Composer (MIDI)

Gustav Mahler (1860-1911); AUT

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Mahler, Gustav (b Kališt, Bohemia, 1860; d Vienna, 1911). Austrian composer, conductor, and pianist. Began to learn pf. at age 6, giving public recital in 1870. Entered Vienna Cons. 1875. Became friendly disciple, but not pupil, of Bruckner, helping to make pf. duet arr. of 3rd Sym. (1878). While at Cons. comp. and played in perfs. of his own pf. quintet and vn. sonata. On leaving Cons. in 1878 comp. cantata Das klagende Lied, entering it in 1881 for Beethoven Prize but it was rejected. Began career as cond. 1880 at Hall, Upper Austria, followed by posts at Laibach (Ljubljana), Olmütz (1883), and Kassel 1883-5. While in the Kassel post he had an unhappy love-affair recorded in his song-cycle Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen. Moved to Prague, 1885, and the next year to Leipzig as 2nd cond. to Nikisch. While there he was invited by Weber's descendants to construct an opera from the fragments of Die drei Pintos. This, when prod. in 1888, was very successful. That year he went to Budapest Opera as chief cond. There his genius as cond. and administrator had full rein for the 1st time. In 1889 he conducted the f.p. of his 1st Sym., then simply described as ‘symphonic poem’.

In 1891 Mahler became chief cond. of Hamburg Opera, where he built up a co. of remarkable singers (whom he coached also to be singer-actors), and introduced many new works. He took the co. to London in 1892, his only visit, for perfs. of Wagner's Ring and Tristan, and Beethoven's Fidelio. His 2nd Sym. (Resurrection) was completed 1894 and perf. in Berlin 1895. For the rest of his life Mahler divided his time between comp. in the summer and cond. in the winter. His mus. met at first with hostility, but its quality was recognized by his contemporary Richard Strauss. In 1897, having converted from Judaism to Roman Catholicism, he became dir. of the Vienna Court Opera, inaugurating a glorious decade during which he set standards still scarcely surpassed and, with Alfred Roller and others, revolutionized the production, design, and lighting of operas. Built remarkable ens. of singers incl. Mildenburg, Gutheil-Schoder, Slezak, and Mayr. In 1902 he married Alma Schindler, also a musician, by whom he had 2 daughters (the elder died in 1907, aged 4). Between 1896 and 1907, when he resigned his post after controversy, he comp. his Syms. 3 to 8, the song-cycle Kindertotenlieder, and other songs with orch. Each of the syms. was on a huge scale, but perfs. were becoming more frequent throughout Europe, especially through the championship of Mengelberg.

Mahler made his Amer. début on 1 Jan. 1908 conducting Tristan at the NY Met. In 1909 he was appointed cond. of the reorganized NYPO. In 1910 in Munich he cond. the first 2 perfs. of his 8th Sym. (Symphony of a Thousand), returning to NY 2 months later. From 1907 he lived under the shadow of death from a heart ailment. This led in 1911 to a severe blood infection which caused his premature death on 18 May. He left 3 large posthumous works, the song-sym. Das Lied von der Erde and Syms. 9 and 10. Das Lied and the 9th were f.p. in 1911 and 1912 respectively cond. by Bruno Walter in Munich and Vienna. The 10th was long thought to be unfinished and only 2 movts. were pubd. and played until the Eng. scholar Deryck Cooke discovered in 1960 that the work was complete in short score and made a performing version.

Mahler's greatness as a cond. was never contested. But his comps. for many years were regarded with fanatical admiration by a handful of disciples and admirers and equally fanatical scorn by a larger section of musicians. However, the championship of certain conds. and critics led gradually in the late 1950s to a fervent revival of interest. His works were frequently recorded and entered the repertories of the world's leading orchs. to public acclaim. His mus. appealed both to those elements who cherished its romantic eloquence and to the avant-garde who recognized that it bridged the divide between the old and the new. Deeply personal in expression, the extreme chromaticism of works such as the 9th Sym. anticipates the innovations of Schoenberg. The unconventional form of the syms., their juxtaposition of popular elements with mystic passages, the concertante use of solo instrs., the complex and subtle instr. polyphony, the contrasts of irony, pathos, childlike simplicity, and psychological insight, all appealed to later 20th-cent. composers; and audiences found in his mus. a cogent and comprehensive expression of the anxieties and complexities of modern life. He championed the younger generation in his lifetime and became their idol after his death. Prin. works:

OPERA: Completion of Weber's Die drei Pintos. F.p. Leipzig 1888, f.p. in England 1962.

