Book Description
Gustav Mahler was one of the supremely gifted musicians of his generation.His contemporaries came to know him as a composer of startling originality whose greatest successes with the public never failed to provoke controversy among the critics.As a conductor, his relentless pursuit of perfection was sometimes viewed as tyrannical by the singers and musicians who came under his baton.Professor Henry-Louis de La Grange has devoted over thirty years of painstaking research to this study of Mahler's life and works. His biography, ultimately to be completed in four volumes, is drawn from a vast archive of documents, autographs, and pictures, assembled by La Grange at the Bibliotheque Musicale Gustav Mahler, Paris. In his fourth volume on the life and works of Gustav Mahler, Professor Henry-Louis de La Grange covers the years 1907-1911 when, following the setbacks and tragic events in both his private and professional life in Vienna, Mahler sees a new life in New York as the opportunity to realise his dreams. Against the background of the rivalries within the theatres of the great New York families Mahler achieves his goal of establishinga truly professional orchestra worthy of that name, the new New York Philharmonic. Throughout this period Mahler continued with European tours including France where he finally met Faure, Dukas, Debussy, and Rodin.In September 1910 his eighth symphony was enthusiasticlly received in Munich. Alma however, remained dissatisfied with this new life and its successes.Her affair with Walter Gropius revealed to Mahler the extent of the decline of their life together. Returning to Vienna in 1911 and approaching his 51st birthday, Mahler died, leaving unfinished his 10th symphony.For more than 50 years following his death, Mahler's work was consigned to the wilderness until, revived by interest and performance, it took its rightful place in the repertoire. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (1)

Wonderful, fascinating read ...
This was a fascinating read from start to finish.Feder's psychoanalsis and assumptions aside, Mahler's life was already interesting and filled with excess drama.His relationship with his wife (another fascinating character) and all the name droppings around their small circle of friends/lovers/associates, etc., made this account one any Mahler fan will read cover to cover in a day or two.Just great stuff. ... Read more

Book Description
Mahler's 10 symphonies and Das Lied von der Erde are intensely personal statements that have touched wide audiences. This survey examines each of the works, revealing their programmatic and personal aspects, as well as Mahler's musical techniques. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Mahler Symphonies aren't programmic and story-like
I was very, very disappointed in this book. But Ishould have expected such nonsense about M's symphonies--it's unfortunately ubiquitous. c.f. sees a story or progam in every symphony, every movement etc. ad nauseam. He writes out a lot of musical notes and then fails to adequately anaylze them. I am not sure why so many people want to find stories and themes and non-musical meanings in Mahler's work. Mahler may have said many things, but he is the artist and his art is music, not literature. Music by its nature is not amenable to verbal analysis apposite to poetry and drama; re6th, first movement: march,march--heavy heavy to last movement hammer blows--oh my! oh my! Fate has overcome the protagonist. The major minor seal--nice code as a sub for thinking.-- the sheer silliness of critics to call this tragic when the music is promethean in nature and the last big sound is not fate stamping out the human, instead it is the sound of the individual determined to march on and the power of the last sound indicates the protagonist if there is one in this piece. I likeMahler a lot. There can be no argument, at least in my feeble mind, that he wrote two superaltive symphones: 6th and 7th. Therest have virtues but simply don't succeed--you can like the music but it doesn't cohere. The ninth is interesting, but only that. All the others are grossly inferior to 6 and 7. I found c.f's book to be amateurish: his analysis was weak because he wanted to find a story behind the notes. Music is very difficult to explain, Mahler's especially.But so many reviewers of Mahler seem happy to find an underlying story that then becomes the essence of the piece for them (they box and compartmentalize the music)The symphonies are a creation. They must be judged as musical creations, not as stories etc. How fatuous is all the nonsense written about Mahler because his music does lay itself open to critics who would mistakenly fill it up with their own ideas etc, the music notwithstanding. What's that cliche (a true axiom): Let the Music Speak for Itself. Judge the creation, not the creator or what he wants to say about his music (the creator is so susceptible to illusion and misreading of his creation).

c.f's book is not better than good liner notes; it's too bad he didn't recommend certain recordings--this would have made his fantasy-speculative analysis of the symphonies more bearable.

Absolutely Indispensable for the Mahlerite.
The symphonies of Gustav Mahler can be listened to on more than one level. As complex and forward-looking as they are, they nonetheless can connect atan elemental, "visceral" level for many listeners.

However, for a fullerappreciation of both the details and the profundity which are in theseworks, as well as for insight into Mahler's creative processes, someoutside help is required, and this help is usually not forthcoming from theliner or booklet notes that accompany recordings, or from the program notesthat accompany performances. This is precisely where this excellent book byConstantin Floros fits in.

First, a few words on what this book is not,and does not purport to be. It is not a comparative discography ofavailable performances; in fact, it neither lists nor recommendsrecordings. Second, it is not a critical biography of Mahler; theinterested reader is referred to the outstanding (but much more expensive)volumes by Henry-Louis de la Grange, available elsewhere at Amazon.com.Third, it is not a psychological study of Mahler, relating, as such a studymight, such connections between the man and the music; an excellent smallvolume by Theodor Adorno, "Mahler: A Musical Physiognomy" covers thatterritory very well, and is also available elsewhere at Amazon.com. Fourth,and finally, it is not a set of musical scores of the symphonies; those aswell, published by Dover in inexpensive paperback editions, can be found atAmazon.com

So, just what is this Floros book? It is the perfect companionfor the serious Mahlerite in understanding the genesis and the thematic,harmonic and interpretational details of each of Mahler's ten symphonies,and the interrelationships and comparisons among them. It has just enoughof the material covered in the references noted above, along with detailedanalyses of the symphonies, for each of them to be better understood andplaced in historical and musical context by the listener. Its greatestinsight into these symphonies comes largely from Floros' remarkablescholarship in tracking down all of the score notes that Mahler provided inhis sketches, short scores and long scores, his correspondences with hiswife, friends and interpreters, and their comments and observations aswell. By piecing all of this research together, relying particularlyheavily on Mahler's own notes, Floros has come up with a near-definitivelook into Mahler's creative and interpretational processes (a term for sucha look based on scholarship that Floros describes as "hermeneutics").

