174-447: Das Lied von der Erde (The song of the Earth) is an orchestral work for two voices and orchestra written by Gustav Mahler between 1908 and 1909. Described as a symphony when published, it comprises six movements for a large orchestra and two singers as the soloist alternating in the movements. Mahler specified that the two singers should be a tenor and an alto , or else a tenor and
348-498: A baritone if an alto is not available. Mahler composed this work following the most painful period in his life, and the songs address themes such as those of living, parting and salvation. On the centenary of Mahler's birth, the composer and prominent Mahler conductor Leonard Bernstein described Das Lied von der Erde as Mahler's "greatest symphony". As with his later Symphony No. 9 , Mahler did not live to hear Das Lied von der Erde performed. Three disasters befell Mahler during
522-418: A mandolin to represent the singer's lute, imitating bird calls with woodwinds, and repeatedly switching between the major and minor modes to articulate sharp contrasts in the text. The movement is divided into three major sections. In the first, the singer describes the nature around her as night falls. In the second, she is waiting for her friend to say a final farewell. A long orchestral interlude precedes
696-1791: A Jew. This theme, and its influence upon Mahler's tonality, has been further explored by John Sheinbaum. It has also been asserted that Mahler found in these poems an echo of his own increasing awareness of mortality. The Universal Edition score of 1912 for Das Lied von der Erde shows Mahler's adapted text as follows. Schon winkt der Wein im gold'nen Pokale, Doch trinkt noch nicht, erst sing' ich euch ein Lied! Das Lied vom Kummer Soll auflachend in die Seele euch klingen. Wenn der Kummer naht, Liegen wüst die Gärten der Seele, Welkt hin und stirbt die Freude, der Gesang. Dunkel ist das Leben, ist der Tod. Herr dieses Hauses! Dein Keller birgt die Fülle des goldenen Weins! Hier, diese Laute nenn' ich mein! Die Laute schlagen und die Gläser leeren, Das sind die Dinge, die zusammen passen. Ein voller Becher Weins zur rechten Zeit Ist mehr wert, als alle Reiche dieser Erde! Dunkel ist das Leben, ist der Tod! Das Firmament blaut ewig und die Erde Wird lange fest steh'n und aufblüh'n im Lenz. Du aber, Mensch, wie lang lebst denn du? Nicht hundert Jahre darfst du dich ergötzen An all dem morschen Tande dieser Erde! Seht dort hinab! Im Mondschein auf den Gräbern Hockt eine wild-gespenstische Gestalt – Ein Aff' ist's! Hört ihr, wie sein Heulen Hinausgellt in den süßen Duft des Lebens! Jetzt nehmt den Wein! Jetzt ist es Zeit, Genossen! Leert eure gold'nen Becher zu Grund! Dunkel ist das Leben, ist der Tod! The wine beckons in golden goblets but drink not yet; first I'll sing you
870-424: A borrowed Cantus firmus melody. Until the late 16th-century introduction of the contratenor singers, the tenor was usually the lowest voice, assuming the role of providing a foundation. It was also in the 18th century that "tenor" came to signify the male voice that sang such parts. Thus, for earlier repertoire, a line marked 'tenor' indicated the part's role, and not the required voice type; indeed, even as late as
1044-633: A brief "late period" of elegiac works before his death in 1911. The main works of the first period are the first four symphonies, the Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen song cycle and various song collections in which the Wunderhorn songs predominate. In this period songs and symphonies are closely related and the symphonic works are programmatic. Mahler initially gave the first three symphonies full descriptive programmes, all of which he later repudiated. He devised, but did not publish, titles for each of
1218-470: A bright, steely timbre. Dramatic tenor roles in operas: The heldentenor (English: heroic tenor ) has a rich, dark, powerful and dramatic voice. As its name implies, the heldentenor vocal Fach features in the German romantic operatic repertoire. The heldentenor is the German equivalent of the tenore drammatico, however with a more baritonal quality: the typical Wagnerian protagonist. The keystone of
1392-427: A complete critical edition of Mahler's works, and to commemorate all aspects of the composer's life. Deryck Cooke and other analysts have divided Mahler's composing life into three distinct phases: a long "first period", extending from Das klagende Lied in 1880 to the end of the Wunderhorn phase in 1901; a "middle period" of more concentrated composition ending with Mahler's departure for New York in 1907; and
1566-501: A composer. In 1891, Hungary's move to the political right was reflected in the opera house when Beniczky on 1 February was replaced as intendant by Count Géza Zichy , a conservative aristocrat determined to assume artistic control over Mahler's head. However, Mahler had foreseen that and had secretly been negotiating with Bernhard Pollini , the director of the Stadttheater Hamburg since summer and autumn of 1890, and
1740-452: A conductor was established beyond question, his own music gained wide popularity only after periods of relative neglect, which included a ban on its performance in much of Europe during the Nazi era . After 1945 his compositions were rediscovered by a new generation of listeners; Mahler then became one of the most frequently performed and recorded of all composers, a position he has sustained into
1914-500: A contract was finally signed in secrecy on 15 January 1891. Mahler more or less "forced" himself to be sacked from his Budapest post, and he succeeded on 14 March 1891. By his departure he received a large sum of indemnity. One of his final Budapest triumphs was a performance of Mozart's Don Giovanni (16 September 1890) which won him praise from Brahms , who was present at the performances on 16 December 1890. During his Budapest years Mahler's compositional output had been limited to
SECTION 10
#17327656749632088-412: A few notes below the C 3 . There are many vocal shades to the lyric tenor group, repertoire should be selected according to the weight, colors, and abilities of the voice. Gilbert Duprez (1806–1896) was a historically significant lyric tenor. He was the first tenor to sing on stage the operatic high C from the chest ( ut de poitrine ) as opposed to using falsettone . He is also known for originating
2262-587: A few songs from the Wunderhorn song settings that became Volumes II and III of Lieder und Gesänge , and amendments to the First Symphony. Mahler's Hamburg post was as chief conductor, subordinate to the director, Bernhard Pohl (known as Pollini) who retained overall artistic control. Pollini was prepared to give Mahler considerable leeway if the conductor could provide commercial as well as artistic success. This Mahler did in his first season, when he conducted Wagner's Tristan und Isolde for
2436-562: A further depressing factor. Mahler and his family left Maiernigg and spent the rest of the summer at Schluderbach . At the end of the summer the villa at Maiernigg was closed and never revisited. Mahler made his New York debut at the Metropolitan Opera on 1 January 1908, when he conducted Wagner's Tristan und Isolde . In a busy first season Mahler's performances were widely praised, especially his Fidelio on 20 March 1908, in which he insisted on using replicas that were at
2610-467: A good-looking girl of good family. On the other hand, Mahler's family considered Alma to be flirtatious, unreliable, and too fond of seeing young men fall for her charms. Mahler was by nature moody and authoritarian—Natalie Bauer-Lechner, his earlier partner, said that living with him was "like being on a boat that is ceaselessly rocked to and fro by the waves." Alma soon became resentful because of Mahler's insistence that there could only be one composer in
2784-562: A hundred years." At the end of "Der Abschied," however, Mahler adds three original lines which repeat this, but purposefully omit the part saying that "man must die". Conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein asserts that this ties in with the Eastern idea of Nirvana , in that the "soul" of the singer, as she or he dies, becomes one with the everlasting earth. The last movement is very difficult to conduct because of its cadenza -like writing for voice and solo instruments, which often flows over
2958-703: A key element in the Third Symphony completed in 1896; the song itself forms the finale to the Fourth (1900) and its melody is central to the whole composition. For the Second Symphony, written between 1888 and 1894, Mahler worked simultaneously on the Wunderhorn song, Des Antonius von Padua Fischpredigt ("The Sermon of St Anthony of Padua to the Fishes"), and on the Scherzo based on it which became
3132-547: A limited repertory of historical and folklore opera. By the time that Mahler began his duties, the progressive camp had gained ascendancy following the appointment of the liberal-minded Ferenc von Beniczky as intendant . Aware of the delicate situation, Mahler moved cautiously; he delayed his first appearance on the conductor's stand until January 1889, when he conducted Hungarian-language performances of Wagner's Das Rheingold and Die Walküre to initial public acclaim. However, his early successes faded when plans to stage
3306-476: A line which includes, among others, Beethoven, Schubert, Liszt, Wagner, Bruckner and Brahms. From these antecedents Mahler drew many of the features that were to characterise his music. Thus, from Beethoven's Ninth Symphony came the idea of using soloists and a choir within the symphonic genre. From Beethoven, Liszt and (from a different musical tradition) Berlioz came the concept of writing music with an inherent narrative or "programme", and of breaking away from
3480-534: A matter of some uncertainty, and around the turn of the 21st century, Chinese scholars extensively debated the sources of the songs following a performance of the work in China in 1998. According to the musicologist Theodor W. Adorno , Mahler found in Chinese poetry what he had formerly sought after in the genre of German folk song: a mask or costume for the sense of rootlessness or "otherness" attending his identity as