SYMPHONIES: No.1 in D major (1884-8, rev. 1893, 1896 reduced from 5 to 4 movts., and 1897-8; excluded movt., Blumine, restored in some 20th-cent. perf.). F.p. Budapest 1889, f.p. in England 1903. No.2 in C minor (Resurrection; 1888-94, rev. 1910), for sop., cont., ch., and orch. F.p. Berlin 1895, f.p. in England 1931. No.3 in D minor (1895-6), for cont., women's and boys’ chs., and orch. F.p. Krefeld 1902, f.p. in England 1947. No.4 in G major (1899-1900, rev. 1910), sop. solo in finale. F.p. Munich 1901, f.p. in England 1905. No.5 in C# minor (1901-2, rev. 1904-10). F.p. Cologne 1904, f.p. in England 1945 (Adagietto only 1909). No.6 in A minor (1903-5, rev. 1908), f.p. Essen 1906, f.p. in England 1950 (broadcast relay 1947). No.7 in B minor (1904-5, rev. 1909), f.p. Prague 1908, f.p. in England 1913. No.8 in Eb major (1906-7), for 8 soloists, ch., boys’ ch., and orch. F.p. Munich 1910, f.p. in England 1930. No.9 in D major (1909-10). F.p. Vienna 1912, f.p. in England 1930. No.10 in F# major (1910). F.p. of Adagio and Purgatorio Vienna 1924, f.p. in England Adagio 1948, Adagio and Purgatorio 1955. F.ps. of Cooke version: London 1960 (scherzos incomplete), London 1964 (full perf. vers.), London 1972 (final rev.). Note that Mahler himself cond. the f.ps. of the first 8 syms. (Strauss did not conduct f.p. of No.2, as often stated).

SONG-SYMPHONY: Das Lied von der Erde (The Song of the Earth) for cont. (or bar.), ten., and orch. (1907-9). F.p. Munich 1911; f.p. in Eng. 1914; f.p. in Amer., Philadelphia 1916.

CANTATA: Das klagende Lied (The Song of Sorrow) for sop., cont., ten., bass, ch., and orch. (1878-80). Orig. in 3 parts. Rev. 1888 to 2 parts. Further rev. 1893-1902. F.p. Vienna 1901, f.p. in England 1956 (vers. with pf. acc. cond. Boult at Oxford, 1914). F.p. of complete 1880 version Vienna 1935, f.p. in England 1970.

SONG-CYCLES: Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (Songs of a Wayfarer) for v. and pf./orch. (1884, rev. c.1892, 1896). F.p. Berlin 1896, f.p. in England 1927. Kindertotenlieder (Songs of the Death of Children) for bar. (or cont.) and orch./pf. (1901-4). F.p. Vienna 1905, f.p. in England 1913 (pf.), 1924 (orch.).

SONGS: 3 Songs for ten. and pf. (1880); 5 Songs for v. and pf. (1880-3), later (1892) pubd. as Book I of Lieder und Gesänge aus der Jugendzeit (Songs of Youth). Books II and III (comp. 1888-91) are 9 settings from Des Knaben Wunderhorn; Lieder aus Des Knaben Wunderhorn, 12 settings for v. and orch./pf. (1888-99); 3 songs from Des Knaben Wunderhorn: Wir geniessen die himmlischen Freuden (1892; incorporated into finale of 4th Sym. 1899), Revelge (1899), Der Tamboursg'sell (1901); 5 Lieder nach Rückert for v. and orch./pf.: 1. Ich atmet' einen linden Duft (1901), 2. Liebst du um Schönheit (1902), 3. Blicke mir nicht in die Lieder (1901), 4. Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen (1901), 5. Um Mitternacht (1901). F.p. Vienna 1905 (excluding No.2).

CHAMBER MUSIC: vn. sonata (1876); pf. quintet in A minor (1876); pf. qt. in A minor (1876).

ARRANGEMENTS: J. S. Bach's Suite for Orch. in 4 movts. (1st and 2nd from Suite No.2, 3rd and 4th from Suite No.3). F.p. NY 1909; Schubert's Str. Qt. in D minor (Death and the Maiden), for str. orch., c.1894; Beethoven's Str. Qt. in F minor, Op.95, for str. orch. (f.p. Vienna, Jan. 1899) and Str. Qt. in C# minor, Op.131, for str. orch.; Bruckner's 3rd Sym. for pf. 4 hands (1878). Also re-orch. Schumann's 4 syms.