Mahler was particularly distressed by the negative comments from his Vienna Conservatory contemporary, Viktor von Herzfeld, who had remarked that Mahler, like many conductors before him, had proved not to be a composer.
Mahler estaba particularmente angustiado polos comentarios negativos do seu contemporáneo no Conservatorio de Viena, Viktor von Herzfeld, que destacou que Mahler, como moitos directores antes que el, demostrara non ser un compositor.