3654-422: A melodic simplicity that often approached banality", though it was too early to judge their ultimate worth. Alma Mahler survived her husband by more than 50 years, dying in 1964. She married Walter Gropius in 1915, divorced him five years later, and married the writer Franz Werfel in 1929. In 1940 she published a memoir of her years with Mahler, entitled Gustav Mahler: Memories and Letters . This account
SECTION 20
#17327656749633828-487: A memorial to his lost brother. Neither the music nor the libretto of this work has survived. Bernhard Mahler supported his son's ambitions for a music career, and agreed that the boy should try for a place at the Vienna Conservatory . The young Mahler was auditioned by the renowned pianist Julius Epstein , and accepted for 1875–76. He made good progress in his piano studies with Epstein and won prizes at
4002-410: A newborn." The same year saw the publication of Hans Bethge 's Die chinesische Flöte , a free rewriting of others' translations of classical Chinese poems. Mahler was captivated by the vision of earthly beauty and transience expressed in these verses and chose seven of the poems to set to music as Das Lied von der Erde . Mahler completed the work in 1909. Mahler was aware of the so-called " curse of
4176-741: A number of operettas that he presented during his time in Laibach. After completing this engagement, Mahler returned to Vienna and worked part-time as chorus-master at the Vienna Carltheater . From the beginning of January 1883, Mahler became conductor at the Royal Municipal Theatre in Olmütz (now Olomouc ) in Moravia . He later wrote: "From the moment I crossed the threshold of the Olmütz theatre I felt like one awaiting
4350-400: A permanent sense of exile, "always an intruder, never welcomed". The pedlar's son Bernhard Mahler, the composer's father, elevated himself to the ranks of the petite bourgeoisie by becoming a coachman and later an innkeeper. He bought a modest house in the village of Kaliště (German: Kalischt ), and in 1857 married Marie Herrmann, the 19-year-old daughter of a local soap manufacturer. In
4524-705: A potential director of the Royal Hungarian Opera in Budapest. He was interviewed, made a good impression, and was offered and accepted (with some reluctance) the post from 1 October 1888. In the early years of Mahler's conducting career, composing was a spare time activity. Between his Laibach and Olmütz appointments he worked on settings of verses by Richard Leander and Tirso de Molina , later collected as Volume I of Lieder und Gesänge ("Songs and Airs"). Mahler's first orchestral song cycle, Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen , composed at Kassel,
4698-425: A range from approximately the C one octave below middle C (C 3 ) to the C one octave above middle C (C 5 ). Spinto tenor roles in operas: Also "tenore robusto", the dramatic tenor has an emotive, ringing and very powerful, clarion, heroic tenor sound. The dramatic tenor's approximate range is from the B one octave below middle C (B 2 ) to the B one octave above middle C (B 4 ) with some able to sing up to
4872-650: A retreat at Steinbach , on the banks of Lake Attersee in Upper Austria, and established a pattern that persisted for the rest of his life; summers would henceforth be dedicated to composition, at Steinbach or its successor retreats. Now firmly under the influence of the Wunderhorn folk-poem collection, Mahler produced a stream of song settings at Steinbach, and composed his Second and Third Symphonies there. Performances of Mahler works were still comparatively rare (he had not composed very much). On 27 October 1893, at Hamburg's Konzerthaus Ludwig, Mahler conducted
5046-511: A revised version of his First Symphony; still in its original five-movement form, it was presented as a Tondichtung ( tone poem ) under the descriptive name "Titan". This concert also introduced six recent Wunderhorn settings. Mahler achieved his first relative success as a composer when the Second Symphony was well-received on its premiere in Berlin, under his own baton, on 13 December 1895. Mahler's conducting assistant Bruno Walter , who
5220-471: A revolt by stagehands, whose demands for better conditions he rejected in the belief that extremists were manipulating his staff. The anti-Semitic elements in Viennese society, long opposed to Mahler's appointment, continued to attack him relentlessly, and in 1907 instituted a press campaign designed to drive him out. By that time he was at odds with the opera house's administration over the amount of time he
5394-407: A short recitative scene to Act III. In spite of numerous theatrical triumphs, Mahler's Vienna years were rarely smooth; his battles with singers and the house administration continued on and off for the whole of his tenure. While Mahler's methods improved standards, his histrionic and dictatorial conducting style was resented by orchestra members and singers alike. In December 1903 Mahler faced
Das Lied von der Erde - Misplaced Pages Continue
5568-652: A singer specialize in these roles for an entire career. In French opéra comique , supporting roles requiring a thin voice but good acting are sometimes described as 'trial', after the singer Antoine Trial (1737–1795), examples being in the operas of Ravel and in The Tales of Hoffmann . Tenor buffo or spieltenor roles in operas: All of Gilbert and Sullivan 's Savoy operas have at least one lead lyric tenor character. Notable operetta roles are: There are four parts in barbershop harmony : bass, baritone, lead, and tenor (lowest to highest), with "tenor" referring to
5742-399: A solo violin and solo flute, which represent the bird the singer describes. The final movement, "The Farewell" (for alto, from C minor to C major ), is nearly as long as the previous five movements combined. Its text is drawn from two different poems, both involving the theme of leave-taking. Mahler himself added the last lines. This final song is also notable for its text-painting , using
5916-400: A song. The song of sorrow shall ring laughingly in your soul. When the sorrow comes, blasted lie the gardens of the soul, wither and perish joy and singing. Dark is life, dark is death! Master of this house, your cellar is full of golden wine! Here, this lute I call mine. The lute to strike and the glasses to drain, these things go well together. A full goblet of wine at
6090-542: A sore throat, which persisted. On 21 February 1911, with a temperature of 40 °C (104 °F), Mahler insisted on fulfilling an engagement at Carnegie Hall , with a program of mainly new Italian music, including the world premiere of Busoni's Berceuse élégiaque . This was Mahler's last concert. After weeks confined to bed he was diagnosed with bacterial endocarditis , a disease to which people with defective heart valves were particularly prone and which could be fatal. Mahler did not give up hope; he talked of resuming
6264-554: Is a Jew and who isn't." In such a volatile political atmosphere Mahler needed an early demonstration of his German cultural credentials. He made his initial mark in May 1897 with much-praised performances of Wagner's Lohengrin and Mozart's Die Zauberflöte . Shortly after the Zauberflöte triumph, Mahler was forced to take sick leave for several weeks, during which he was nursed by his sister Justine and his long-time companion,
6438-406: Is a much softer, less turbulent movement. Marked "somewhat dragging and exhausted", it begins with a repetitive shuffling in the strings, followed by solo wind instruments. The lyrics, which are based on the first part of a Tang dynasty era poem by Qian Qi , lament the dying of flowers and the passing of beauty, as well as expressing an exhausted longing for sleep. The orchestration in this movement
6612-443: Is but a dream, why work and worry? I drink until I no more can, the whole, blessed day! And if I can drink no more as throat and soul are full, then I stagger to my door and sleep wonderfully! What do I hear on waking? Hark! A bird sings in the tree. I ask him if it's spring already; to me it's as if I'm in a dream. The bird chirps Yes! The spring is here, it came overnight! From deep wonderment I listen;
6786-566: Is defined as a tenor but requires an A ♭ 2 . Within more frequently performed repertoire, Mime and Herod both call for an A 2 . A few tenor roles in the standard repertoire call for a "tenor C" (C 5 , one octave above middle C). Some, if not all, of the few top Cs in the standard operatic repertoire are either optional—such as in " Che gelida manina " in Puccini's La bohème —or interpolated (added) by tradition, such as in " Di quella pira " from Verdi's Il trovatore ); however,
6960-460: Is mostly soft and legato, meditating on the image of some "young girls picking lotus flowers at the riverbank." Later in the movement there is a louder, more articulated section in the brass as the young men ride by on their horses. There is a long orchestral postlude to the sung passage, as the most beautiful of the young maidens looks longingly after the most handsome of the young men. The original text used in this movement derives from another poem by
7134-579: Is reflected in the music, which originally was written as a five-movement symphonic poem with a descriptive programme. One of these movements, the "Blumine", later discarded, was based on a passage from his earlier work Der Trompeter von Säckingen . After completing the symphony, Mahler composed a 20-minute symphonic poem, Totenfeier "Funeral Rites", which later became the first movement of his Second Symphony . There has been frequent speculation about lost or destroyed works from Mahler's early years. The Dutch conductor Willem Mengelberg believed that
Das Lied von der Erde - Misplaced Pages Continue
7308-447: Is sparse and chamber music -like, with long and independent contrapuntal lines. The third movement, "Of Youth" (for tenor, in B ♭ major ), is the most obviously pentatonic and faux-Asian. The form is ternary , the third part being a greatly abbreviated revision of the first. It is also the shortest of the six movements, and can be considered a first scherzo . The music of this movement, "Of Beauty" (for alto, in G major ),
7482-410: Is the first complete integration of song cycle form with that of the symphony . The form was afterwards imitated by other composers, notably by Shostakovich and Zemlinsky . This new form has been termed a "song-symphony", a hybrid of the two forms that had occupied most of Mahler's creative life. Das Lied von der Erde is scored for a large orchestra, consisting of the following: Only in