Thebook's publication date (1985 in the original German) means that it is thebeneficiary of a series of events in the 1960's that opened the door togreatly improved accuracy in the study of this complex man and his equallycomplex music. First was the passage into the public domain of much ofMahler's own private writings, on the 100th anniversary of his birth.Second was the agreement on the part of his widow, Alma Mahler-Werfel, torelease other materials, particularly related to his unfinished 10thSymphony, for public scrutiny. Third was the availability of this materialto the Englishman Deryck Cooke, and others, who provided performingversions of this final 10th Symphony so that the public at large couldbetter judge the direction in which Mahler had been heading when his workwas cut short by premature death. Floros pays great respect to, andprovides excellent insight into, the work of Cooke in his (Floros') plan todescribe the full symphonic output of Mahler.

This book is very liberallyannotated, with briefly-scored examples as reference marks forunderstanding the interrelationships among the various musical themes, aswell as end notes for each symphony and a detailed bibliography for furtherreading. While it helps to be able to read these brief bars of music, eventhose who cannot will benefit immensely from Floros' scholarship and fine,but nonetheless dense, writing in providing extramusical background andvalues for a better understanding of these remarkable symphonies whichmoves so many of us.

Without question, the single most valuable referencesource for a fuller understanding of the Mahler symphonies. And a compactand inexpensive companion for the Mahlerite.

Bob Zeidler

Outstanding
If you want to know how a Mahler symphony is put together and why it works, this is the only book that does it.Reading it with a score at hand is useful, but not necessary.Technical but worth it.

It gave a good background on why each symphony was composed.
The book was translated very well.It broke eachsymphony down by movement and gave its history, as well as a breif analysis.I definite must for Mahler fans! ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (2)

A Great Choice for Mahler Fans
Once I had collected a number of orchestras performing all of Mahler's symphonies, I couldn't think of a better way to enhance my collection than to get the full scores, too.Sometimes I even play my clarinet along with the orchestra on the CD!What a joy!If you love Mahler -- and especially if you have a collection of his symphonies -- your compendium isn't truly complete without the full scores.The Dover Mahler scores are outstanding!

An extraordinary symphony, right before your eyes
Mahler's 9th is one of the most incredible symphonies ever written.It isan immensely complex and detailed score, one that is difficult if notimpossible to appreciate without the aid of a score.It also allows thereader to see the inner workings of Mahler's compositional genius,combining motives in the most subtle of ways. ... Read more

Book Description
The popularity of Mahler's symphonic works is unremitting. More recordings have been made during the past ten years than in the previous six decades. This work is a companion to the first volume, published in 1986; together, the two review virtually every recording commercially released (as well as some private issues). The intention of both works is to provide a comprehensive analysis of all recordings. A general overview is combined with details of particular importance. Recordings of special merit are noted. The objective critical discussions will appeal to the newcomer as well as the knowledgeable devotee and the work will serve as a valuable addition to university, music school, and public libraries, as well as any music lover's library. This guide provides a symphony-by-symphony commentary, including the unfinished Tenth Symphony, Das Lied von der Erde, and piano and chamber music reductions of the works. It includes all new recordings issued worldwide as well as compact disc reissues of previously released recordings and all performances on videocassette. Listings are arranged alphabetically by conductor, and headings for each recording contain specific information about the performers, record label, catalog number, and timing. Helpful indexes by conductor, orchestra, vocal and instrumental soloists, chorus, and record label are included. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (2)

The Odd Couple:Mahler and Strauss
Herta Blaukopf presents here the story of one of the oddest "couples" in music history:Gustav Mahler and Richard Strauss.
Through her own commentary, using nearly all the known letters exchanged between Mahler and Strauss, Blaukopf helps readers come to a better understanding of what kept these two giants of music together--and what kept them apart.

Over a major span of their productive years, they maintained a correspondence, and frequently got together with friends and family, discussing music and how to further each other's careers.Yet these two titans never seemed to really understand each other.

Strauss, the genius of tone poems and sound painting, seemed never to run out of new ideas of music that would "sell."Strauss wrote because he COULD! (and he could make a lot of money at it!)

Mahler had a boundless reservoir of passion for Nature, and a depth of desire to understand the causes and reasons for human suffering.Mahler wrote, because he HAD TO! He was puzzled by those who could not understand the depth of suffering in his music.

After just such a moment of bewilderment, Mahler asks himself, "Are people made of different stuff than I?"Upon reading this, Strauss answers Mahler's heart-wrenching question, with a single word:"Yes."

Many good books have been written about Mahler and Strauss.This one lets you read their own thoughts in their own words, and it also includes the words of their family and associates to let readers judge for themselves.

