Gustav Mahler

Classical Music / Composers Datebook:  July 7

Late Romantic Czech-Born Austrian Composer

"A symphony must be like the world, it must embrace everything." ~ Gustav Mahler, a remark to Sibelius, Helsinki, 1907.


A brief profile of Gustav Mahler 

Mahler is famous for symphonies, in particular, "The Symphony of a Thousand" and lieder (songs).

Gustav Mahler  (7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911), was a late-Romantic Austrian composer and one of the leading conductors of his generation.  A Jew, he was born in the village of Kalischt, Bohemia, in what was then the Austrian Empire, now Kaliště in the Czech Republic. His family later moved to nearby Iglau (now Jihlava), where Mahler grew up.

He composed some large-scale symphonies, for instance, The Song of the Earth, and many with voices,including Symphony No. 2 Resurrection, Symphony No. 6 in A minor, sometimes referred to as "Tragic" or Tragische, Symphony No. 8 The Symphony of a Thousand, and Symphony No. 10, left unfinished at his death. Mahler also composed orchestral lieder songs. His Symphony No. 5 was composed in 1901 and 1902, mostly during the summer months at his holiday cottage at Maiernigg. 

Das klagende Lied (The Sorrowful Song or Song of Lamentation) is a cantata by Gustav Mahler, composed between 1878 and 1880 and greatly revised over the next two decades. In its original form, Das klagende Lied is one of the earliest of his works to have survived (the Piano Quartet movement in A minor is believed to date from 1876). The first performance of Das klagende Lied took place on 17 February 1901 in Vienna, with Mahler himself conducting. It was in this two-part version that the work was published and entered the repertoire. Once the manuscript of the original three-part version came to light in 1969, however, the earlier score came to be regularly performed and recorded as well. The score of the three-part version was published as part of the Gustav Mahler Edition in 1997.

Mahler began to write the text of Das klagende Lied (possibly basing it on the fairy-tale of the same name by Ludwig Bechstein and/or "Der singende Knochen" ("The Singing Bone") by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm) during the early part of his final year in the Vienna Conservatory as a studend.  As originally composed, Das klagende Lied was in three parts:

1. Waldmärchen (Forest Legend)
2. Der Spielmann (The Minstrel)
3. Hochzeitsstück (Wedding Piece)

Mahler "Das klagende Lied" op. 1 London Philharmonic Orchestra Vladimir Jurowski. David Christopher Ragusa Boy Soprano, Marisol Montalvo Soprano, Hedwig Fassbender Mezzo Soprano, Michael Hendick Tenor, Anthony Michaelis Moore Baritone.  Uploaded by Reinhold Goebel. Accessed 7 July 2016.

Trivia (December 5, 2019): Under the baton of Simone Young, "Das Klagende Lied" is being performed by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra with the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs (Brett Weymark, choir master). Sydney Opera House, December 4, 6 & 7, 2019. Simone Young and SSO close the 2019 season in legendary style. The charismatic maestra is one of Australia’s finest musical exports, at home in opera theatres and concert halls. Her gift for shaping musical narratives and mustering huge forces are valuable assets in Gustav Mahler’s dark and theatrical fairy tale. Enchanted horns usher into dark forests where two brothers vie for the queen’s hand, with dire consequences… Inspired by stories from the Brothers Grimm, Das klagende Lied (The Sorrowful Song) calls for singers, choir and two orchestras (one of them off-stage). It is Mahler’s astonishingly assured opus one, a preview of his epic, kaleidoscopic symphonies. Like those, it bursts with the magic and mystery of nature, and the joys and fears of childhood.

Review from Limelight Magazine:   
Mahler's Klagende Lied (Sydney Symphony Orchestra).  Simone Young proves a masterful storyteller in Mahler’s epic fairy tale cantata.  Accessed December 5, 2019. 

Australian conductor Simone Young interprets Mahler's "Resurrection Symphony" (Symphony No. 2), with Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra. Accessed July 7, 2016. 

 

Symphony 2 "Resurrection"

Resurrection was Mahler's most popular and successful work in his lifetime. first performed in Berlin in 1895, achieving his first success as a composer. It was written between 1888 and 1894. In this large work, the composer further developed the creativity of "sound of the distance" and creating a "world of its own", aspects already seen in his First Symphony. The work has a duration of around eighty to ninety minutes. Descriptions of its form and text are not part of of this post's scope.