7656-539: Is the shortage of tenor voices. Most men 18 and older tend to have baritone chest voices, and because of this, many men in choirs tend to prefer singing in the bass section (though true basses are even rarer than tenors). Many baritones sing tenor even if they are not able to cover the full range in only their chest voice, and sometimes contraltos sing the tenor part. In men's choruses that consist of four male vocal parts (TTBB; tenor 1, tenor 2, bass 1, bass 2), tenors will often sing both in chest voice and falsetto, extending
7830-524: Is yet another distinct tenor type. In Mozart singing, the most important element is the instrumental approach of the vocal sound which implies: flawless and slender emission of sound, perfect intonation, legato, diction and phrasing, capability to cope with the dynamic requirements of the score, beauty of timbre, secure line of singing through perfect support and absolute breath control, musical intelligence, body discipline, elegance, nobility, agility and, most importantly, ability for dramatic expressiveness within
8004-484: The tenore di grazia , the leggero tenor is essentially the male equivalent of a lyric coloratura . This voice is light, agile, and capable of executing difficult passages of fioritura . The typical leggero tenor possesses a range spanning from approximately C 3 to E 5 , with a few being able to sing up to F 5 or higher in full voice . In some cases, the chest register of the leggero tenor may extend below C 3 . Voices of this type are utilized frequently in
8178-728: The "curse of the Ninth Symphony" that he believed had affected fellow-composers Beethoven, Schubert and Bruckner. On 19 September 1908 the premiere of the Seventh Symphony , in Prague, was deemed by Alma Mahler a critical rather than a popular success. For its 1908–09 season the Metropolitan management brought in the Italian conductor Arturo Toscanini to share duties with Mahler, who made only 19 appearances in
8352-497: The Latin word tenere , which means "to hold". As noted in the "Tenor" article at Grove Music Online : In polyphony between about 1250 and 1500, the [tenor was the] structurally fundamental (or 'holding') voice, vocal or instrumental; by the 15th century it came to signify the male voice that sang such parts. All other voices were normally calculated in relation to the tenor, which often proceeded in longer note values and carried
8526-699: The New York Philharmonic . Mahler's œuvre is relatively limited; for much of his life composing was necessarily a part-time activity while he earned his living as a conductor. Aside from early works such as a movement from a piano quartet composed when he was a student in Vienna, Mahler's works are generally designed for large orchestral forces, symphonic choruses and operatic soloists. These works were frequently controversial when first performed, and several were slow to receive critical and popular approval; exceptions included his Second Symphony , and
8700-506: The Tang dynasty poet Li Bai , known as the "Lotus-collecting Song" (Chinese: 采莲曲 ) The second scherzo of the work is provided by the fifth movement, "The drunken man in Spring" (for tenor, in A major ). Like the first, it opens with a horn theme. In this movement Mahler uses an extensive variety of key signatures, which can change as often as every few measures. The middle section features
8874-646: The Vienna Secession movement. A year later, Mahler appointed him chief stage designer to the Hofoper, where Roller's debut was a new production of Tristan und Isolde . The collaboration between Mahler and Roller created more than 20 celebrated productions of, among other operas, Beethoven's Fidelio , Gluck's Iphigénie en Aulide and Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro . In the Figaro production, Mahler offended some purists by adding and composing
SECTION 50
#17327656749639048-428: The "deep thinker" is transcended by the splendour of Mahler the musician. Except for his juvenilia, little of which has survived, Mahler composed only in the media of song and symphony, with a close and complex interrelationship between the two. Donald Mitchell writes that this interaction is the backcloth against which all Mahler's music can be considered. The initial connection between song and symphony occurs with
9222-407: The 12 children born to the family in the city, only six survived infancy. Jihlava was then a thriving commercial city of 20,000 people, in which Gustav was introduced to music through the street songs of the day, through dance tunes, folk melodies and the trumpet calls and marches of the local military band. All of these elements would later contribute to his mature musical vocabulary. When he
9396-770: The 21st century. Born in Bohemia (then part of the Austrian Empire ) to Jewish parents of humble origins, the German-speaking Mahler displayed his musical gifts at an early age. After graduating from the Vienna Conservatory in 1878, he held a succession of conducting posts of rising importance in the opera houses of Europe, culminating in his appointment in 1897 as director of the Vienna Court Opera (Hofoper). During his ten years in Vienna, Mahler—who had converted to Catholicism to secure
9570-415: The C one octave above middle C (C 5 ). Many successful dramatic tenors though have historically avoided the coveted high C in performance. Their lower range tends to extend into the baritone tessitura or, a few notes below the C 3 , even down to A♭ 2 . Some dramatic tenors have a rich and dark tonal colour to their voice (such as the mature Enrico Caruso ) while others (like Francesco Tamagno ) possess
9744-547: The First Symphony was too mature to be a first symphonic work, and must have had predecessors. In 1938, Mengelberg revealed the existence of the so-called "Dresden archive", a series of manuscripts in the possession of the widowed Marion von Weber. According to the Mahler historian Donald Mitchell , it was highly likely that important Mahler manuscripts of early symphonic works had been held in Dresden; this archive, if it existed,
9918-469: The German folk-poem collection Des Knaben Wunderhorn ("The Youth's Magic Horn"), which would dominate much of his compositional output for the following 12 years. On 17 May 1888, Mahler suddenly resigned his Leipzig position after a dispute with the Stadttheater 's chief stage manager, Albert Goldberg . However, Mahler had secretly been invited by Angelo Neumann in Prague (and accepted
10092-575: The Löw sanatorium in Vienna, where he developed pneumonia and slipped into a coma. Hundreds had come to the sanitorium during this brief period to show their admiration for the great composer. After receiving treatments of radium to reduce swelling on his legs and morphine for his general ailments, he died on 18 May. On 22 May 1911 Mahler was buried in the Grinzing cemetery [ de ] , as he had requested, next to his daughter Maria. His tombstone
10266-620: The Met, his last performance being Tchaikovsky's The Queen of Spades on 5 March 1910. Back in Europe for the summer of 1909, Mahler worked on his Ninth Symphony and made a conducting tour of the Netherlands. The 1909–10 New York Philharmonic season was long and taxing; Mahler rehearsed and conducted 46 concerts, but his programmes were often too demanding for popular tastes. His own First Symphony, given its American debut on 16 December 1909,
10440-795: The Royal Neues Deutsches Theater in Prague by the theatre's newly appointed director, the famous Angelo Neumann . In Prague, the emergence of the Czech National Revival had increased the popularity and importance of the new Czech National Theatre , and had led to a downturn in the Neues Deutsches Theater 's fortunes. Mahler's task was to help arrest this decline by offering high-quality productions of German opera . He enjoyed early success presenting works by Mozart and Wagner, composers with whom he would be particularly associated for
10614-630: The Spinto Fach is the Jugendlicher Heldentenor and encompasses many of the Dramatic tenor roles as well as some Wagner roles such as Lohengrin and Stolzing. The difference is often the depth and metal in the voice where some lyric tenors age or push their way into singing as a Spinto giving them a lighter tone and a Jugendlicher Heldentenor tends to be either a young heldentenor or true lyric spinto. Spinto tenors have
SECTION 60
#173276567496310788-687: The Vienna Philharmonic subscription concerts in September 1898, the concerts committee had unanimously chosen Mahler as his successor. The appointment was not universally welcomed; the anti-Semitic press wondered if, as a non-German, Mahler would be capable of defending German music. Attendances rose sharply in Mahler's first season, but members of the orchestra were particularly resentful of his habit of re-scoring acknowledged masterpieces, and of his scheduling of extra rehearsals for works with which they were thoroughly familiar. An attempt by
10962-771: The Viennese premiere of his Second Symphony; 17 February 1901 saw the first public performance of his early work Das klagende Lied , in a revised two-part form. Later that year, in November, Mahler conducted the premiere of his Fourth Symphony, in Munich , and was on the rostrum for the first complete performance of the Third Symphony , at the Allgemeiner Deutscher Musikverein festival at Krefeld on 9 June 1902. Mahler "first nights" now became increasingly frequent musical events; he conducted
11136-541: The Viennese public's general distrust of young artists: "Once, when an amazing exception occurred and Gustav Mahler was named director of the Court Opera at thirty-eight years old, a frightened murmur and astonishment ran through Vienna, because someone had entrusted the highest institute of art to 'such a young person' ... This suspicion—that all young people were 'not very reliable'—ran through all circles at that time." Zweig also wrote that "to have seen Gustav Mahler on
11310-455: The Weber family was complicated by Mahler's alleged romantic attachment to Carl von Weber's wife Marion Mathilde (1857–1931) which, though intense on both sides – so it was rumoured by for example English composer Ethel Smyth – ultimately came to nothing. In February and March 1888 Mahler sketched and completed his First Symphony , then in five movements. At around the same time Mahler discovered
