Sigma Alpha Iota

Summer 2021 28 28 P A N P I P E S REVIEWS PASSIONATE SPIRIT: THE LIFE OF ALMA MAHLER By Cate Haste Basic Books, 2019 H istory does not always treat kindly the women associated with men of note, particularly in the arts. Often they are seen more as an impediment to the genius, or as using reflected glory for recognition for which they are not truly worthy. Such is definitely the case with Alma Schindler Mahler (1879-1964), who in addition to being the wife of renowned composer Gustav Mahler, was the lover of noted Expressionist painter Oskar Kokoschka, the wife of the architect and founder of the Bauhaus, Walter Gropius, and the wife of respected mid-twentieth- century Austrian author, Franz Werfel. However, while many of the criticisms aimed at Alma Mahler were true and well-deserved, she was much more than a hanger-on. Highly intelligent and devoted to continuing self-education, she was a gifted composer and supporter of the arts. In her biography of this remarkable woman, author Cate Haste, relying on Mahler's personal diaries and writings, available for the first time, seeks to present a more balanced character study than has been previously given. Haste begins her book with details about Alma as a young person, relying primarily on Alma's diaries to capture her personality. Alma comes across as a young woman full of ambivalent emotions and frequent passionate vacillations about her relationships with men, but intensely devoted to intellectual pursuits; she was a voracious reader and student of music, both as a pianist and as a composer. Her family's inner circle included luminaries in many cultural fields, exposing her to current ideas and trends. It was through a member of this circle that she met Alexander Zemlinsky, a young composer with whom she began studies in music composition. Zemlinsky was very supportive of her musical ambitions, and she thrived as a composer during this time. A few years later, when it became clear that Gustav Mahler wanted to marry her, he asked her to choose either her musical pursuits or life with him. He felt that if they both composed, the competition between them would be detrimental to their marriage. She decided to accept these terms, and married Gustav, vowing that she had "one purpose in life: to sacrifice my happiness for his — and to grow happy for having done so" (p. 83). Alma's willingness to yield to Gustav had consequences, and during her marriage with him, she experienced bouts of depression and frustration due to the lack of intellectual stimuli and not being allowed to pursue music composition. She wrote of these years in her diary, "I existed only as his shadow. I lived his life. I had none of my own" (p. 101). Even so, Gustav's supporters decried her frequent presence during his rehearsals as conductor of various orchestras and at performances of his musical works. They felt she had too much of an influence on him and deliberately worked to alienate him from his peers. The remainder of the book discusses Alma's life after Gustav's death, including her relatively brief marriage to Walter Gropius, as well as her union with Franz Werfel, which endured until his death in 1945. In addition, Alma's nurturance of the genius in others is demonstrated with accounts of her salons, which supported artists in music, art, and literature across a wide political spectrum. She continued to perpetuate the legacies of both Gustav Mahler and Franz Werfel during the remainder of her life. Biographers tend to reveal their particular bias by what details they choose to emphasize about their subjects' lives. Although Haste clearly shows sympathy for Alma Mahler, she does not avoid illustrating Alma's flaws, from her instances of gross anti-Semitism to her frequent extreme self-absorption. Haste is honest, though, without resorting to vilifying her subject. Haste demonstrates that Alma Mahler, like all people, was never just one thing, and full of complexities. Although Alma could be self-centered, she was a very talented, highly intelligent person who was trapped by what her society expected women to do and be. Because she had little opportunity to develop to the limits of her potential, she settled for surrounding herself with men of genius and nurturing their gifts. Her diaries, upon which Haste draws heavily, show evidence of someone who wavered between depression and satisfaction, making her another unfortunate example of a woman held back by the limits of her place and time. This enthralling book is an admirable account of a woman whose contributions should not be forgotten. Kathi Bower Peterson is a graduate of Indiana University, where she majored in music history and oboe, and was a member of Iota Epsilon chapter. She also has an MM (in musicology) from the University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign and an MLIS from San Jose State University. She has been the librarian at the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library in La Jolla, California since 1997 and currently serves as the treasurer of the San Diego County Alumnae Chapter, as well as the Coordinator of Scholarships for SAI Philanthropies, Inc.

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