Gustav Mahler at 150: Tenth Symphony in Facsimile - On Display!

The Conservatory Library's Special Collections are the focus of the year-long series of exhibits, Bibliorarities. The exhibits are on view in the cases adjacent to the Conservatory Library's Circulation Area during all opening hours.

In May 1911, when Gustav Mahler was on his deathbed, he told his wife Alma that he wanted her to burn the manuscript of the Tenth Symphony. Alma did not destroy the manuscript, but instead kept the sketches under lock and key until 1924. At that point, apparently in financial trouble, she agreed to publish the manuscript in facsimile. The work has since been completed by a variety of composers, including Ernst Krenek, Alma's son-in-law, who created a performance edition of the first and third movements. The mystery, confusion, and controversy around the Tenth Symphony remain.