11484-496: The ability to create distinct voices for his characters. This voice specializes in smaller comic roles. The range of the tenor buffo is from the C one octave below middle C (C 3 ) to the C one octave above middle C (C 5 ). The tessitura of these parts ranges from lower than other tenor roles to very high and broad. These parts are often played by younger tenors who have not yet reached their full vocal potential or older tenors who are beyond their prime singing years. Only rarely will
11658-440: The arrangement was completed by Rainer Riehn in 1980. Gustav Mahler Gustav Mahler ( German: [ˈɡʊstaf ˈmaːlɐ] ; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he 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
11832-417: The audience walked out. Mahler and other sympathetic students later prepared a piano version of the symphony, which they presented to Bruckner. Along with many music students of his generation, Mahler fell under the spell of Richard Wagner , though his chief interest was the sound of the music rather than the staging. It is not known whether he saw any of Wagner's operas during his student years. Mahler left
12006-588: The bar that existed against the appointment of a Jew to this post by what may have been a pragmatic conversion to Catholicism in February 1897. Despite this event, Mahler has been described as a lifelong agnostic. As he waited for the Emperor 's confirmation of his directorship, Mahler shared duties as a resident conductor with Joseph Hellmesberger Jr. (son of the former conservatory director) and Hans Richter , an internationally renowned interpreter of Wagner and
12180-489: The barlines. Mahler specifically instructed the movement to be played Ohne Rücksicht auf das Tempo (Without regard for the tempo). Bruno Walter related that Mahler showed him the score of this movement and asked about one passage, "Can you think of a way of conducting that? Because I can't." Mahler also hesitated to put the piece before the public because of its relentless negativity, unusual even for him. "Won't people go home and shoot themselves?" he asked. Mahler's source for
12354-2067: The bird sings and laughs! I fill my cup anew and drink it to the bottom and sing until the moon shines in the black firmament! And if I can not sing, then I fall asleep again. What to me is spring? Let me be drunk! (Chinese original version of this poem: 春日醉起言志 ( [REDACTED] Wikisource ). Die Sonne scheidet hinter dem Gebirge. In alle Täler steigt der Abend nieder Mit seinen Schatten, die voll Kühlung sind. O sieh! Wie eine Silberbarke schwebt Der Mond am blauen Himmelssee herauf. Ich spüre eines feinen Windes Weh'n Hinter den dunklen Fichten! Der Bach singt voller Wohllaut durch das Dunkel. Die Blumen blassen im Dämmerschein. Die Erde atmet voll von Ruh' und Schlaf. Alle Sehnsucht will nun träumen, Die müden Menschen geh'n heimwärts, Um im Schlaf vergess'nes Glück Und Jugend neu zu lernen! Die Vögel hocken still in ihren Zweigen. Die Welt schläft ein! Es wehet kühl im Schatten meiner Fichten. Ich stehe hier und harre meines Freundes; Ich harre sein zum letzten Lebewohl. Ich sehne mich, o Freund, an deiner Seite Die Schönheit dieses Abends zu genießen. Wo bleibst du? Du läßt mich lang allein! Ich wandle auf und nieder mit meiner Laute Auf Wegen, die von weichem Grase schwellen. O Schönheit! O ewigen Liebens – Lebens – trunk'ne Welt! Er stieg vom Pferd und reichte ihm den Trunk Des Abschieds dar. Er fragte ihn, wohin er führe Und auch warum es müßte sein. Er sprach, seine Stimme war umflort. Du, mein Freund, Mir war auf dieser Welt das Glück nicht hold! Wohin ich geh'? Ich geh', ich wand're in die Berge. Ich suche Ruhe für mein einsam Herz. Ich wandle nach der Heimat, meiner Stätte. Ich werde niemals in die Ferne schweifen. Still ist mein Herz und harret seiner Stunde! Die liebe Erde allüberall Blüht auf im Lenz und grünt aufs neu! Allüberall und ewig blauen licht die Fernen! Ewig... ewig... The sun departs behind
12528-482: The choral Eighth Symphony. Cooke believes that the Eighth stands on its own, between the middle and final periods. Mahler had by now abandoned all explicit programmes and descriptive titles; he wanted to write "absolute" music that spoke for itself. Cooke refers to "a new granite-like hardness of orchestration" in the middle-period symphonies, while the songs have lost most of their folk character, and cease to fertilise
12702-1232: The clear water. And the most beautiful of the maidens sends long looks adoring at him. Her proud pose is but a pretense; in the flash of her big eyes, in the darkness of her ardent gaze beats longingly her burning heart. (Chinese original version of this poem: 采莲曲 (李白) ( [REDACTED] Wikisource ). Wenn nur ein Traum das Leben ist, Warum denn Müh' und Plag'!? Ich trinke, bis ich nicht mehr kann, Den ganzen, lieben Tag! Und wenn ich nicht mehr trinken kann, Weil Kehl' und Seele voll, So tauml' ich bis zu meiner Tür Und schlafe wundervoll! Was hör' ich beim Erwachen? Horch! Ein Vogel singt im Baum. Ich frag' ihn, ob schon Frühling sei, Mir ist als wie im Traum. Der Vogel zwitschert: Ja! Der Lenz ist da, sei kommen über Nacht! Aus tiefstem Schauen lauscht' ich auf, Der Vogel singt und lacht! Ich fülle mir den Becher neu Und leer' ihn bis zum Grund Und singe, bis der Mond erglänzt Am schwarzen Firmament! Und wenn ich nicht mehr singen kann, So schlaf' ich wieder ein. Was geht mich denn der Frühling an!? Laßt mich betrunken sein! If life
12876-471: The composer Alban Berg called the Ninth "the most marvellous thing that Mahler ever wrote". None of these final works were performed in Mahler's lifetime. Mahler was a " late Romantic ", part of an ideal that placed Austro-German classical music on a higher plane than other types, through its supposed possession of particular spiritual and philosophical significance. He was one of the last major composers of
13050-425: The composer's head was "not only full of the sound of Bohemian bands, trumpet calls and marches, Bruckner chorales and Schubert sonatas. It was also throbbing with the problems of philosophy and metaphysics he had thrashed out, above all, with Lipiner". From June to August 1880, Mahler took his first professional conducting job, in a small wooden theatre in the spa town of Bad Hall , south of Linz . The repertory
13224-469: The composer's life and achievements. The Mahler family came from eastern Bohemia , now in the Czech Republic, and were of humble circumstances—the composer's grandmother had been a street pedlar. Bohemia was then part of the Austrian Empire ; the Mahler family belonged to a German-speaking minority among Bohemians, and was also Jewish . From this background the future composer developed early on
13398-400: The concert season, and took a keen interest when one of Alma's compositions was sung at a public recital by the soprano Frances Alda , on 3 March. On 8 April the Mahler family and a permanent nurse left New York on board SS Amerika bound for Europe. They reached Paris ten days later, where Mahler entered a clinic at Neuilly , but there was no improvement; on 11 May he was taken by train to
13572-519: The conductor of the original Ring cycle at Bayreuth in 1876. Director Wilhelm Jahn had not consulted Richter about Mahler's appointment; Mahler, sensitive to the situation, wrote Richter a complimentary letter expressing unswerving admiration for the older conductor. Subsequently, the two were rarely in agreement, but kept their divisions private. Vienna, the imperial Habsburg capital, had recently elected an anti-Semitic conservative mayor, Karl Lueger , who had once proclaimed: "I myself decide who
13746-552: The conservatory in 1878 with a diploma but without the silver medal given for outstanding achievement. He then enrolled in the University of Vienna (he had, at his father's insistence, sat and with difficulty passed the Matura , a highly demanding final exam at a Gymnasium , which was a precondition for university studies) and followed courses which reflected his developing interests in literature and philosophy. After leaving
13920-512: The direction of the concerts. In the summer of 1892 Mahler took the Hamburg singers to London to participate in an eight-week season of German opera—his only visit to Britain. His conducting of Tristan enthralled the young composer Ralph Vaughan Williams , who "staggered home in a daze and could not sleep for two nights." However, Mahler refused further such invitations as he was anxious to reserve his summers for composing. In 1893 he acquired
14094-587: The earliest performances in London (possibly the first) occurred in January 1913 at the Queen's Hall under conductor Henry Wood , where it was sung by Gervase Elwes and Doris Woodall. Wood reportedly thought that the work was "excessively modern but very beautiful". Mahler had already included movements for voice and orchestra in his Second , Third , Fourth and Eighth Symphonies. However, Das Lied von der Erde
14268-456: The eighteenth century, partbooks labelled 'tenor' might contain parts for a range of voice types. The vocal range of the tenor is the highest of the male voice types . Within opera , the lowest note in the standard tenor repertoire is widely defined to be B ♭ 2 . However, the role of Rodrigo di Dhu (written for Andrea Nozzari ) in Rossini's rarely performed La donna del lago
14442-421: The end of each of his first two years. For his final year, 1877–78, he concentrated on composition and harmony under Robert Fuchs and Franz Krenn . Few of Mahler's student compositions have survived; most were abandoned when he became dissatisfied with them. He destroyed a symphonic movement prepared for an end-of-term competition, after its scornful rejection by the autocratic director Joseph Hellmesberger on
14616-535: The entire season. One of these was a much-praised performance of Smetana's The Bartered Bride on 19 February 1909. In the early part of the season Mahler conducted three concerts with the New York Symphony Orchestra . This renewed experience of orchestral conducting inspired him to resign his position with the opera house and accept the conductorship of the re-formed New York Philharmonic . He continued to make occasional guest appearances at
