Kubelik became acquainted with Mahler's music as a young man, inspired by the work of Bruno Walter, Erich Kleiber and Fritz Busch. He was fascinated from the start by its capacity for passion and sacrifice and its shrewd foreboding, but also as a compatriot by its Bohemian-Moravian roots. Until the 1960's Mahler was still considered an eccentric outsider whose music was grudgingly performed from time to time. It was Kubelik's dedication to radio-broadcasting which instigated the revival of Mahler's work, culminating in Kubelik being the first conductor ever to perform a complete Mahler cycle, which took place in Munich.

Kubelik became acquainted with Mahler's music as a young man, inspired by the work of Bruno Walter, Erich Kleiber and Fritz Busch. He was fascinated from the start by its capacity for passion and sacrifice and its shrewd foreboding, but also as a compatriot by its Bohemian-Moravian roots. Until the 1960's Mahler was still considered an eccentric outsider whose music was grudgingly performed from time to time. It was Kubelik's dedication to radio-broadcasting which instigated the revival of Mahler's work, culminating in Kubelik being the first conductor ever to perform a complete Mahler cycle, which took place in Munich.