Here's a video link to the Finale, from my favourite Mahler Symphony 2 "Resurrection", BBC Proms conducted by Gustavo Dudamel. YouTube, uploaded by OneQuietLife. Accessed July 7, 2020. Another final version, one of my favourites, was conducted by Claudio Abbado - here - performed by Lucerne Festival Orchestra Orfeon Donostiarra. Eteri Gvazava (Soprano), Anna Larsson (Alto). 

In 1950, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra performed Mahler's Symphony 2 "Resurrection," conducted by no less than Otto Klemperer, German-born American conductor and composer considered one of the leading conductors of the 20th century.  I found out from YouTube the live performance of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. Valda Bagnall. Florence Taylor. Hurlstone Choral Society (the name of Sydney Philharmonia Choirs that time.) (credit: The Orchard Enterprises, accessed 20th Aug, 2016.) The Resurrection Symphony split into five movements:  
 
Symphony No. 2 "Resurrection": 

I. Allegro maestoso 
II. Andante moderato 
III. In ruhig fliessender Bewegung 
IV. Urlicht 
V. Im Tempo des Scherzos 

After 66 years, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra returns with the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs to present the same Mahler's Resurrection Symphony, August 27-28, 2016, Sydney Town Hall.  David Robertson, conducting.

Trivia (7 July 2022):

Simone Young, Australian-born internationally recognised as one of the leading conductors at present conducts Mahler 2 "Resurrection" as the Sydney Symphony Orchestra (SSO) mark its return to the newly renovated Sydney Opera House Concert Hall. Performances: Wednesday 20 to Sunday 24 July 2022.

Symphony No. 3

Symphony No. 3 was written by Mahler in 1896, or possibly only completed in that year, but composed between 1893 and 1896. It is his longest piece and is the longest symphony in the standard repertoire, with a typical performance lasting around an hour and forty minutes. It was voted one of the ten greatest symphonies of all time in a survey of conductors carried out by the BBC Music Magazine. (Mahler's Symphony No. 3 performed by The Radio Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Markus Stenz, the women of the Netherlands Radio Choir, The National Children's Choir and alto Tamara Mumford performed on December 23th 2017 in TivoliVredenburg, Utrecht. Uploaded by AVROTROS Klassiek. Accessed March 11, 2020.)


Symphony No. 4

Symphony No. 4 in G major by Gustav Mahler was written in 1899 and 1900, though it incorporates a song originally written in 1892. The song, "Das himmlische Leben" ("The Heavenly Life"), presents a child's vision of Heaven. It is sung by a soprano in the work's fourth and final movement. A typical performance of the symphony lasts about an hour, making it one of Mahler's shorter symphonies. The performing forces are also small by the Mahler's usual standard. Here's Symphony No. 4 conducted by Claudio Abbado with Lucerne Festival Orchestra, uploaded by Classical Vault 1. Accessed April 30, 2019.)


Symphony No. 5 in A minor

Mahler's Symphony No. 5 was composed in 1901 and 1902, during the summer months at Mahler's holiday cottage at Maiernigg. Among its most distinctive features are the trumpet solo that opens the work, Among its most distinctive features are the trumpet solo that opens the work with a rhythmic motif, the horn solos in the third movement, and the beautiful "Adagietto", the fourth movement of Symphony No. 5, most frequently performed of his works. It is said to represent Mahler's love song to his wife Alma Mahler (born Alma Margaretha Maria Schindler), Viennese-born composer, author, editor and socialite.

The musical canvas and emotional scope of the work which lasts over an hour are huge. The symphony is sometimes described as being in the key of C♯ minor since the first movement is in this key, however the finale is in D major. Mahler objected to the label: "From the order of the movements (where the usual first movement now comes second) it is difficult to speak of a key for the 'whole Symphony', and to avoid misunderstandings the key should best be omitted."


Symphony No. 6 in A minor

Mahler's Symphony No. 6 in A minor is a symphony in four movements, composed in 1903 and 1904 (revised 1906; scoring repeatedly revised). Mahler conducted the work's first performance at the Saalbau Concert Hall in Essen on May 27, 1906. It is sometimes referred to by the nickname Tragische ("Tragic"). Mahler composed the symphony at what was apparently an exceptionally happy time in his life, as he had married Alma Schindler in 1902, and during the course of the work's composition his second daughter was born. This contrasts with the tragic, even nihilistic, ending of No. 6.

