[aclissold]

Regarding Kindertotenlieder, he didn't actually lose any children until after he wrote it. Quoth Wikipedia [0]:

“I placed myself in the situation that a child of mine had died. When I really lost my daughter, I could not have written these songs any more.”

[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kindertotenlieder

[julianpye]

Thanks. Turns out I was taught me something completely wrong about Mahler! I just spoke to my parents (who were responsible for much of my musical education) and told them this, too. It seems they knew it from their parents, too.

[davedx]

Wow, those poems are wrenching, even in translated form. They really are an open door to somebody's personal grief.

[eru]

Have a look at the Todesfuge: eg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVwLqEHDCQE or http://www.celan-projekt.de/todesfuge-deutsch.html and http://poemsintranslation.blogspot.com.au/2010/01/paul-celan... (the translation doesn't seem nearly as wrenching as the German to me, though).

Der Tod ist ein Meister aus Deutschland.