Alexander Fleming vs Gustav Mahler
Two music prodigies, compared on what is actually documented: field, era, country and record. No invented numbers.
The record, side by side
| Alexander Fleming | Gustav Mahler | |
| Field | Music | Music |
| Sub-field | Musician | Composer |
| Born | 1881 | 1860 |
| Died | 1955 | 1911 |
| Country of birth | SCT | Austria |
| Star sign | Leo | Cancer |
Who they are
Alexander Fleming
In September 1928, a Scottish bacteriologist returned from his summer holiday to a cluttered laboratory at St Mary's Hospital in London, and noticed something unusual on a petri dish he had left behind. A mould had contaminated one of his cultures of Staphylococcus bacteria — and around the mould, the bacteria were dead. Alexander Fleming did not immediately grasp that he had just made the most important medical discovery of the twentieth century. But he was curious enough to look more carefully, and careful enough not to throw the dish away. That decision would eventually…
Full biography of Alexander Fleming →
Gustav Mahler
Gustav Mahler described the symphony as a world that must contain everything. He was not speaking metaphorically. His nine completed symphonies range in duration from forty-five minutes to nearly two hours, deploy orchestras of up to one hundred and forty players, incorporate vocal soloists, choirs, offstage bands, and in the case of the Eighth Symphony — known as the Symphony of a Thousand — require a performing force so large that the piece can barely be staged. This was not grandiosity for its own sake. It was Mahler's attempt to make music coextensive with human…
Full biography of Gustav Mahler →
What they share
- Both are held here under Music.
- Their lifetimes overlap.
Where they part
- Born in different countries: SCT and Austria.
- 21 years separate their births (1881 and 1860).
Questions people ask
- Who came first, Alexander Fleming or Gustav Mahler?
- Gustav Mahler. Alexander Fleming was born in 1881, Gustav Mahler in 1860.
- What field is each of them in?
- Alexander Fleming is filed under Music (Musician). Gustav Mahler is filed under Music (Composer).
- Were they contemporaries?
- Yes - their lifetimes overlap.