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This text seeks to provide insights into Symphonies I-III of Gustav Mahler as well as a basis for discussion about them. Brief historical context is provided, and an instrumentation list and phrasal analysis precede the discussion of each movement. ... Read more

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Popular work reflects Mahler’s shift toward a more contrapuntal style. The orchestral richness of this work ranges from complex early movements to the simplicity of its closing song, "Das himmlische Leben." Authoritative edition.
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Mahler 4 score
I was looking for this somewhat hard to find score for my collection...and with some avid searching, I found and purchased it.With all of the scores I have, I already knew what to expect and the condition of the book itself was fine.Seeing that I'm going to make full use of it with markings of all sorts, as long as the book isn't trashed, I'm ok with the condition of it.The 4th is not the most popular of Mahler symphonies, but I always enjoy all of his work(s), regardless of the content.Thanks Amazon for helping me locate the score!:D ... Read more

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Sourcebooks MediaFusion and Naxos proudly present this fascinating biography of composer Gustav Mahler.

Among other astonishing compositions, Mahler completed nine symphonies of tremendous emotional range and imaginative power. Stephen Johnson follows Mahler’s development as man and composer, and sets out the experiences-the personal joys and sorrows, as well as the broader cultural forces-that formed him and made him one of the most widely loved composers in classical music.

This splendid volume comes complete with two CDs of carefully selected Mahler pieces. Readers also gain access to an exclusive website where they can hear the works in their entirety and explore additional content.

A revolutionary biography utilizing traditional and new media, Mahler: His Life and Music provides a uniquely rounded portrait of this visionary composer and his earthshaking music.
Naxos is the world’s leading classical music label and provider of classical music over the Internet at www.naxos.com. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Excellent Book on Gustav Mahler.
Austrian composer Gustav Mahler has often been described as the one who was the doorway out of 19th century Romantic music into the modern music of the 20th century. Indeed, much of his music was way ahead of its time and still receives wide acclaim (especially his orchestral songs and larger-than-life symphonies).
Stephen Johnson's biography on the life and music of Mahler goes into mass detail of this genuine composer. Great lengths have gone into describing Mahler's inner struggles as a person and as a musical genius. Additionally, much detail is given behind some of Mahler's monumental works including all ten symphonies, the riveting "Das Lied von der Erde (Song of the Earth)", "Das Knaben Wunderhorn" and many of his songs or 'Lieder' as they are called in German.
Besides the well-written essay on Mahler's life and music, the book also includes not one but TWO audio CD's (taken from the Naxos catalog) which chronicle some of Mahler's greatest and best known work. While excerpts from some immortal works are missing here (notably music from the Symphony No.2 "Resurrection" and Symphony No.9), the two CD's offer some prime examples of Mahler's greatness and natural genius and provide an excellent introduction to his music.
With this said, this book is a must for those just discovering Gustav Mahler. It's simple to read and is very in-depth. Also recommended is Constantine Floros's book on the Mahler Symphonies which provides a dissected 'under the microscope' view of all the Mahler symphonies as well as "Song of the Earth".
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Theodor W. Adorno (1903-1969) goes beyond conventional thematic analysis to gain a more complete understanding of Mahler's music through the composer's character, his social and philosophical background, and his moment in musical history. A classic in German from 1960, MAHLER is presented here in a translation that captures the stylistic brilliance of the original. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

A dated classic
Anyone familiar with the growing oevre of Mahler biographies must have come across Adorno's now-classic work. Long considered the authoritative analysis of Mahler's psyche, next to Bruno Walter's first-hand account, this work has not aged well. Clogged with psychoanalytic jargon - yet strangely devoid of the details of Mahler's brief analysis with Freud himself - and weak on the facts, this book should be eclipsed by the far more informative, objective accounts of Mahler's life that have appeared in recent years. Carr's superb volume comes to mind.

provocative and stimulating analysis of Mahler's music
The subject of this classic of musical analysis is the complicated phenomenon ofMahler's music and our response to it.The treatment is philosophical/psychological/analytic and the abstractness and complexity ofthe prose is typical of what one would find in a doctoral thesis, exceptthat it is beautifully written (and Jephcott's translation is itself a workof art).