14790-438: The essence of Mahler's music in the theme of struggle, in the tradition of Beethoven. However, according to Schonberg, Beethoven's struggles were those of "an indomitable and triumphant hero", whereas Mahler's are those of "a psychic weakling, a complaining adolescent who ... enjoyed his misery, wanting the whole world to see how he was suffering." Yet, Schonberg concedes, most of the symphonies contain sections in which Mahler
14964-522: The event, that Alma had begun an affair with the young architect Walter Gropius . Greatly distressed, Mahler sought advice from Sigmund Freud , and appeared to gain some comfort from his meeting with the psychoanalyst. One of Freud's observations was that much damage had been done by Mahler's insisting that Alma give up her composing. Mahler accepted this, and started to positively encourage her to write music, even editing, orchestrating and promoting some of her works. Alma agreed to remain with Mahler, although
15138-542: The existing musical sketches, used parts of other Weber works, and added some composition of his own. The premiere at the Stadttheater , on 20 January 1888, was an important occasion at which several heads of various German opera houses were present. (The Russian composer Tchaikovsky attended the third performance on 29 January.) The work was well-received; its success did much to raise Mahler's public profile, and brought him financial rewards. Mahler's involvement with
15312-578: The family and that she had given up her music studies to accommodate him. "The role of composer, the worker's role, falls to me, yours is that of a loving companion and understanding partner ... I'm asking a very great deal – and I can and may do so because I know what I have to give and will give in exchange." She wrote in her diary: "How hard it is to be so mercilessly deprived of ... things closest to one's heart." Mahler's requirement that their married life be organized around his creative activities imposed strains, and precipitated rebellion on Alma's part;
15486-526: The final word of the song, ewig ("forever"), like a mantra , accompanied by sustained chords in the orchestra, which features mandolin , harps , and celesta . Ewig is repeated as the music fades into silence, the final sixth chord "printed on the atmosphere" as Benjamin Britten asserted. It is also worth noting that throughout Das Lied von der Erde there is a persistent message that "The earth will stay beautiful forever, but man cannot live for even
15660-413: The first few decades after the work's premiere, the option to perform it with two male soloists was little used. On one occasion, Bruno Walter tried it out and engaged Friedrich Weidemann , the baritone who had premiered Kindertotenlieder under Mahler's own baton in 1905. However, Walter felt that tenor and baritone did not work as well as tenor and alto, and he never repeated the experiment. Following
15834-649: The first performances of the Fifth and Sixth Symphonies at Cologne and Essen respectively, in 1904 and 1906. Four of the Rückert-Lieder , and Kindertotenlieder , were introduced in Vienna on 29 January 1905. During his second season in Vienna, Mahler acquired a spacious modern apartment on the Auenbruggergasse and built a summer villa on land he had acquired next to his new composing studio at Maiernigg. In November 1901, he met Alma Schindler ,
16008-536: The first professional public performance of a Mahler work. An ardent, but ultimately unfulfilled, love affair with soprano Johanna Richter led Mahler to write a series of love poems which became the text of his song cycle Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen ("Songs of a Wayfarer"). In January 1884, the distinguished conductor Hans von Bülow brought the Meiningen Court Orchestra to Kassel and gave two concerts. Hoping to escape from his job in
16182-421: The first time and gave acclaimed performances of the same composer's Tannhäuser and Siegfried . Another triumph was the German premiere of Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin , in the presence of the composer, who called Mahler's conducting "astounding", and later asserted in a letter that he believed Mahler was "positively a genius". Mahler's demanding rehearsal schedules led to predictable resentment from
16356-430: The first, fourth and sixth songs does the full orchestra play together. The celesta is only heard at the end of the finale, and only the first movement requires all three trumpets, with two playing in the fourth movement and none playing in the sixth. In many places the texture resembles chamber music, with only a few instruments being used at one time. The score calls for tenor and alto soloists. However, Mahler includes
16530-435: The following day. This meeting led to a rapid courtship; Mahler and Alma were married at a private ceremony on 9 March 1902. Alma was by then pregnant with her first child, a daughter Maria Anna, who was born on 3 November 1902. A second daughter, Anna , was born in 1904. Friends of the couple were surprised by the marriage and dubious of its wisdom. Burckhard called Mahler "that rachitic degenerate Jew", unworthy for such
16704-415: The following year Marie gave birth to the first of the couple's 14 children, a son named Isidor, who died in infancy. Two years later, on 7 July 1860, their second son, Gustav, was born. In December 1860, Bernhard Mahler moved with his wife and infant son to the city of Jihlava (German: Iglau ), where Bernhard built up a successful distillery and tavern business. The family grew rapidly, but of
16878-520: The great European opera houses. The New York Times , reporting Mahler's death, called him "one of the towering musical figures of his day", but discussed his symphonies mainly in terms of their duration, incidentally exaggerating the length of the Second Symphony to "two hours and forty minutes". In London, The Times obituary said his conducting was "more accomplished than that of any man save Richter", and that his symphonies were "undoubtedly interesting in their union of modern orchestral richness with
17052-468: The grounds of copying errors. Mahler may have gained his first conducting experience with the Conservatory's student orchestra, in rehearsals and performances, although it appears that his main role in this orchestra was as a percussionist. Among Mahler's fellow students at the Conservatory was the future song composer Hugo Wolf , with whom he formed a close friendship. Wolf was unable to submit to
17226-501: The heldentenor's repertoire is arguably Wagner's Siegfried , an extremely demanding role requiring a wide vocal range and great power, plus tremendous stamina and acting ability. Often the heldentenor is a baritone who has transitioned to this Fach or tenors who have been misidentified as baritones. Therefore, the heldentenor voice might or might not have facility up to high B or C. The repertoire, however, rarely calls for such high notes. Heldentenor roles in operas: A Mozart tenor
17400-452: The highest demanded note in the standard tenor operatic repertoire is D 5 , found in " Mes amis, écoutez l'histoire " from Adolphe Adam 's Le postillon de Lonjumeau and " Loin de son amie " from Fromental Halévy's La Juive ). In the leggero repertoire, the highest note is F 5 (Arturo in "Credeasi, misera" from Bellini 's I puritani ), therefore, very few tenors have this role in their repertoire without transposition (given
17574-402: The highest part. The tenor generally sings in falsetto voice, corresponding roughly to the countertenor in classical music, and harmonizes above the lead, who sings the melody. The barbershop tenor range is Middle C to A one octave above Middle C, though it is written an octave lower. The "lead" in barbershop music is equivalent to the normal tenor range. In bluegrass music , the melody line
17748-533: The hope of improving the boy's results, his father sent him to the New Town Gymnasium in Prague, but Gustav was unhappy there and soon returned to Jihlava. On 13 April 1875 he suffered a bitter personal loss when his younger brother Ernst (b. 18 March 1862) died after a long illness. Mahler sought to express his feelings in music: with the help of a friend, Josef Steiner, he began work on an opera, Herzog Ernst von Schwaben ("Duke Ernest of Swabia"), as
17922-1400: The lake. Every blade of grass stands frosted. As though an artist had jade-dust over the fine flowers strewn. The sweet fragrance of flower has passed; A cold wind bows their stems low. Soon will the wilted, golden petals of lotus flowers upon the water float. My heart is tired. My little lamp expired with a crackle, minding me to sleep. I come to you, trusted resting place. Yes, give me rest, I have need of refreshment! I weep often in my loneliness. Autumn in my heart lingers too long. Sun of love, will you no longer shine Gently to dry up my bitter tears? Mitten in dem kleinen Teiche Steht ein Pavillon aus grünem Und aus weißem Porzellan. Wie der Rücken eines Tigers Wölbt die Brücke sich aus Jade Zu dem Pavillon hinüber. In dem Häuschen sitzen Freunde, Schön gekleidet, trinken, plaudern. Manche schreiben Verse nieder. Ihre seidnen Ärmel gleiten Rückwärts, ihre seidnen Mützen Hocken lustig tief im Nacken. Auf des kleinen Teiches stiller Wasserfläche zeigt sich alles Wunderlich im Spiegelbilde. Alles auf dem Kopfe stehend In dem Pavillon aus grünem Und aus weißem Porzellan; Wie ein Halbmond steht die Brücke, Umgekehrt der Bogen. Freunde, Schön gekleidet, trinken, plaudern. In
18096-697: The last of his Des Knaben Wunderhorn settings he started his Fourth Symphony , which he completed in 1900. By this time he had abandoned the composing hut at Steinbach and had acquired another, at Maiernigg on the shores of the Wörthersee in Carinthia , where he later built a villa. In this new venue Mahler embarked upon what is generally considered as his "middle" or post- Wunderhorn compositional period. Between 1901 and 1904 he wrote ten settings of poems by Friedrich Rückert , five of which were collected as Rückert-Lieder . The other five formed
18270-501: The majority of choral music places the tenors in the range from approximately B 2 up to A 4 . The requirements of the tenor voice in choral music are also tied to the style of music most often performed by a given choir. Orchestral choruses typically call for tenors with fully resonant voices, but chamber or a cappella choral music (choral music sung with no instrumental accompaniment) can rely on baritones singing in falsetto . Even so, one nearly ubiquitous facet of choral singing