Fine pairing of letters and explanatory essay
An excellent work, and an indispensible one to both Mahlerites, and those few of us who still consider Strauss his equal. This relatively slim volume offers an extraordinary, privileged look at the relationship of the two great composers, their professional careers as major conductors, and their travails as avant garde composers. Strauss comes across very handsomely in this work, and his remarkable personal success is a running leitmotif set against Mahler's endless struggle for recognition. The letters are marvelously amplified and filled out by Herta Blaukopf's model essay - a long full historical overview of the correspondence, complete with gossipy wives and Mahler's insecurities and deep-seated neuroses.
It is impossible not to be reminded, when reading of Mahler and Alma, of an earlier musical couple, Clara and Robert Schumann. Both couples were highly critical of another major competing musical figure, with the Schumanns it was Liszt. The Mahlers kept their thoughts largely to themselves, and they seem constantly unable to resist the bait to their egos of Strauss' public glory. It eats at them and they let themselves fall prey to petty annoyances and imagined slights. Yet both Liszt and Strauss proved fair-minded, and in the case of Liszt, really quite magnanimous. Both couples also seem touched with too much zealotry, a sort of missionary calling of the right way, their way, and I find that most disquieting. In the case of the Mahlers the condition shows readily enough in these letters and the story documented by the attached essay. One comes away with a higher regard for Strauss the man, and certain private doubts about Mahler and especially Alma largely confirmed. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (6)

It's the full, complete score
I'm getting older, so I need to use glasses when reading music now.This score isn't the same as having the score in sheet music on your stand, where the typeface is larger.So using it to play would be difficult, in my opinion.You'd want the sheet music if you were performing it.However, as other reviewers so well noted,this score is excellent for those who know how to read music but haven't performed this piece (unfortunately, including me too).It's amazing when listening to Mahler's 8th how much is going on that you don't hear in a recording.Even if you've had the priveledge of hearing it performed live (a rarity since it requires massive orchestral and choral forces, not to mention other instruments, and that cost $$$), you still cannot take in every musical nuance that is going on.Having the score in front of you while listening brings this out.For me, I can't even imagine how Mahler conceived and wrote this piece; it is so complex and moving.And to know that he received such incredible praise at its debut, the orchestra applauding and the children's choir singing his name at fff as he passed them, when he didn't have much praise as a composer warms the heart.I would have given anything to have been in the audience at the debut performance, with artist luminaries, dignataries and royalty present.I guess it was destined that he died within a year of writing it.

As some reviewers said earlier, this score is indespensible for starving college students and musicians.

Mahler 8 full score and libretto
This is the complete unabridged score for full orchestra, choirs and soloists. Presented in 256 pages with accompanying text and translation, glossary, and instruments and voices, this would be the conductor's copy.

The opening organ chord fills the air with such tremendous expectancy that one senses that this is a piece of music quite unlike any other. As the music unfolds and the choir make their entrance into the foray, I am suddenly conscious in a way I have never noticed before, as if I'm about to embark on a journey into unknown and unfamiliar regions of my mind. The first movement appears to describe death of the glorious kind, and for those twenty six minutes I am transported to a world that would embrace the very nature of Heavenly arrival.

Following the score while listening to the actual sound, and one is liable to get lost in the technicalities, especially since the choirs are not always singing the same thing at the same time. Sometimes they sing words and phrases that are unexpected. Best to forget the manuscript and just listen to the music. It is, after all, what Mahler would have wanted.

The Greatest of all symphonies
I'm gonna keep this short and sweet. Mahler's 8th is the best symphony ever written. This score while in small type, shows you how Mahler put it all together and does it very clearly. The text translations are given but not much else. There isn't any sort of analysis or in depth commentary, just the music. This is an excellent deal for such an amazing piece. Great for theory students and college musicians wanting to learn a thing or two about composition.

Mahler's Immense Symphony of a Thousand
As a music student, this score was a great score to own: the large print make it very easy to read the numerous lines of instrumentation; the low cost is a must for a starving college student.

This is an EXTREMELY difficult work to study, even if there is a recording.The work is so immense and at the same time complex.Just looking at the first page is tiring.

I reccommend this score highly for music students and music lovers alike so that they may enjoy Mahler's monumental Symphony of a Thousand.

The biggest and most powerful symphony ever written
This symphony is so big, that if one has any chance to read the score while listening to it, do it! The score has revealed so many details about this great work that my opinion about it has changed totally! At first when I heard this, all I could hear was the song, and it didn't tell me anything, but now with the score in hand, I can see the different melodies used with the cross-references all over, and I can follow the progress of the sonata form in the first movement, which is so ingeniously developed that one can barely trace it, but it still follows a very logical consistency. All this I could only see when I read the score! Now this is one of my very favourite works of music! ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (4)

Awful score
The issue here is the score, not the music.Since Dover specializes in reprints, it's forced to use what's in the public domain.The results are consequently uneven.If you're looking for Brahms' orchestral music, or Wagner's late operas (after Lohengrin), Dover's scores are bargains, because the scores printed are reliable.On the other hand, there are Dover scores that one should avoid like the plague, & the reprint of Mahler's Seventh Symphony is one of them.This score was originally printed with 300+ errors, & this is the edition that Dover publishes.In fact, all the errors weren't removed from the score until the critical edition ~ this is true even of the Eulenburg scores, which falsely claimed at every reprint, that the errors had been removed.So if you really want the orchestral score of the Seventh, the only version that's musically defensible is the critical edition.

A Terrific Accompaniment While Listening to Mahler
If you love Mahler, this 7th Symphony score is a remarkable addition to your collection.I began some years ago collecting all the Mahler symphonies on CD performed by various orchestras around the world, and when I discovered that scores were available, I just had to have them, too.For those who may be new to Mahler, I recommend starting with either his Symphony #5 (the 1990 recording with Leonard Bernstein and the Vienna Philharmonic is my favorite) or his Symphony #1 (also 1990 and with Leonard Bernstein, but with the Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam) - both are marvelous.To heighten your enjoyment of Mahler, for each Symphony you get on CD, get the score as well.Sometimes I'll even play along on my clarinet. . . .

Symphony No. 7
I think this Symphony is Mahler's 3rd Best Symphony he ever did. This edition of the work, has everything that is played. I am a young to be conductor, and I analyized it already. I totally disagree with the viewer that says that this edition isnt the best. Well, it is the best.

