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 [log in to unmask]