The composer's wife Alma Mahler, in her memoirs, says that for a fortnight Mahler was "haunted by the spectre of failing inspiration"; Mahler's recollection, however, is that on the first day of the vacation he was seized by the creative spirit, and plunged immediately into composition of the work that would become his Eighth Symphony.
Alma Mahler, a muller do compositor, explica nas súas memorias que, durante quince días, Mahler estivo "perseguido polo espectro dunha inspiración infrutuosa"; con todo, segundo lembra o propio Mahler, o primeiro día de vacacións foi capturado polo espírito creativo, e somerxeuse de inmediato na composición da obra que se convertería na súa Oitava Sinfonía.