Deryk:

>Unfortunately Alma's own words always need to be taken cum grano
>salis.  He was honest upfront before they married, that there would
>only be room for one composer in the household.  And in my wildest
>dreams I can't imagine that Alma could ever have been half the
>composer her husband was."

Very much so.  Indeed, Mahler did tell her that he intended to be the
only composer in the household, but when taken in context, it's clear
that he was under no illusions about her talent.  She wasn't a composer,
as even lovestruck Zemlinsky told her.  That letter of Mahler's is often
used (as Alma intended) to show what a brake he was on her illustrious
career.  But the facts are different.  Withoin a short time of the
marriage, Alma was having composition lessons again - from ex boyfriend
no less.  Despite Mahler's dislike of noise while he was composing, he
seems not to have been so fussy when he wasn't composing, which was most
of the year.  In any case, he was often out of the house for long periods,
at work.  A woman like Alma would have no problems working while he was
out of the house if that is how dedicated she really was.  She did have
an affair after all.  Ironically, because Alma is something of an icon
her account is often accepted wholesale as an excuse for her limited
output (15 songs) and poor standards.

This is the real reason for knocking the myth, because it reinforces the
image of women as passive idiots, unable to create because of some
external factor.  It's not like she had no household help, a second job,
a commute and the school run.

Anne
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