18444-476: The marriage was nevertheless marked at times by expressions of considerable passion, particularly from Mahler. In the summer of 1907 Mahler, exhausted from the effects of the campaign against him in Vienna, took his family to Maiernigg. Soon after their arrival both daughters fell ill with scarlet fever and diphtheria . Anna recovered, but after a fortnight's struggle Maria died on 12 July. Immediately following this devastating loss, Mahler learned that his heart
18618-480: The middle of the little pond stands a pavilion of green and white porcelain. Like the back of a tiger arches the jade bridge over to the pavilion. Friends sit in the little house well dressed, drinking, chatting. some writing verses. Their silk sleeves glide backwards, their silk caps rest gaily at the napes of their necks. On the small pond's still surface, everything shows whimsical in mirror image. Everything stands on its head in
18792-572: The mountains. In all the valleys the evening descends with its shadow, full cooling. O look! Like a silver boat sails the moon in the watery blue heaven. I sense the fine breeze stirring behind the dark pines. The brook sings out clear through the darkness. The flowers pale in the twilight. The earth breathes, in full rest and sleep. All longing now becomes a dream. Weary men traipse homeward to sleep; forgotten happiness and youth to rediscover. The birds roost silent in their branches. The world falls asleep. It blows coolly in
18966-655: The movements for the Fourth Symphony; from these titles the German music critic Paul Bekker conjectured a programme in which Death appears in the Scherzo "in the friendly, legendary guise of the fiddler tempting his flock to follow him out of this world." The middle period comprises a triptych of purely instrumental symphonies (the Fifth, Sixth and Seventh), the " Rückert " songs and the Kindertotenlieder , two final Wunderhorn settings and, in some reckonings, Mahler's last great affirmative statement,
19140-399: The narrow borders imposed by the strict Mozartian style. The German Mozart tenor tradition goes back to the end of the 1920s, when Mozart tenors started making use of Caruso's technique (a tenor who rarely sang Mozart) to achieve and improve the required dynamics and dramatic expressiveness. Mozart tenor roles in operas: A Tenor buffo or spieltenor is a tenor with good acting ability, and
19314-452: The ninth ", a superstition arising from the fact that no major composer since Beethoven had successfully completed more than nine symphonies: he had already written eight symphonies before composing Das Lied von der Erde . Fearing his subsequent demise, he decided to subtitle the work A Symphony for Tenor, Alto (or Baritone) Voice and Orchestra , rather than numbering it as a symphony. His next symphony, written for purely instrumental forces,
19488-420: The note that "if necessary, the alto part may be sung by a baritone". Mahler also arranged the work for piano accompaniment. The first movement, "The Drinking Song of Earth's Misery" (in A minor ), continually returns to the refrain, Dunkel ist das Leben, ist der Tod (literally, "Dark is life, is death"), which is pitched a semitone higher on each successive appearance. Like many drinking poems by Li Bai ,
19662-403: The offer) to conduct the premiere there of "his" Die drei Pintos , and later also a production of Der Barbier von Bagdad by Peter Cornelius . This short stay (July to September) ended unhappily, with Mahler's dismissal following his outburst during a rehearsal. However, through the efforts of an old Viennese friend, Guido Adler , and cellist David Popper , Mahler's name went forward as
19836-475: The opera house and cleared its debts, but had won few friends—it was said that he treated his musicians in the way a lion tamer treated his animals. His departing message to the company, which he pinned to a notice board, was later torn down and scattered over the floor. After conducting the Hofoper orchestra in a farewell concert performance of his Second Symphony on 24 November, Mahler left Vienna for New York in early December. When Richter resigned as head of
20010-494: The operas of Rossini , Donizetti , Bellini and in music dating from the Baroque period. Leggero tenor roles in operas: The lyric tenor is a warm graceful voice with a bright, full timbre that is strong but not heavy and can be heard over an orchestra. Lyric tenors have a range from approximately the C one octave below middle C (C 3 ) to the D one octave above middle C (D 5 ). Similarly, their lower range may extend
20184-571: The orchestra to have Richter reinstated for the 1899 season failed, because Richter was not interested. Mahler's position was weakened when, in 1900, he took the orchestra to Paris to play at the Exposition Universelle . The Paris concerts were poorly attended and lost money—Mahler had to borrow the orchestra's fare home from the Rothschilds . In April 1901, dogged by a recurrence of ill-health and wearied by more complaints from
20358-633: The orchestra, Mahler relinquished the Philharmonic concerts conductorship. In his three seasons he had performed around 80 different works, which included pieces by relatively unknown composers such as Hermann Goetz , Wilhelm Kienzl and the Italian Lorenzo Perosi . The demands of his twin appointments in Vienna initially absorbed all Mahler's time and energy, but by 1899 he had resumed composing. The remaining Vienna years were to prove particularly fruitful. While working on some of
20532-463: The original poem "Bei Ge Xing" (The Song of Sorrow) (Chinese: 悲歌行 ) mixes drunken exaltation with a deep sadness. The singer's part is notoriously demanding, since the tenor has to struggle at the top of his range against the power of the full orchestra. This gives the voice its shrill, piercing quality, and is consistent with Mahler's practice of pushing instruments, including vocal cords, to their limits. According to musicologist Theodor W. Adorno ,
20706-620: The pavilion of green and white porcelain. Like a half-moon is the bridge its arch upturned. Friends well dressed, drinking, chatting. Junge Mädchen pflücken Blumen, Pflücken Lotosblumen an dem Uferrande. Zwischen Büschen und Blättern sitzen sie, Sammeln Blüten in den Schoß und rufen Sich einander Neckereien zu. Gold'ne Sonne webt um die Gestalten, Spiegelt sie im blanken Wasser wider, Sonne spiegelt ihre schlanken Glieder, Ihre süßen Augen wider, Und der Zephir hebt mit Schmeichelkosen Das Gewebe Ihrer Ärmel auf, Führt den Zauber Ihrer Wohlgerüche durch die Luft. O sieh,
20880-497: The pioneering recordings of the work by baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau under conductors Paul Kletzki and Leonard Bernstein , the use of baritones in this work has increased. Arnold Schoenberg began to arrange Das Lied von der Erde for chamber orchestra, reducing the orchestral forces to string and wind quintets, and calling for piano, celesta and harmonium to supplement the harmonic texture. Three percussionists are also employed. Schoenberg never finished this project, but
21054-418: The post—experienced regular opposition and hostility from the anti-Semitic press. Nevertheless, his innovative productions and insistence on the highest performance standards ensured his reputation as one of the greatest of opera conductors, particularly as an interpreter of the stage works of Wagner , Mozart , and Tchaikovsky . Late in his life he was briefly director of New York's Metropolitan Opera and
21228-512: The premiere of the First Symphony, in Budapest on 20 November 1889, was a disappointment. The critic August Beer's lengthy newspaper review indicates that enthusiasm after the early movements degenerated into "audible opposition" after the Finale. 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
21402-406: The raising of concert pitch since its composition), or resorting to falsetto . In SATB four-part mixed chorus, the tenor is the second lowest vocal range, above the bass and below the alto and soprano . Men's chorus usually denotes an ensemble of TTBB in which the first tenor is the highest voice. Whilst certain choral music does require the first tenors to ascend the full tenor range,
21576-437: The range from the second B below middle C to the G above middle C (i.e. B 2 to G 4 ) in choral music, and from the second B flat below middle C to the C above middle C (B ♭ 2 to C 5 ) in operatic music, but the range can extend at either end. Subtypes of tenor include the leggero tenor, lyric tenor, spinto tenor, dramatic tenor, heldentenor, and tenor buffo or spieltenor . The name "tenor" derives from
21750-527: The relationship with Gropius continued surreptitiously. In a gesture of love, Mahler dedicated his Eighth Symphony to her. In spite of the emotional distractions, during the summer of 1910 Mahler worked on his Tenth Symphony , completing the Adagio and drafting four more movements. He and Alma returned to New York in late October 1910, where Mahler threw himself into a busy Philharmonic season of concerts and tours. Around Christmas 1910 he began suffering from
21924-498: The remainder of the Ring cycle and other German operas were frustrated by a renascent conservative faction which favoured a more traditional "Hungarian" programme. In search of non-German operas to extend the repertory, Mahler visited in spring 1890 Italy where among the works he discovered was Mascagni's recent sensation Cavalleria rusticana (Budapest premiere on 26 December 1890). On 18 February 1889, Bernhard Mahler died; this
22098-400: The rest of his career, but his individualistic and increasingly autocratic conducting style led to friction, and a falling out with his more experienced fellow-conductor, Ludwig Slansky. During his 12 months in Prague he conducted 68 performances of 14 operas (12 titles were new in his repertory), and he also performed Beethoven 's Ninth Symphony for the first time in his life. By the end of
22272-493: The right time is worth more than all the kingdoms of this earth. Dark is life, dark is death! The heavens are ever blue and the Earth shall stand sure, and blossom in the spring. But you O man, what long life have you? Not a hundred years may you delight in all the rotten baubles of this earth. See down there! In the moonlight, on the graves squats a wild ghostly shape; an ape it is! Hear you his howl go out in
