'s unfinished opera {{lang|de|[[Die drei Pintos]]}} ("The Three Pintos"). Mahler transcribed and orchestrated the existing musical sketches, used parts of other Weber works, and added some composition of his own.<ref name=Carr44 /> The premiere at the [[Leipzig Opera|Stadttheater]], on 20 January 1888, was an important occasion at which several heads of various German opera houses were present. (The Russian composer [[Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky|Tchaikovsky]] attended the third performance on 29 January.)<ref name=Franklin4 /> The work was well-received; its success did much to raise Mahler's public profile, and brought him financial rewards.<ref name=Carr44>Carr, pp. 44–47</ref> Mahler's involvement with the Weber family was complicated by Mahler's alleged romantic attachment to Carl von Weber's wife Marion Mathilde (1857–1931) which, though intense on both sides – so it was rumoured by for example English composer [[Ethel Smyth]] – ultimately came to nothing. In February and March 1888 Mahler sketched and completed his [[Symphony No. 1 (Mahler)|First Symphony]], then in five movements. At around the same time Mahler discovered the German folk-poem collection {{lang|de|[[Des Knaben Wunderhorn]]}} ("The Youth's Magic Horn"), which would dominate much of his compositional output for the following 12&nbsp;years.<ref name=Franklin4 />{{refn|Mahler may have been aware of this collection earlier, since he had based the first of the {{lang|de|Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen}} poems on a {{lang|de|Wunderhorn}} text.<ref name="Blaukopf, pp. 61–62">Blaukopf, pp. 61–62</ref>|group=n}}

On 17 May 1888, Mahler suddenly resigned his Leipzig position after a dispute with the {{lang|de|Stadttheater}}'s chief stage manager, [[Albert Goldberg]].<ref>Carr, p. 49</ref> However, Mahler had secretly been invited by Angelo Neumann in Prague (and accepted the offer) to conduct the premiere there of "his" {{lang|de|Die drei Pintos}}, and later also a production of {{lang|de|[[Der Barbier von Bagdad]]}} by [[Peter Cornelius]]. This short stay (July to September) ended unhappily, with Mahler's dismissal following his outburst during a rehearsal. However, through the efforts of an old Viennese friend, [[Guido Adler]], and cellist [[David Popper]], Mahler's name went forward as a potential director of the [[Hungarian State Opera House|Royal Hungarian Opera]] in Budapest. He was interviewed, made a good impression, and was offered and accepted (with some reluctance) the post from 1 October 1888.<ref>Carr, p. 50</ref>

====Apprentice composer====
[[File:Gustav-Mahler-Kohut.jpg|thumb|upright|alt= Young dark-haired man wearing a loose necktie with a white shirt and a dark jacket|Mahler in 1892]]
[[File:Gustav Mahler Symphony no. 1 2nd movement excerpt.mp3|thumb|Symphony no. 1, second movement (excerpt)]]
In the early years of Mahler's conducting career, composing was a spare time activity. Between his Laibach and Olmütz appointments he worked on settings of verses by [[Richard Leander]] and [[Tirso de Molina]], later collected as Volume&nbsp;I of {{lang|de|Lieder und Gesänge}} ("Songs and Airs").<ref name=Cooke27>Cooke, pp. 27–30</ref> Mahler's first orchestral song cycle, {{lang|de|Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen}}, composed at Kassel, was based on his own verses, although the first poem, "{{Lang|de|Wenn mein Schatz Hochzeit macht|italic=no}}" ("When my love becomes a bride") closely follows the text of a {{lang|de|Wunderhorn}} poem.<ref name="Blaukopf, pp. 61–62" /> The melodies for the second and fourth songs of the cycle were incorporated into the First Symphony, which Mahler finished in 1888, at the height of his relationship with Marion von Weber. The intensity of Mahler's feelings is reflected in the music, which originally was written as a five-movement symphonic poem with a descriptive programme. One of these movements, the "Blumine", later discarded, was based on a passage from his earlier work {{lang|de|Der Trompeter von Säckingen}}.<ref name=Franklin4 /><ref name=Carr44 /> After completing the symphony, Mahler composed a 20-minute symphonic poem, {{lang|de|Totenfeier}} "Funeral Rites", which later became the first movement of his [[Symphony No. 2 (Mahler)|Second Symphony]].<ref>Carr, pp. 48–49</ref>

There has been frequent speculation about lost or destroyed works from Mahler's early years.<ref name=Franklin10>Franklin, (10. {{lang|de|Das klagende Lied}}, early songs, First symphony).</ref> The Dutch conductor [[Willem Mengelberg]] believed that the First Symphony was too mature to be a first symphonic work, and must have had predecessors. In 1938, Mengelberg revealed the existence of the so-called "Dresden archive", a series of manuscripts in the possession of the widowed Marion von Weber.<ref name=MII51>Mitchell, Vol&nbsp;II, pp. 51–53</ref> According to the Mahler historian [[Donald Mitchell (writer)|Donald Mitchell]], it was highly likely that important Mahler manuscripts of early symphonic works had been held in Dresden;<ref name=MII51 /> this archive, if it existed, was almost certainly destroyed in the [[bombing of Dresden in World War II|bombing of Dresden]] in 1945.<ref name=Carr44 />