Otto Mahler

Otto Mahler (18 June 1873 – 6 February 1895) was a Bohemian-Austrian musician and composer who died by suicide at the age of 21. Otto was the younger brother of Gustav Mahler, a fellow musician.

Otto was orphaned in 1889 with the death of both his parents, and Gustav became financially responsible for him. By that time, Otto had already begun attending the Vienna Conservatory. Though he was initially considered a talented student, his academic performance was increasingly poor. In April 1892, Otto left the Conservatory without a diploma. He was able to secure work in minor musical posts, but he tended to drift from job to job. On 6 February 1895, Otto shot himself with a revolver while in the house of his and Mahler's friend Nina Hoffmann-Matscheko; a lock of his mother's hair was found in his pocket. According to Gustav's widow Alma, Otto's suicide note stated that life no longer pleased him, so he 'handed back his ticket'.

Otto's known work as a composer included two completed symphonies, an incomplete third symphony, and some lieder with orchestra and piano. His music remains unpublished and is apparently uncatalogued. No recent performances are known; and some of his music may have been lost. His personal property at the time of his death included an incomplete manuscript of Anton Bruckner's Third Symphony. It was inherited by his family, and was transported over the Pyrenees in 1940 by Otto's sister-in-law Alma during her escape from Vichy France.