Sunday Feature - In Search of Gustav Mahler

In the year of the 150th anniversary of Gustav Mahler's birth, Norman Lebrecht travels in the footsteps of the composer in search of those whose lives have been touched and changed by his music. He discovers how Mahler was able to bring them face to face with themselves and gave them the means to continue. It is an experience Norman himself is familiar with, "There are times when I've needed Mahler more than anything else on earth - times when I've been so unsure or frightened or confused about the state of my world only Mahler would have the answer. Mahler can do many things - he can address you, he can harangue you, he can tease you, he can do many things, but in that music, there is a healing balm. Mahler from somewhere brings a reunion of the individual with the world, a person with nature - the possibility that out of chaos there can be harmony and there can be love. Mahler can be the healer of us all."