马勒 (Mǎlè): Mahler (surname); Gustav Mahler…

Meanings

1 Mahler (surname); Gustav Mahler (1860-1911), Austrian composer and conductor
2 (literal) horse bridle

Characters

马

mǎ

horse (phonetic 'Mah-')

勒

lè

to rein in (phonetic '-ler')

Examples

马勒的第二交响曲被称为《复活》。

Mǎlè de dì-èr jiāoxiǎngqǔ bèi chēng wéi 《Fùhuó》.

Mahler's Second Symphony is called the Resurrection.

我特别喜欢马勒的音乐。

Wǒ tèbié xǐhuan Mǎlè de yīnyuè.

I particularly love Mahler's music.

Tips

culture

In music contexts 马勒 always means Gustav Mahler — late-Romantic composer of nine massive symphonies and the song-symphony 《大地之歌》 (Das Lied von der Erde, which sets Tang dynasty poetry). The same characters can also literally mean 'horse bridle' (马 horse + 勒 to rein in), but that older sense rarely surfaces.