Mahlers finest musical hallucination
A reprint of the original Austrian score at a fraction of the price.This least-known of Mahler's works may indeed be his best.A most unorthodox use of symphonic form takes the listener from dark to light, from terror tojoy; this work spans all the emotions.Unusual instrumentation, like thetenor horn, mandolin, and guitar add to the bizzare but delightfulconcoction.It's a tie with Sym. # 4 for my Mahler favorite. ... Read more

Book Description
Gustav Mahler and Alma Maria Schindler were married in . . . 1902. The bride was twenty-one and a half years old, her groom a few months short of forty-two. Apart from their substantial age difference, it seems to have been the very disparity of their intellectual and social backgrounds that drew them together. Mahler was attracted to Alma by her beauty, her alert mind and emotional intensity. Though aware that he possessed by far the broader outlook, he trusted in Alma's ability and willingness to learn from him."—from the Introduction

"Once the stiffness of unfamiliarity has been softened by a few months of marriage, Mahler's style of correspondence with Alma is generally simple, direct, and astonishingly down-to-earth. In a manner akin to that of his musical style, he spikes his language with witticisms and double-entendres, colloquialisms and quotations from librettos and classical works of literature."—from the Preface

This profusely illustrated collection of Gustav Mahler's letters to his wife Alma is more comprehensive than any previous edition; it contains 350 letters, 188 of them until now unpublished. Since 1995, when the German edition of this book was first published, two events have served to expand its horizons: the publication in 1997 of the complete text of Alma's early diaries, dating from January 1898 to March 1902, and the publication in 2003 of a catalogue of all Mahler letters acquired from the Moldenhauer Archives. With the aid of this new material, the editors were also able to revise the dates assigned to many of the letters. Commentaries and annotations throughout the book have been corrected and expanded annotations included. The editors' introduction provides a biographical context for the correspondence that follows. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Mahler's Muse
In "Letters to his Wife," the reader is privy to the intensely private and somewhat ordinary reflections of the extraordinary composer/conductor, Gustav Mahler.

But that very ordinariness is what makes this book so fascinating: that alongside genius lies its twin of conventionality expressed in those unguarded moments between intimates. The collection of letters span a decade: From Mahler's courtship of Alma Mahler in 1900 until his tragically early death at age 50 in 1910.

You get the sense that Mahler felt he had nothing to prove to his wife as the correspondence deals with everyday issues and concerns such as eating and sleeping habits, bowel troubles and the loneliness of life on the road. The letters also convey a deeply confident and uncompromising man who takes immense joy in writing his wife about his personal world while at the same time dismissing her from his professional one.

The power in this collection comes from the slowly but steadily growing tension that the reader senses from Alma Mahler (whose letters are not included but whose feelings can be discerned through Mahler's) against her clueless husband which culminates in her betrayal through infidelity. With his emotional sense of security violently violated, Mahler's letters completely unravel and come across as hesitant and pandering.Within the year, he was dead.

Mahler's musical genius has already been well-documented. What this book documents - in Mahler's own hand - is the important role Alma's unconditional love and emotional support played in his life and work, too. He underestimated her to his ultimate peril.
... Read more

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Customer Reviews (2)

Wanted to give a five, but...
Among the things I look for in a score is the readability of the music itself.The larger the better, though smaller print is acceptable in most classical and earlier pieces and a few Romantic pieces.Not so in Mahler's gigantic symphonies.I feel that the score should be the full size of some of scores of his later symphonies (Dover).There were times where I had to squint or look twice to see the score properly.

That is my only problem with the score.These are two wonderful works and, unlike other composers, Mahler isn't beginning but nearing the peak of his symphonic powers with these "early" works.
This is score is wonderful for music lovers and students alike for it's accessibility and low price.

Mahler at his best!
The early symphonies of Gustav Mahler show the heavy influence of the works of Richard Wagner.The pastorale first movement of the Symphony No.1 in D Major, the Titan, is particularly noteworthy in the way Mahler paints with music.The movement slowly builds to a thunderous climax when thebrass enter with resplendent glory.This is followed by two movements thatare reminiscient of folk melodies--including the inverted, minor-mode themefrom Frère Jacques.It is concluded with a thunderous finale.The secondsymphony in c minor continues a powerful motif that now adds the power ofthe human voice.The thunderous finale of this symphony brings together amassive orchestra with chorus.Imagine 10 French horns, 8 trumpets, 4trombones and a tuba proclaiming a glorius finish. Definitely a wonderfulbuy! ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (3)

Very good definitive edition
As the others have said, the score is small enough to be convenient and large enough to read for the most part, although there are two or three pages where some staves are faded slightly. I just wish that there was a glossary of some sort or a translation of all of Mahler's orchestral markings.

A Great Bargain
Dover's entire line of miniature scores is great for anyone who wishes to have a deeper knowledge of great orchestral works without paying $20 or more the full-sized version.I own the 8 of Mahler's 9 symphonies that Dover offers in this series (the 7th Symphony is currently unavailable) and have been very pleased with them.The print is large enough to be easy to read without having to deal with a cumbersome full-sized score.

Wonderful edition of a legendary piece!
Gustav Mahler is one of the last truely great symphony writers.His orchestrations are vast and his use of tone shows his true mastery of composition. This edition is the perfect book for any music lover, especially Mahler fans.It is small enough to slip easily into a purse or jacket pocket for use in the concert hall or in a bookbag or backpack for school.It is ideal for the professional conductor and compsoer as well as the music fan who wishes to own a written copy of the greatest symphony ever written.Also, its wide margins are perfect for note taking or analysis.This is truely the perfect score for the music lover.I own about 5 and plan on adding to my collection very shortly. Other great Dover items include the miniature scores for Beethoven's 5th and 9th symphonies, which are among the standard literature for every major orchestra worldwide, and the miniature score of Mozart's powerful Requiem Mass in D minor. ... Read more

