Text Box:  34. This composer was most famous in Austria., though he was born in Bohemia. His name is Gustav (Goose stav) Mahler (mal ler), Goulding, ranks him number 17…so he produced some impressive works. He was born in 1860 and died in 1911, at age 50. Some interesting tidbits about him are that he was a vegetarian and never drank alcohol. Also, he was as famous a conductor as he was a composer…probably the greatest of his time. In order to become the artistic director of the prestigious Vienna Opera, he even converted from being Jewish to being Christian...due to prejudice against Jews. Haven’t we heard this before? Yes, with Mendelssohn, and Offenbach. A piece you heard on the CD was from his Symphony Number 1, the Third Movement…written in 1888.