Abstract
From his early compositional endeavors to the present day, Gustav Mahler has long been studied from various perspectives: musicology, psychology, and even from medical perspectives, to name a few. The intricacies of his idiosyncratic musical style and othered identity can be attributed to his experiences as a marginalized individual. His aesthetics of form, orchestration, scope, and scale were especially unusual and not always well received by conservative audiences; Mahler’s symphonic approach was, at times, as foreign to the audience as he was. His alterity is a significant factor when considering what makes his symphonies so unique. This paper will establish a novel way of examining Mahler’s prolific symphonic output. This will consist considering Mahler’s alterity in the context of his critical reception, but also as a crucial compositional tool Mahler consciously applied to his inimitable musical style.