Tuesday, July 05, 2022

The Compositions of Gustav Mahler


Gustav Mahler (1860 - 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 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 the 21st century. In 2016, a BBC Music Magazine survey of 151 conductors ranked three of his symphonies in the top ten symphonies of all time (text from Wikipedia).

As with all posts dedicated to one composer, I will select my 12 favourite works, listed in chronological order. All depicted CD's are from my own collection.


Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (1885)

Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (Songs of a Wayfarer, although Songs of a Travelling Journeyman would be a better translation) is a song cycle originally for voice and piano in 1885, and a few years later orchestrated. The words of the four songs are by Mahler himself. The mood of the songs varies from pastoral to complete despair. The version shown above is by Thomas Quasthoff and the Vienna Philharmonic under Pierre Boulez on a Deutsche Grammophon CD.


Symphony No.1 (1888)

Symphony No. 1 in D major is sometimes called "Titan" after the novel by Jean Paul, but Mahler dropped that name after the first performances, when he also went from five to four movements (omitting "Blumine", which some recordings include nowadays). It is an astonishingly accomplished work for a first symphony - including a bizarre but highly effective idea to turn a French nursery rhyme into a double bass led funeral march. The version shown above is by the New York Philharmonic under Leonard Bernstein on a CBS CD.


Symphony No.2 "Resurrection" (1894)

Symphony No. 2 in C minor is also known as the Resurrection Symphony. It was one of Mahler's most popular and successful works during his lifetime. The resources required are massive: huge orchestra, soprano and alto soloists, chorus, and organ - matching the epic theme of death and resurrection. For many classical music listeners, this is their favourite Mahler work. I love it , but there are five works of his that I rate even higher. The version shown above is by the Vienna Philharmonic and Choir under Pierre Boulez, with Christine Schäfer and Michelle DeYoung, on a Deutsche Grammophon CD.


Symphony No. 3 (1896)

Symphony No. 3 in D minor is Mahler's longest piece and the longest symphony in the standard repertoire, with a typical performance lasting around 110 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. Although it is only my eighth favourite Mahler symphony, it fully deserves a place in my dozen favourites of this composer. The version above is by the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra under Eliahu Inbal, with alto Doris Soffel, the Frankfurt Kantorei Women's Chorus and the Limburg Cathedral Boys Choir, on a Denon double CD.


Symphony No. 4 (1900)

Symphony No. 4 in G major is one of the shortest of Mahler's symphonies and one that divides the fanbase: it is usually ranked near the top or near the bottom of his symphonies. For me, this was my introduction to Mahler, and I love it more than any other of the numbered symphonies. It is a four movement symphony, with a soprano solo in the final, presenting a child's vision of Heaven. For me the soprano makes or breaks the performance - it is not easy to convey the feelings of a child while you are up there with a complete orchestra behind you...  I have over sixty versions (it got a bit out of hand), but all things considered I would still choose the very first CD I bought of this masterpiece: the version by the Royal Concertgebouw Amsterdam under Bernard Haitink with the magnificent Elly Ameling on a Philips CD.


Rückert-Lieder (1902)

Rückert-Lieder (Songs after Rückert) is a song cycle for voice and orchestra or piano. The five songs in the cycle are based on poems written by Friedrich Rückert. "Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen", rich in lush, late-Romantic harmonies and beautiful melodic lines, must rank as one of Mahler's finest songs, and often performed separately. Mahler orchestrated four of the five songs, "Liebst du um Schönheit" was orchestrated by Max Puttmann. For me, no-one comes close to Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau in this cycle, but he decided not to include "Liebst du um Schönheit" in my favourite recording of his. The version above is by Brigitte Fassbaender with the German Symphony Orchestra Berlin under Riccardo Chailly on a Decca/London CD.


Kindertotenlieder (1904)

Kindertotenlieder (Songs on the Death of Children) is a song cycle for voice and orchestra. The words of the five songs are poems by Friedrich Rückert. Music and texts form a heartbreaking unity throughout the cycle. Four years after the work had been completed Mahler's daughter Maria died of scarlet fever, aged four. Mahler wrote to Guido Adler: "I placed myself in the situation that a child of mine had died. When I really lost my daughter, I could not have written these songs any more." Listening to them in a good performance is a chilling but immensely rewarding experience. It is my favourite song cycle of all time. The version shown above is by Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau with the Berlin Philharmonic under Karl Böhm on a Deutsche Grammophon CD.


Symphony No. 6 (1904)

Symphony No. 6 in A minor is sometimes called "The Tragic" (not by Mahler himself), which fits the general mood of the piece (including the hammer blows in the final movement), even though this was actually a particularly happy time for Mahler. The symphony is in four movements, but endless confusion arose over the sequence of the second and third: scherzo/andante or andante/scherzo, with recordings divided over the two options. The version shown above is by the Bavaria Radio Symphony Orchestra under Rafael Kubelik on a Deutsche Grammophon CD.


Des Knaben Wunderhorn (1905)

The songs of Des Knaben Wunderhorn (The Boy’s Magic Horn) by Gustav Mahler are voice-and-piano and voice-and-orchestra settings of German folk poems chosen from a collection of the same name assembled by Achim von Arnim and Clemens Brentano. The sings included in this cycle were changed a few times by Mahler, as he worked on their orchestration, and incorporated some in his symphonies. The orchestral version, which I prefer, now consists of 12 songs, although some performers prefer to include one or two of the others. The version shown above is by Anne Sofie von Otter and Thomas Quasthoff with the Berliner Philharmoniker under Clausio Abbado on a Deutsche Grammophon CD.


Das Lied von der Erde (1909)

Das Lied von der Erde ("The Song of the Earth") is an unnumbered symphony for two voices and orchestra. It comprises six movements, each featuring extensive vocals on texts derived from Chinese poetry, for two singers who alternate movements. Mahler specified that the two singers should be a tenor and an alto, or else a tenor and 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. This is my favourite piece of music. I have over 50 recordings, not only of the combinations Mahler endorsed, but also multiple variations thereof. The one shown above is the first one I bought (which may well be the best one): Fritz Wunderlich and Christa Ludwig with the Philharmonia Orchestra under Otto Klemperer on an EMI CD.


Symphony No. 9 (1909)

Symphony No. 9 in D major is the last of the finished Mahler's symphonies and one that even more than the preceding unnumbered Das Lied von der Erde deals with death and farewell - and Mahler's fight against it - even though in the end resignation comes out on top, and the work ends not with a bang but a whisper. An immensely powerful and moving work, it is generally accepted as one of the most important symphonies of all time. The version above is by the Berlin Philharmonic under John Barbirolli on an EMI CD.


Symphony No. 10 (1911)
 
Symphony No. 10 in Fis major was left uncompleted at his death in 1911. For many decades all we had was a substantially complete first movement, marked Adagio, which was published a few years after his death. The other four movements existed only in draft scores, often not orchestrated yet. Several musicologists have created performable versions of the complete tenth symphony based on Mahler's notes, but the most successful one was Deryck Cooke who worked on the completion from the mid sixties onward. Most of the recorded tenths are based on his work - although it should noted that many notable Mahler conductors, like Bernstein and Haitink, refused to record more than the Adagio first movement. Although it is obviously not 100% Mahler, it is close enough for me, and I really love listening to the completed work. The one shown above is by the SWR Symphony Orchestra under Michael Gielen on a Hänssler CD.


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