'The symphony must be like the world', Mahler insisted. 'It must embrace everything'. Mahler lived up to his own ideal spectacularly, creating works of such emotional range and imaginative power that each feels like a world in itself. In this book, Stephen Johnson follows Mahler's development as man and composer, and sets out the experiences - the personal joys and sorrows as well as the broader cultural forces - that formed him, and made him one of the most widely loved and admired composers in the whole classical repetoire. And with the words comes the music: 2 CDs of carefully chosen pieces spanning Mahler's compositional life. Furthermore, the purchaser of the book is given access to a dedicated website which offers even more music to listen to, as well as other bonus material.