(Leider eines fahrender Gesselen)
Gustav Mahler
1860-1911
In his mid twenties Gustav Mahler was infatuated with the young soprano Joanna Richter. His affection for Richter was unrequited as she was soon to be married to another. Mahler expressed his despondency in his Songs of a Wayfarer. In a letter to a friend he writes, “ The idea of the songs as a whole is that a wayfaring man, who has been stricken by fate, now sets forth into the world, traveling wherever his road may lead him.” Mahler wrote the text for each song.
