ABSTRACT
The following text forms the introduction to a comprehensive biography of Gustav Mahler that was instigated and given substantial support by the publishers of Einheit. 1 The management had originally commissioned me to develop my extremely well-received lecture 'Gustav Mahler: his Life, his Times, his Work' into a pamphlet that was to appear on the 85th anniversary of Mahler's birth in July 1945. The scope of this pamphlet was of course severely restricted by the shortage of paper during the war.