22446-423: The riverbank. Amid bushes and leaves they sit, gathering flowers in their laps and calling one another in raillery. Golden sun plays about their form reflecting them in the clear water. The sun reflects back their slender limbs, their sweet eyes, and the breeze teasing up the warp of their sleeves, directs the magic of perfume through the air. O see, what a tumult of handsome boys there on
22620-491: The role of Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor . Lyric tenor roles in operas: The spinto tenor has the brightness and height of a lyric tenor, but with a heavier vocal weight enabling the voice to be "pushed" to dramatic climaxes with less strain than the lighter-voice counterparts. Spinto tenors have a darker timbre than a lyric tenor, without having a vocal color as dark as many (not all) dramatic tenors. The German equivalent of
22794-576: The season, in July 1886, Mahler left Prague to take up his post at the Neues Stadttheater in Leipzig, where rivalry with his senior colleague Arthur Nikisch began almost at once. This conflict was primarily over how the two should share conducting duties for the theatre's new production of Wagner's Ring cycle. Nikisch's illness, from February to April 1887, meant that Mahler took charge of
22968-477: The shadows of my pines. I stand here and wait for my friend; I wait to bid him a last farewell. I yearn, my friend, at your side to enjoy the beauty of this evening. Where are you? You leave me long alone! I walk up and down with my lute on paths swelling with soft grass. O beauty! O eternal loving-and-life-bedrunken world! He dismounted and handed him the drink of farewell. He asked him where he would go and why must it be. He spoke, his voice
23142-421: The shore on their spirited horses. Yonder shining like the sun's rays between the branches of green willows trot along the bold companions. The horse of one neighs happily on and shies and rushes there, hooves shaking down blooms, grass, trampling wildly the fallen flowers. Hei! How frenzied his mane flutters, and hotly steam his nostrils! Golden sun plays about their form reflecting them in
23316-472: The singers and orchestra in whom, according to music writer Peter Franklin, the conductor "inspired hatred and respect in almost equal measure". He found support, however, from Hans von Bülow , who was in Hamburg as director of the city's subscription concerts. Bülow, who had spurned Mahler's approaches in Kassel, had come to admire the younger man's conducting style, and on Bülow's death in 1894 Mahler took over
23490-682: The song cycle Kindertotenlieder ("Songs on the Death of Children"). The trilogy of orchestral symphonies, the Fifth , the Sixth and the Seventh were composed at Maiernigg between 1901 and 1905, and the Eighth Symphony written there in 1906, in eight weeks of furious activity. Within this same period Mahler's works began to be performed with increasing frequency. In April 1899 he conducted
23664-434: The song-cycle Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen and the First Symphony. Although this early evidence of cross-fertilisation is important, it is during Mahler's extended Wunderhorn phase, in which his Second, Third and Fourth Symphonies were written, that the song and symphony genres are consistently intermingled. Themes from the Wunderhorn song Das himmlische Leben ("The Heavenly Life"), composed in 1892, became
23838-532: The songs—"Das Trinklied vom Jammer der Erde", "Von der Jugend", "Von der Schönheit" and "Der Trunkene im Frühling"—were derived from poems written by Li Bai , the wandering poet of the Tang dynasty . "Der Einsame im Herbst" is based on a poem " After Long Autumn Night " by Qian Qi , another poet of the Tang dynasty. "Der Abschied" combines poems by Tang dynasty poets Meng Haoran and Wang Wei , with several additional lines by Mahler himself. These attributions have been
24012-408: The stepdaughter of painter Carl Moll , at a social gathering that included the theatre director Max Burckhard . Alma was not initially keen to meet Mahler, on account of "the scandals about him and every young woman who aspired to sing in opera." The two engaged in a lively disagreement about a ballet by Alexander von Zemlinsky (Alma was one of Zemlinsky's pupils), but agreed to meet at the Hofoper
24186-538: The street [in Vienna] was an event that one would proudly report to his comrades the next morning as it if were a personal triumph." During Mahler's tenure a total of 33 new operas were introduced to the Hofoper; a further 55 were new or totally revamped productions. However, a proposal to stage Richard Strauss 's controversial opera Salome in 1905 was rejected by the Viennese censors. Early in 1902 Mahler met Alfred Roller , an artist and designer associated with
24360-425: The strict disciplines of the Conservatory and was expelled. Mahler, while sometimes rebellious, avoided the same fate only by writing a penitent letter to Hellmesberger. He attended occasional lectures by Anton Bruckner and, though never formally his pupil, was influenced by him. On 16 December 1877, he attended the disastrous premiere of Bruckner's Third Symphony , at which the composer was shouted down, and most of
24534-430: The summer of 1907. Political maneuvering and antisemitism forced him to resign as Director of the Vienna Court Opera , his eldest daughter Maria died from scarlet fever and diphtheria , and Mahler himself was diagnosed with a congenital heart defect. "With one stroke", he wrote to his friend Bruno Walter , "I have lost everything I have gained in terms of who I thought I was, and have to learn my first steps again like
24708-1020: The sweet fragrance of life. Now! Drink the wine! Now it is time comrades. Drain your golden goblets to the last. Dark is life, dark is death! (Chinese original version of this poem: 悲歌行 [ zh-yue ] . Herbstnebel wallen bläulich überm See; Vom Reif bezogen stehen alle Gräser; Man meint, ein Künstler habe Staub von Jade Über die feinen Blüten ausgestreut. Der süße Duft der Blumen ist verflogen; Ein kalter Wind beugt ihre Stengel nieder. Bald werden die verwelkten, gold'nen Blätter Der Lotosblüten auf dem Wasser zieh'n. Mein Herz ist müde. Meine kleine Lampe Erlosch mit Knistern, es gemahnt mich an den Schlaf. Ich komm' zu dir, traute Ruhestätte! Ja, gib mir Ruh', ich hab' Erquickung not! Ich weine viel in meinen Einsamkeiten. Der Herbst in meinem Herzen währt zu lange. Sonne der Liebe willst du nie mehr scheinen, Um meine bittern Tränen mild aufzutrocknen? Autumn fog creeps bluishly over
24882-399: The symphonies as explicitly as before. The three works of the brief final period— Das Lied von der Erde , the Ninth and (incomplete) Tenth Symphonies—are expressions of personal experience, as Mahler faced death. Each of the pieces ends quietly, signifying that aspiration has now given way to resignation. Cooke considers these works to be a loving (rather than a bitter) farewell to life;
25056-409: The symphony's third movement. Another Wunderhorn setting from 1892, Urlicht ("Primal Light"), is used as the Second Symphony's fourth (penultimate) movement. Tenor A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types . It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in
25230-493: The tenor should here create the impression of a "denatured voice in the Chinese ( falsetto ) style". The movement begins with a three-note horn call which recurs throughout the song, most notably at the climax in which the singer describes an ape calling "into the sweet fragrance of life." The climax also marks the first of the three whole-tone passages that occur in the symphony. "The lonely one in Autumn" (for alto, in D minor )
25404-403: The text was Hans Bethge's Die chinesische Flöte (1907). Bethge's poems were free adaptations ("Nachdichtungen") of classical Chinese poetry based on prior prose translations into German ( Hans Heilmann's [ de ] Chinesische Lyrik , 1905) and French ( Marquis d'Hervey de Saint Denys ' Poésies de l'époque des Thang , 1862 and Judith Gautier 's Livre de Jade , 1867/1902). Four of
25578-468: The theatre, Mahler unsuccessfully sought a post as Bülow's permanent assistant. However, in the following year his efforts to find new employment resulted in a six-year contract with the prestigious Leipzig Opera , to begin in August 1886. Unwilling to remain in Kassel for another year, Mahler resigned on 22 June 1885, and applied for, and through good fortune was offered, a standby appointment as conductor at
25752-423: The third section, which depicts the exchange between the two friends and fades off into silence. Lines 1–3, 17–19, and 26–28 are all sung to the same music, with a pedal point in the low strings and soft strokes of the tam-tam ; in the first two of these sections, a countermelody in the flute imitates the song of a bird, but the third of these sections is just the bare pedal point and tam-tam. The singer repeats
25926-511: The time being made of Alfred Roller's Vienna sets. On his return to Austria for the summer of 1908, Mahler established himself in the third and last of his composing studios, in the pine forests close to Toblach in Tyrol . Here, using a text by Hans Bethge based on ancient Chinese poems, he composed Das Lied von der Erde ("The Song of the Earth"). Despite the symphonic nature of the work, Mahler refused to number it, hoping thereby to escape
26100-609: The traditional four-movement symphony format. The examples of Wagner and Bruckner encouraged Mahler to extend the scale of his symphonic works well beyond the previously accepted standards, to embrace an entire world of feeling. Early critics maintained that Mahler's adoption of many different styles to suit different expressions of feeling meant that he lacked a style of his own; Cooke on the other hand asserts that Mahler "redeemed any borrowings by imprinting his [own] personality on practically every note" to produce music of "outstanding originality." The music critic Harold Schonberg sees
26274-496: The triumphant premiere of his Eighth Symphony in 1910. Some of Mahler's immediate musical successors included the composers of the Second Viennese School , notably Arnold Schoenberg , Alban Berg and Anton Webern . Dmitri Shostakovich and Benjamin Britten are among later 20th-century composers who admired and were influenced by Mahler. The International Gustav Mahler Society was established in 1955 to honour