Symphony No. 8 in Eb major

Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 8 in E-flat major is one of the largest-scale choral works in the classical concert repertoire. Because it requires huge instrumental and vocal forces it is frequently called the "Symphony of a Thousand", although the work is normally presented with far fewer than a thousand performers and the composer did not sanction that name. The work was composed in a single inspired burst, at Maiernigg in southern Austria in the summer of 1906. The last of Mahler's works that was premiered in his lifetime, the symphony was a critical and popular success when he conducted the Munich Philharmonic in its first performance, in Munich, on 12 September 1910.

Highly recommended for listening pleasure: 

Mahler 8th Symphony finale, Mov.2. YouTube, uploaded by Rupert Jones. Accessed July 7, 2016.
(Final part of the 2nd movement - Mahlers Epic Symphony No 8 with Jiří Bělohlávek conducting the BBC Symphony Orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall supported by over 400 adult and childrens voices of which are: Mardi Byers (soprano), Twyla Robinson (soprano), Malin Christensson (soprano), Stephanie Blythe (mezzo-soprano), Kelley O'Connor (mezzo-soprano), Stefan Vinke (tenor), Hanno Müller-Brachmann (bass-baritone), Tomasz Konieczny (bass), Choristers of St Paul's Cathedral, Choristers of Westminster Abbey, Choristers of Westminster, Cathedral BBC Symphony Chorus, Crouch End Festival Chorus, Sydney Philharmonia Choirs)


As Music Director and Conductor

Mahlers's baptism into the Catholic Church led to his appointment as director of the Vienna Court Opera. He also succeeded Hans Richter as conductor of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in 1898, departing in 1901. A year later, he married Alma Schindler, a Viennese socialite and composer, daughter of the artist Emil Jakob Schindler. Although their life was not without strains, the relationship benefited his musical creativity. Mahler made his debut as principal conductor of the New York Metropolitan Opera on January 1, 1908, but his tenure was brief due to personal and artistic differences.  Two years later, in 1910, he conducted the successful Munich premiere of his famous 8th Symphony.


Mahler's Legacy

Gustav Mahler acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and the modernism of the early 20th century. While in his lifetime his status as a conductor was established beyond question, his own music only gained wide popularity after periods of relative neglect that included a ban of its performance in much of Europe during the Nazi era. It was only until after 1945 that four of his symphonies were heard in Great Britain; also, his music was discovered and championed by a new generation of listeners. Mahler then became a frequently performed and recorded composer, a position he has sustained into the 21st century.

Said to be Mahler's last words:
"Mozart! Mozart!"  With his Alma Mahler sitting by his side, Mahler breathed his last after shouting twice the name of fellow composer Wolfgang A. Mozart.  Music History Monday: Mahler's Last Words, posted by Robert Greenberg, March 18, 2020.  (Prof. Robert Greenberg was my professor in some of my online classical music courses at The Great Courses. The Teaching Company.)

 

 

Links to Mahler's Adagios for Romantic Listening:

Mahler: The Glorious Adagios, with Herbert  von Karajan (BPO). The adagios of  Symphony 4, 5, 6 and 9.

More Links: 

1. Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 2 "Resurrection" (Lucerne Festival Orchestra, Claudio Abbado). Youtube, uploaded by EuroArtsChannel.  Accessed  July 7, 2016.   

2. Simone Young and Philharmoniker Hamburg: Gustav Mahler Symphony No. 2 "Resurrection."
3. Mahler Symphony No. 5 in C Sharp minor  (Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra with Lorin Maazel conducting)
4. Mahler Symphony No. 5 in C-Sharp minor (Gergiev conducting World Orchestra for Peace. BBC Proms 2010).
5. Mahler Symphony No. 6 in A minor. (Lucerne Festival Orchestra, with Claudio Abbado conducting)
6. Mahler Symphony No. 8 in E-Flat major (Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra with Leonard Bernstein conducting)

Resources:

Kennedy, Michael and Joyce. Oxford Dictionary of Music, 6th Edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012.  
Sadie, Stanley, Ed.  The Grove Concise Dictionary of Music.  London: Macmillan Publishers, 1994.
Sadie, Stanley, Ed.  The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. London: Macmillan, 1980.



(c) July 7, 2009. Latest update July 7, 2022. Tel. Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved.