My own Mahler journey began in 1951, when, at the age of 17 I attended my first “Prom” where, to my initial disappointment, the second half comprised the 4th. Symphony of the relatively unknown Gustav Mahler. I came out of that concert hooked for life.Younger lovers of Mahler’s music will find it difficult to believe how rare were the oppurtunities to hear any of the music then. It was not until 1964 that I heard another live performance, the 2nd. Symphony conducted in Manchester by Barbirolli. What an occasion!

As I approached my 70’s, having lived and breathed this music for 50 years, I decided to visit as many of the special places associated with Mahler as possible. Since then I have made several journeys, the main one in 2001 when I undertook a 3 week unaccompanied motor journey which took in the 3 composing houses and a stay of several days in the Czech Republic. ( unaccompanied because friends and relatives righltly assumed that I would be too focussed to be good company!) I stayed in Jihlava and was able to explore the area where G.M. grew up. Perhaps fancifully, since then the First Symphony and the Wayfarer Songs vividly conjure up this region. Poignantly, I located the tombstone which Mahler erected to the memory of his parents in 1889. It was in the sadly neglected Jewish cemetary in Jihlava. The town’s 1700 Jews were mostly removed during the 2nd. World War. In 2001 Jihlava seemed to be awakening to the fame of G.M. and one assumes that the town will celebrate in some style the anniversaries that will occur in 2010/11. I would love to return but perhaps not by car!

Your work has triggered these and many other memories and I am deeply grateful.

Dennis Summerfield