26448-400: The university in 1879, Mahler made some money as a piano teacher, continued to compose, and in 1880 finished a dramatic cantata , Das klagende Lied ("The Song of Lamentation"). This, his first substantial composition, shows traces of Wagnerian and Brucknerian influences, yet includes many musical elements which musicologist Deryck Cooke describes as "pure Mahler". Its first performance
26622-473: The viola player Natalie Bauer-Lechner . Mahler returned to Vienna in late July to prepare for Vienna's first uncut version of the Ring cycle. This performance took place on 24–27 August, attracting critical praise and public enthusiasm. Mahler's friend Hugo Wolf told Bauer-Lechner that "for the first time I have heard the Ring as I have always dreamed of hearing it while reading the score". On 8 October Mahler
26796-454: The vocal range of the choir. Within the tenor voice type category are seven generally recognized subcategories: leggero tenor, lyric tenor, spinto tenor, dramatic tenor, heldentenor, Mozart tenor, and tenor buffo or spieltenor. There is considerable overlap between the various categories of role and of voice-type; some tenor singers have begun with lyric voices but have transformed with time into spinto or even dramatic tenors. Also known as
26970-554: The whole cycle (except Götterdämmerung ), and scored a resounding public success. This did not, however, win him popularity with the orchestra, who resented his dictatorial manner and heavy rehearsal schedules. In Leipzig, Mahler befriended Captain Carl von Weber [ de ] (1849–1897), grandson of the composer, and agreed to prepare a performing version of Carl Maria von Weber 's unfinished opera Die drei Pintos ("The Three Pintos"). Mahler transcribed and orchestrated
27144-518: The wrath of God." Despite poor relations with the orchestra, Mahler brought nine operas to the theatre, including Bizet 's Carmen , and won over the press that had initially been sceptical of him. After a week's trial at the Royal Theatre in the Hessian town of Kassel , Mahler became the theatre's "Musical and Choral Director" from August 1883. The title concealed the reality that Mahler
27318-498: Was almost certainly destroyed in the bombing of Dresden in 1945. On arriving in Budapest in October 1888, Mahler encountered a cultural conflict between conservative Hungarian nationalists who favoured a policy of Magyarisation , and progressives who wanted to maintain and develop the country's Austro-German cultural traditions. In the opera house a dominant conservative caucus, led by the music director Sándor Erkel, had maintained
27492-465: Was based on his own verses, although the first poem, " Wenn mein Schatz Hochzeit macht " ("When my love becomes a bride") closely follows the text of a Wunderhorn poem. The melodies for the second and fourth songs of the cycle were incorporated into the First Symphony, which Mahler finished in 1888, at the height of his relationship with Marion von Weber. The intensity of Mahler's feelings
27666-402: Was criticised by later biographers as incomplete, selective and self-serving, and for providing a distorted picture of Mahler's life. The composer's daughter Anna Mahler became a well-known sculptor; she died in 1988. The International Gustav Mahler Society was founded in 1955 in Vienna, with Bruno Walter as its first president and Alma Mahler as an honorary member. The Society aims to create
27840-424: Was defective, a diagnosis subsequently confirmed by a Vienna specialist, who ordered a curtailment of all forms of vigorous exercise. The extent to which Mahler's condition disabled him is unclear; Alma wrote of it as a virtual death sentence, though Mahler himself, in a letter written to her on 30 August 1907, said that he would be able to live a normal life, apart from avoiding over-fatigue. The illness was, however,
28014-424: Was delayed until 1901, when it was presented in a revised, shortened form. Mahler developed interests in German philosophy, and was introduced by his friend Siegfried Lipiner to the works of Arthur Schopenhauer , Friedrich Nietzsche , Gustav Fechner and Hermann Lotze . These thinkers continued to influence Mahler and his music long after his student days were over. Mahler's biographer Jonathan Carr says that
28188-641: Was exclusively operetta ; it was, in Carr's words "a dismal little job", which Mahler accepted only after Julius Epstein told him he would soon work his way up. In 1881, he was engaged for six months (September to April) at the Landestheater in Laibach (now Ljubljana , in Slovenia), where the small but resourceful company was prepared to attempt more ambitious works. Here, Mahler conducted his first full-scale opera, Verdi's Il trovatore , one of 10 operas and
28362-446: Was followed later in the year by the deaths both of Mahler's sister Leopoldine (27 September) and his mother (11 October). From October 1889 Mahler took charge of his four younger brothers and sisters (Alois, Otto, Justine, and Emma). They were installed in a rented flat in Vienna. Mahler himself suffered poor health, with attacks of haemorrhoids and migraine and a recurrent septic throat. Shortly after these family and health setbacks
28536-479: Was forced to resign his post with the subscription concerts after poor financial returns and an ill-received interpretation of his re-scored Beethoven's Ninth Symphony . Already at an early age Mahler had made it clear that his ultimate goal was an appointment in Vienna, and from 1895 onward was manoeuvring, with the help of influential friends, to secure the directorship of the Vienna Hofoper. He overcame
28710-520: Was formally appointed to succeed Jahn as the Hofoper's director. His first production in his new office was Smetana's Czech nationalist opera Dalibor , with a reconstituted finale that left the hero Dalibor alive. This production caused anger among the more extreme Viennese German nationalists, who accused Mahler of "fraternising with the anti-dynastic, inferior Czech nation." The Austrian author Stefan Zweig , in his memoirs The World of Yesterday (1942), described Mahler's appointment as an example of
28884-502: Was four years old, Gustav discovered his grandparents' piano and took to it immediately. He developed his performing skills sufficiently to be considered a local Wunderkind and gave his first public performance at the town theatre when he was ten years old. Although Gustav loved making music, his school reports from the Jihlava Gymnasium portrayed him as absent-minded and unreliable in academic work. In 1871, in
29058-467: Was inscribed only with his name because "any who come to look for me will know who I was and the rest don't need to know." Alma, on doctors' orders, was absent, but among the mourners at a relatively pomp-free funeral were Arnold Schoenberg (whose wreath described Mahler as "the holy Gustav Mahler"), Bruno Walter, Alfred Roller, the Secessionist painter Gustav Klimt , and representatives from many of
29232-563: Was numbered his Ninth . That was indeed the last symphony he fully completed, because only portions of the Tenth had been fully orchestrated at the time of his death. The first public performance was given on 20 November 1911 in the Tonhalle in Munich, sung by Sara Cahier and William Miller (both Americans) with Bruno Walter conducting. Mahler had died six months earlier, on 18 May. One of
29406-493: Was one of the pieces that failed with critics and public, and the season ended with heavy financial losses. The highlight of Mahler's 1910 summer was the first performance of the Eighth Symphony at Munich on 12 September, the last of his works to be premiered in his lifetime. The occasion was a triumph—"easily Mahler's biggest lifetime success", according to Carr —but it was overshadowed by the composer's discovery, before
29580-563: Was present, said that "one may date [Mahler's] rise to fame as a composer from that day." That same year Mahler's private life had been disrupted by the suicide of his younger brother Otto on 6 February. At the Stadttheater Mahler's repertory consisted of 66 operas of which 36 titles were new to him. During his six years in Hamburg, he conducted 744 performances, including the debuts of Verdi's Falstaff , Humperdinck's Hänsel und Gretel , and works by Smetana . However, he
29754-402: Was quiet. Ah my friend, Fortune was not kind to me in this world! Where do I go? I go, I wander in the mountains. I seek peace for my lonely heart. I wander homeward, to my abode! I'll never wander far. Still is my heart, awaiting its hour. The dear earth everywhere blossoms in spring and grows green anew! Everywhere and forever blue is the horizon! Forever ... Forever ... For
29928-620: Was spending on his own music, and was preparing to leave. In May 1907 he began discussions with Heinrich Conried , director of the New York Metropolitan Opera , and on 21 June signed a contract, on very favourable terms, for four seasons' conducting in New York. At the end of the summer he submitted his resignation to the Hofoper, and on 15 October 1907 conducted Fidelio , his 645th and final performance there. During his ten years in Vienna, Mahler had brought new life to
30102-479: Was subordinate to the theatre's Kapellmeister , Wilhelm Treiber, who disliked him (and vice versa) and set out to make his life miserable. Despite the unpleasant atmosphere, Mahler had moments of success at Kassel. He directed a performance of his favourite opera, Weber's Der Freischütz , and 25 other operas. On 23 June 1884, he conducted his own incidental music to Joseph Victor von Scheffel 's play Der Trompeter von Säckingen ("The Trumpeter of Säckingen"),
30276-843: Was tummeln sich für schöne Knaben Dort an dem Uferrand auf mut'gen Rossen? Weithin glänzend wie die Sonnenstrahlen; Schon zwischen dem Geäst der grünen Weiden Trabt das jungfrische Volk einher! Das Roß des einen wiehert fröhlich auf Und scheut und saust dahin, Über Blumen, Gräser wanken hin die Hufe, Sie zerstampfen jäh im Sturm die hingesunk'nen Blüten, Hei! Wie flattern im Taumel seine Mähnen, Dampfen heiß die Nüstern! Gold'ne Sonne webt um die Gestalten, Spiegelt sie im blanken Wasser wider. Und die schönste von den Jungfrau'n sendet Lange Blicke ihm der Sehnsucht nach. Ihre stolze Haltung ist nur Verstellung. In dem Funkeln ihrer großen Augen, In dem Dunkel ihres heißen Blicks Schwingt klagend noch die Erregung ihres Herzens nach. Young girls picking flowers, Picking lotus flowers at
#962037