Book Description

Book Description

Book Description
Gustav Mahler was one of the supremely gifted musicians of his generation. His contemporaries came to know him as a composer of startling originality whose greatest successes with the public never failed to provoke controversy among the critics.As a conductor, his relentless pursuit of perfection was sometimes viewed as tyrannical by the singers and musicians who came under his baton.Professor Henry-Louis de La Grange has devoted over thirty years of painstaking research to this study of Mahlers life and works.His biography, ultimately to be completed in four volumes, is drawn from a vast archive of documents, autographs, and pictures, assembled by La Grange at the Bibliotheque Musicale Gustav Mahler, Paris. This third volume covers the years 1904-1907 and shows Mahler in his final years at the Hofoper coping with the rival demands on his energy and creative powers of the Opera on the one hand and his continuing struggle for recognition as a composer in his own right on the other.The first signs of marital difficulties with Alma emerge.Mahlers trials culminate in 1907 with the death of Putzi, his eldest daughter, a terminal crisis at the Opera which makes him decide to leave Vienna, and the alarming diagnosis by the doctors of a cardiac deficiency.True to life portraits are drawn of Mahler the human being, the family man, and the composer, as well as the administrator, producer, and conductor at the Vienna Opera.Innumerable testimonies and anecdotes throw new light on the many aspects of Mahler's complex personality. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

A Mixed Blessing
For any devotee of Mahler's music, De La Grange's biography of the composer is, without doubt, required reading; the sheer mass of details in these volumes guarantees that. Yet despite this truly monumental effort, I think De La Grange has missed something utterly essential about Mahler's art.It is true, as even a cursory examination of Mahler's scores will reveal, that he was absolutely obsessive about matters of musical detail.But these details were always meant to serve over-arching, ineffable artistic ideas; ultimately, they are to be kneaded seamlessly into the fabric and sweep of the music.Even though Mahler's markings are much more detailed than most composers', he consistently insisted that what was greatest and most elemental in music could not be expressed in the notes and the markings; they are a means to an end.A precise recreation of everything Mahler wrote on each page of a given symphony does not necessarily equal a compelling recreation of his vision.And by analogy, this is the problem with De La Grange's biography.If the cliche of "missing the forest for the trees" was ever apt, it is in this case.The amount of pedestrian detail in these books renders them semi-lifeless, and as a result Mahler's truly compelling spirit is utterly missing from most of the pages.Simply put, more is simply not always better.And with Volume 4 about to be published at a length of over 1700 pages, one starts to wonder if this is less a case of thoroughness and more a reflection of an obsessive-compulsive disorder.Just because a person may have an encyclopedic knowledge of the history of the widget doesn't mean that he can express it effectively in writing.I find myself wondering if the folks at OUP were simply too intimidated by De La Grange's knowledge of his subject to insist on what he needed most: an editor.

In my view, this sort of pedestrian literalism is antithetical to Mahler's art; remember, this is the man who felt that the orchestration of the Beethoven 5th Symphony would be better-served by the inclusion of a part for E-flat Clarinet, and who drove his publishers crazy with revisions.His approach to art was fluid, imaginative and always changing; he found the notion of quantifying art and life in a fixed place abhorrent.De La Grange's literalist approach says much more about our time than Mahler's; in the performance sphere, this approach has become quite common, and the result has been a lot of quite dull performances of Mahler's works, something I hadn't thought was possible.It is an outlook we would do well to reject, even as we gather more information about Mahler's music and life.

Engrossing
I had read the previous volume 2 of the life of Mahler several years ago and had anxiously awaited the issuance of this, the third in a four part series with high expectations.

I have not been disappointed.The extensive detail, expansive footnoting, and thorough research that went into this work is evident from the very first paragraph.

Highly recommended for any serious Mahler enthuasist.

A full life of Mahler?
The monumental biography of Mahler by Henri de la Grange has been available in French for some years, and the latest volume to appear in English is part of an ongoing project to make the work available to a wideraudience.It is unique in the sheer mass of factual detail it presents,especially as regards contemporary critical reaction to Mahler's works andconducting.There is new material on William Ritter, an early admirer wholeft some colorful accounts of Herr Mahler in person; a

detailedphysical description of Mahler by Alfred Roller, a Hofoper associate; andmuch other information that will be new and interesting even tolong-standing Mahlerites who thought they knew it all.

However,de laGrange's almost exclusive focus on theexternals of Mahler's life works tothe detriment of the inner life, and this is the major shortcoming of hisbiography.There is littleprobing of the wellsprings of the mightyMahlerian will that powered a colossal productivity, nor of the fiercevitality coexisting with neuroses. Nor, surprisingly, is much explanationoffered as towhy a tyrannical ascetic like Mahler would suddenlydecideto marry someone half his age, a decision that took even his closestfriendscompletely by surprise. Why didn't he stay single, or marrysomeone his own age,such as the devoted and musical NatalieBauer-Lechner?

This question is important because it bears on the crucialone: Would Mahler have succeeded in solving the central problem of his last years -- keeping reality at bay in order tomaintain the inhumanintensity needed to complete his unique artistic mission -- without thetension generated by this inappropriate (but for him richly symbolic) andlargely sexless marriage,for which he,and to some extent also Alma'sparents, were guilty? Did he feel this guilt and at a certain level feed onit? de la Grange draws a blank on these questions.Here Alma's book"Gustav Mahler, Memoirs and Letters" is a bettersource, thoughone has to read between the lines.

de la Grange clearly dislikes Almaand would minimize her role.He also worships Mahler and will not permithim the slightest fault.Two examples: He cannot conceive that the heromay have had a congenital heart defect, it must have been acquired fromthroat infections.He omits to mention that Mahler's idolized mother Mariewas born lame and with adefective heart.According to Alma, who'd haveno reason to make this up, all the children were handicapped by themother's heart disease; there is also anecdotal evidence provided byBrunoWalter and others. Another example: de la Grange will not admit that thefinale to the Seventh may be a miscalculation, however interesting.Thushe advances a tortured argument to turn black into white, and puts himselfin the position of an "apologist nervous to the point ofobduracy" (Adorno's words).In the process, he

completely ignoresevidence that Mahler himself was uncomfortably aware of the problem(seethe foreword by Redlich to the Eulenberg pocket score of theSeventh).

