Gustav Mahler vs Jimi Hendrix
Two music prodigies, compared on what is actually documented: field, era, country and record. No invented numbers.
The record, side by side
| Gustav Mahler | Jimi Hendrix | |
| Field | Music | Music |
| Sub-field | Composer | Pop |
| Born | 1860 | 1942 |
| Died | 1911 | 1970 |
| Country of birth | Austria | United States |
| Star sign | Cancer | Sagittarius |
Who they are
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 →
Jimi Hendrix
The first instrument Jimi Hendrix ever played was a ukulele with a single string. He found it while helping his father clean out a house in Seattle in 1957, and he spent weeks working out the melody to "Honky Tonk Women" on that single string before his father relented and bought him a five-dollar acoustic guitar. He was fifteen years old, completely self-taught, and he could already hear in his head sounds that no existing guitarist had yet produced. Within four years, by his own account, he had listened to every blues record he could…
Full biography of Jimi Hendrix →
What they share
- Both are held here under Music.
Where they part
- Born in different countries: Austria and United States.
- 82 years separate their births (1860 and 1942).
- Their lifetimes never overlapped.
Questions people ask
- Who came first, Gustav Mahler or Jimi Hendrix?
- Gustav Mahler. Gustav Mahler was born in 1860, Jimi Hendrix in 1942.
- What field is each of them in?
- Gustav Mahler is filed under Music (Composer). Jimi Hendrix is filed under Music (Pop).
- Were they contemporaries?
- No - their lifetimes do not overlap.