Mahler is a Freudian figure if ever there was one, and one canargue that the ideal of theeternal feminine, as symbolized by thecomposite Alma/Marie, became crucial to Mahler's sense of purpose, a majorengine of his drive to create.Toward the end, he was psychologicallycompletely dependent on her, even to the point of spouting nonsenseregarding her abilities as a composer -- this, from the stern, inflexibledirector of the Hofoper!(The sad spectacle of Berlioz and his second wife Marie Recio comes to mind as another example of great-composer weakness.) That he hada mother fixation is attested by many, including Alma andFreud, and this would account for his lack of sexual interest; according toAlma, sex played only a very small part in his life. In any case,artistically the union was a brilliant success, even the marital crisis atthe end serving to spur him on to new heights -- witness the Tenth Symphonywith its impassioned marginalia addressed to Alma.With perfect timing,death then supervened to carry him off at the peak of his powers.

Although the music has lost none of its power and can speak for itself,there is still an unsatisfied need for a different kind of Mahlerbiography, one that is better balanced and probes the psychology of theman.For hagiography aside,Mahler's maladjustment was staggering evenfor his time, the hothouse atmosphere of fin-de-siecle Vienna just barelymaking his unique kind of greatness tenable. A great torturedartist onthe scale of a Gustav Mahler is inconceivable today, our time doesn't allowit;we've been there, done that. He would be cured or killed at once, andin either case silenced. And for you computer game programmers out there,take heart -- in additionto a "Freudian" biography, there maybe material here for an oeuvre of another sort perhapsmore congenial toour age -- a soft-core computer game called "Let's cuckoldMahler". In any case, the music remains.

Towers over them all.
Much as Mahler himself towers over Romantic era composer, so does La Grange tower over all other Mahler biographers.Not that Mitchell et. al. don't do a fine job, they do.But for comprehensive detail and deepprobing and understanding of Mahler's life and music, La Grange is simplyat the highest peaks.This latest installment of his massive seriessustains his high standards of research, realiability and readability andfor all you devoted Mahlerians out there is a must read.For those curiousabout Mahler, this is actually not a great place to start; the cost aloneto read these three books, so far, on Mahler is a bad investment if youdon't yet worship his music!There are many single books that give a goodoverview of his life as a companion to his music, if not a real guide.Forthose of you, try Cooke or Kennedy, for the rest, worship here! ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (1)

Get Out Your Glasses!
Dover scores have been invaluable to me as an adult.I believe the cheap, large versions of complete operas and symphonies, chamber music and solo instrumentals, began to show up around 1981.I say this only because I bought every one that came along, with rare exception, and loved the fact that at last I had something akin to what the conductor would look at, not a partitur that was 5 X 8.I would say that by 1985 I owned between 80 and 100 Dovers. All were large and take up a lot of shelf space.But they are clearly legible without glasses for me.

The "small size" has now been revisited upon us.It seems that with the Mahler Symphonies all have been reissued in a "single size" packaging.As far as I'm concerned, it's nice to have a cheap well made score, but the smaller size now makes the several I've bought almost impossible to read.The ninth requires high powered reading glasses as does the third.These are the two "new" ones that I have.The rest of the Mahler's are from the old, large Dover plates.While they may not be perfectly accurate in terms of up to the minute performance practices, their visual convenience trumps the small print of the newer more accurate (I hope!) editions.Worth having if you can't get anything larger, but better to go to a used book store and buy the larger scores if they're still available. If you can't do that, at least don't strain your eyes! ... Read more

Book Description
Gustav Mahler was one of the supremely gifted musicians of his generation.His contemporaries came to know him as a composer of startling originality whose greatest successes with the public never failed to provoke controversy among the critics.As a conductor, his relentless pursuit of perfection was sometimes viewed as tyrannical by the singers and musicians who came under his baton.Professor Henry-Louis de La Grange has devoted over thirty years of painstaking resarch to this study of Mahler's life and works.His biography, ultimately to be completed in four volumes, is drawn from a vast archive of documents, autographs, and pictures, assembled by La Grange at the Bibliotheque Musicale Gustav Mahler, Paris.This second volume covers the years 1897-1904, when the focus shifts to Vienna.It opens with Mahler's triumphant debut as director of the Vienna Court Opera, and follows with the revolution he wrought there in standards of performance and, with the Secession painter Alfred Roller, in scenic representation.An account is also given of Mahler's story and brief engagement as conductor of the Vienna Philharmonic Concerts, following Richter's resignation in 1989.La Grange depicts the brilliant society of pre-war Vienna, then the centre of the intellectual and artistic world; the extraordinary range of artists among whom Mahler lived and worked included the composers Dvorak, Gustave Charpentier, Richard Strauss, Zemlinsky, and Schoenberg and his two disciples, Berg and Webern; the painters architects and decorators of the Secession with Klmit at their head; the writers Hauptmann, Dehmel, Hofmannsthal, and Schnitzler.There he also met Alma Schindler, 'the most beautiful woman in Vienna', and La Grange tells the story of their engagement and marriage in 1902 and the early years of their tempestuous relationship. As his fame spread throughout Europe, Mahler travelled with his music to Germany, Russia, Holland, Poland, and Belguim, meeting many other leading musicians of his day, including Pfitzner, Mengelberg, Diepenbrock, Oskar Fried, and many others.During this period Mahler wrote some of his best-loved works, including the fourth and Fifth Symphonies, and the three orchestral song-cyles and collections - the Wunderhorn -, Ruckert-, and Kindertotenlieder.For each of these works La Grange provides full notes and analytical descriptions. Scrupulously researched, richly documented, this is a study worthy of the extraordinary artistic achievement of Gustav Mahler's Vienna years. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

More for reference than reading or understanding.
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This is not biography in its best form.

De La Grange has done us a service by compiling a very detailed but largely chronological history of the events of Mahler's life.You'll find a largely blow-by-blow description of his life:compositional struggles;arguments with cast members, managers, and officials; correspondence with friends and colleagues;listings of cast members in the opera performances he conducted;reviews of his performances by the various publications;health problems, etc.The detail is extremely valuable.

However, De La Grange falls short because he rarely steps back from the detail in order to find the larger themes in Mahler's life, and he leaves that effort to the reader.This is asking too much:this is a projected four volume biography, and it will probably be well over 3,500 pages before it's done.

I imagine it will take a later biographer to come along and sift through all that De La Grange has delivered in order to write a more informative biography.

I have an additional issue with an editorial decision that's been made here.The first volume was published in the 1970's, by another publisher.Oxford has not re-published it, but will publish a second edition of the first volume when the fourth volume is published.They have styarted with the 2nd volume rather than the 1st, out of deference to those who might still have the 1st volume.Fair enough.But the footnotes that refer to content in the 1st volume only refer to chapters, not specific pages, and are thus incomplete.Perhaps the reasoning behind this is because the original 1st volume will be superceded by the 2nd edition 1st volume, and they don't want to be specific to something they imagine will be obsolete.However, at the current rate it could well be 5-10 years before that 2nd edition 1st volume is out.Will Oxford then ask readers to buy a 2nd edition 2nd volume that has page numbers in the footnotes?(The whole idea sounds like very little deference to those who might have the original 1st volume.)

As close as you canget to getting to know the REAL Mahler
This is the Classic Mahler biography by the major Mahler scholar, Henry ouis de La Grange.Though this only covers the middle years, de La Grange's excellent use of primary sources let us learn first hand what Mahler was like as a musician, conductor, and human being.No other Mahler biography is so erudite and completely non-judgemental ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (6)

Do you really want just history?
Dover isn't your best buy if you're looking for Mahler orchestral scores.This is absolutely true of the Seventh Symphony, which Dover reprinted from the original pressing, with its several hundred errors.This pair of reprints isn't nearly so bad.The score of the Fifth is good:there are one or two misprints, but nothing really crucial.The Sixth however is another story.Dover reprints the first edition of the score ~ which is useful ONLY if you're interested in the history of this score, & then you will supplement it.Mahler subsequently issued a second edition, which was replaced by a third edition, both within months of the first edition.The third edition is the one that has been played & recorded from 1906 through the early 1960s, when the awful critical edition was released, & the critical edition is essentially the third edition without the transposition of the two inner movements.
What are the differences between the first & the third editions?Mahler rescored the work so that there are differences of scoring on almost every page:to take one example, the final chord of the first movement in the first edition uses a bass drum & cymbals.These are gone in the third edition.Between the first & the third editions, Mahler reversed the order of the two middle movements, deleted the third hammer blow, & altered the performance instructions on every other page.As just one example of the last, at cue 80 in the Scherzo, where the Scherzo section is repeated for the last time, in the first edition Mahler doesn't instruct the performer to return to the original tempo of the Scherzo (in fact, there's no tempo instruction at all), so that if one is going to perform this as it stands in the score, one reprises the scherzo at the slow tempo of the section before.This is clearly an oversight that Mahler corrected in the third edition, with the instruction Tempo I. subito.& in the bars around this cue, the instructions in the third edition are either not found in the first edition at all or are different.
The third hammer blow is a crucial deletion.I happen to like the third hammer blow, but my view is that these two editions are different & shouldn't be conflated.If you want the third hammer blow, you perform the first edition; if you want to perform the third edition, you do without the third hammer blow.What do these hammer blows mean?That's anyone's guess.It would seem that Mahler started out with five hammer blows:three where we find them in the first edition, the fourth at the first ff of the introduction, & the fifth at the corresponding point in the return of the introduction.Did Mahler delete the third hammer blow (of the first edition) because of some superstitious fear?We don't have his word for it, & if he did start with five hammer blows, then it seems quite unlikely; all we have is Alma's testimony, & Alma is an absolutely unreliable witness.Not only did she arrogate to herself the office of final interpreter of Mahler's works as if they were her property (& work), but she makes assertions that are contrary to fact & simply impossible given the biographical details.So much of what she says about Mahler's music generally, seems like so much fabrication.It's much better to understand Mahler on his own terms & forget about what Alma says.So it would seem that between the first & the third editions, if Mahler did start out with five hammer blows, he decided that the third remaining hammer blow really lacked the structural justification of the other two hammer blows.In any case, the version that Dover has reprinted is historically interesting as a first & subsequently discarded version of the work, but of no interest for the performing history of the Sixth & for what appear to be Mahler's final intentions regarding it.One hopes that there will be a new critical edition of this work that follows a defensible editorial policy.

Dover Score of Mahler 5th and 6th Symphonies
It is ok to buy this, if you don't have to conduct it. For listening and "just" studying it's ok, but it has so different orchestration in some places, errors and stuff like that that if you make a mistake going in front of an orchestra with it, you're in trouble.
Better buy Universal Edition (or try to get some library score), if you are seriously interested.
Of course the real edition price is probably 5 times bigger but in conductor's wages it doesn't matter, doesn't it :) ?
Of the music: both symphonies are great masterpieces, the Adagietto from 5th is heavenly...

Dover can do better
Although the fifth seems more accurate, the Sixth has so many errors that some times I just get lost.However in dover's defense I haven't found a Mahler score that hasn't left something out.An okay buy for the price range, but could be better

Wonderful Mahler 5 and 6
Probably my favorite Mahler Symphony, his Symphony No. 5 was the first I ever saw performed.It's a fantastic work and, unlike his "Tragic" Symphony No. 6, the tragedy from the opening Funeral March is reconciled by the exhuberent and boistrous finale.The very last section of the fourth movement to the end has a triumphant feel (and even sound and structure) reminiscent to Tschaikowsky's Symphonic finales.The Tragic 6th is a great piece to study, but, for me, can be very weary as the symphony does not more then briefly rise above meloncholy.

A great large score, the print is very readable and there a few translations for the German text (though, having a completely German version of the score, there are several instructions that have been left out).It lies flat on the desk or music stand, which is a great plus.Lastly, it's inexpensive, which makes it a must for Music students and I highly reccommend it to professionals and listeners alike.

Fine Score, if you know the mistakes
Being a Mahler lover, composer, timpanist, and conductor, I constantly pour through recordings and scores of his works.This edition, while a fine orchestral score, is full of errors which Mahler later corrected.While the musical ideas and feeling of the works here are present, there are some details which differ from newer editions.Do not be fooled; every note these scores contain are Mahlers own. But these are first-edition, first performance scores.Mahler was notorious--conductor that he was--for editing and revising his works after premieres.I have looked at other scores, later, more difinitive scores, which show errors, and some are quite audiable in recordings.But for any young conductor to get a flavor for the structure of these works, the Dover edition is the most practical and cost effective score to buy. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (4)

Top Class publication
When it comes to musical scores, let's face it, there's not much of a difference between one and another. All the notes must be printed or you're not getting what can properly be called a musical score. But when it comes to Orchestral scores, there is a difference. Here we have each and every instrument's part printed (at least when they can be heard playing) so as we can follow the intricacies of, say, the clarinet part.
Mahler is a totally different case altogether - a composer in a class of his own. Many orchestral scores of Mahler's symphonies give the very least notation possible. This score of Symphonies 3 & 4 in the Dover Orchestral Scores series however, is a top class publication. Why?
Well, Mahler is in a class of his own because when it came to giving directions to his orchestra he did not stop at the Classical Italian markings for Tempo and expression, although strictly speaking this is all that is necessary for a composer to communicate his wishes to the players. Mahler went much further and gave quite specific instructions in German to both the orchestral players and the conductor. For example, directions to the Horn players to hold the bell of the instrument up in the air, explain to the listener why the horns sound different in these passages; advice given to Timpanists as to what kind of sticks to use at certain times explain the different effects we hear. Then there are instructions to solo players, for example, not to pay too much attention to the rest of the orchestra, but to play their part in a slightly slower manner thus exaggerating the importance of their solo. Dover Orchestral Scores do us the great service of actually printing all these instructions, just as in the original score i.e. in German. But their thoughtfulness reaches right on to printing a Glossary of the terms used as well as the texts written or used by Mahler in the symphonies.
This makes using Dover's scores a real pleasure and we really can hear if the recording we are listening to actually plays the music the way Mahler would have wanted. I can think of no better way of rating our recordings ourselves and not just taking the conductor's or the Studio's word for it.

Excellent price and value... but wanted to clarify...
Someone mentioned how invaluable it is to own the score because you can refer to it when you read an article, or review, or liner notes that make references to a measure number.

Well, this book is useful only if you number the measures yourself with a pencil (which would take a very long time), since the book actually does NOT supply measure numbers.It supplies a number of figures... (for instance, if i remember correctly, Symphony No. 3's 1st movement has 76 figures).But each figure can be any number of measures, so when you read an article that makes reference to measure 435, you simply won't be able to find it, without actually numbering the measures yourself.

Otherwise, it is a very good book.Dover has managed to bring complete scores of great works to the average budget-conscious consumer, and this is truly an excellent book that covers two amazing symphonies.You are bound to learn a lot about orchestration just from studying these.I am particularly fond of studying the brass sections in the first movement of the 3rd Symphony... Truly phenomenal composition!

Wonderful Mahler 3 and 4
This is a must for those wishing to study and understand Mahler's Immense third symphony.The print is very large and readable.Though I wish there were more translations for the German text, there is enough in the parts themselves to take a guess.Mahler's 4th is a charming piece.I love it for it's sincerity and modesty.Being the shortest and "simplestic" orchestration, it makes a great introductory Mahler symphony.

The score is very durable and is large and easy to read.The price is wonderful -- for the starving music student, particularly!

I highly reccommend this score to professionals and those adventurous listers out there.

Great Symphonies
Listening to Mahler's 3rd symphony is an inexorable experience. Readingthe score while listening is ecstatic. It adds a lot to the enjoyment ofthe music if you have a copy of the score in hand. You can relate anothersensory organ to the music, elevating the experience to greaterheights.

Before I had the score, all I knew was there were several Frenchhorns playing the opening call in the 3rd (M3) but I know now that thereare exactly 8 horns playing in unison. Like Aaron Copland said in his book'What to Listen for in Music', "If there exists a more noble soundthan eight horns singing a melody fortissimo in unison, I have never heardit". I think he's referring to M3's opening horn call. Magnificent!And now with the score in hand, I know exactly how the music was put on thescore by Mahler, it's notation, expressive remarks, etc.

In some booksthat I read or even in the liner books that comes with the CDs, there isoften reference to the measures in the music. Without the score, you willnever know which measure that they are talking about. If you're really aMahler fan, or for that matter, if you are really into a certain piece ofmusic, buy the score. Believe me, it will add to your enjoyment.

However,some of you may think that it's a waste of time since you do not know howto read music. Yes, knowing how to read music will help a lot buy hey!reading music is not difficult to learn. All you need is to have thepassion for music inside you and the passion to explore the music. If youhave this, there's nothing that can be in your way.

The Dover series ofscores are mostly reliable. Commercially, they are the best there is. ... Read more

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