To introduce the subject let me start with an experience of myown, which is no doubt typical.My introduction to Mahler's music wasthrough the Ninth and Tenth symphonies, which is like starting a mountainclimb already at the top of the mountain.I was 22 and naturally quitebowled over.Imagine my chagrin then at hearing the Fourth for the firsttime -- what is this Haydnesque genre piece that ends with a naive song? How could it have been written by the same composer? As always, though,Mahler's music works on one's subconscious and a few days later I feltcompelled to listen again, and what a revelation this was!The firstmovement, in particular, is absolutely extraordinary.It starts with acurious repeated figure, four flutes in unison playing fifths plus a gracenote, accompanied by bells; this leads directly into the deceptivelyclassical-sounding main theme and reappears throughout the first movement(and also in the last) as a kind of magic talisman with multiple meanings. The main theme is followed by a striking sunny interlude in A, with basesrocking pizzicato in fifths, a scurrying violin figure, and violas trillinglike insects singing in a meadow.I had the impression of an adult andchild walking through a field on a summer day.There's a brief change tothe minor, then some high sustained notes in the flutes.These arerepeated more emphatically by high clarinets, heralding an ominous change,as if the bucolic scene were being overrun by scudding clouds.Things arenot what they seemed, and we don't know where we are!Somehow, we'vegotten lost in a forest inhabited by goblins, spooky though not actuallymenacing. There's a swirling sensation accompanied by dark intimations inthe bass, chromatic muted trumpets, and repeated sustained high chords inthe flutes; the effect is weirdly haunting.After a while a commotion in Cdevelops, drums crescendo, and then suddenly pure terror -- a high trumpetplaying fortissimo.By some process of pure magic, the music suddenlyrecovers its former equanimity and adult and child (who turn out to be oneand the same) find themselves back in the sunny meadow.What sublimeirony, and how true to human nature -- when we see something uncanny thatdisturbs us, we try to put it behind us, forget it.Mahler alone iscapable of evoking such feelings. Only a magician could have written theFourth, and Mahler's achievement here is just as great as in the verydifferent late works, not to mention the middle symphonies.

I couldcite other personal examples, as could any Mahlerian.We might disagreeabout particulars, but each of us carries away something essential fromMahler's music and is enriched by it.And we are quite confident that theexperience is qualitatively the same from listener to listener.

Adornoapproaches the subject of our response to Mahler's music and what it meansthrough his own experiences of it.But what a listener! It's as if a verylearned friend with a doctorate in Mahler stopped by to discuss the subjectover tea and ended up staying all week.A gifted writer and philosopher,as well as a professionally trained composer who studied with Berg, Adornodiscusses all the symphonies except the Tenth and is always interestingeven when you disagree with him.Musicological jargon is mostly avoided,although philosophical-rhetorical terms abound (he loves the word"aporia").

Two caveats.First, the treatment is vulnerable tothe charge of "over-intellectualization".One recalls Mahler'sreply to William Ritter, an early admirer:"... I find myself much lesscomplicated than your image of me, which could almost throw me into a stateof panic."It seems that we, and particularly Adorno, are thecomplicated ones.We project our feelings onto the music, which seems toinvite them to an extent that would surprise even the composer.Themystery of why this is so, and the multifariousness of Mahler, the capacityof his music to be offensive, highly questionable, fascinating, and sublimeall at the same time, form the subject of the book.

Second, and moreseriously, he disparages Mahler's "ominous positivity" andthereby underestimates the Eighth Symphony at least (readers may agree thatthe finale of the Seventh is problematic; he does not discuss theextraordinary Tenth, which achieves a wholly serene, positive conclusion). But the positive in Mahler is an essential part of his dynamicdisequilibrium; without it, there would be no aporia and the music woulddegenerate into mere cynicism.Most of the symphonies follow a pattern --conflict, followed by attempted reconciliation and reconstruction.Thisprocess is entirely sincere, and if it fails even in Mahler's hands, it'sbecause he's attempting to do the impossible.Even in the Sixth, the most"tragic" and "despairing" of the symphonies, a goodperformance will reveal powerful updrafts.To deny the positive in Mahleris to chop him in two.That Adorno's book is nonetheless required readingis testimony to the value of his other observations.

Who then is thisbook for?It is best for Mahlerians of long standing, those who are wellpast the first flush of discovery and have regained their musicalequilibrium so to speak, and who want to put Mahler in perspective, or evenjust "share" opinions with an uncommonly intelligent andsensitive critic.

the musical crevices and fault-linesare probed with Adorno
If you know anything about Theodor Adorno, you might well be familiar with the entire edifice of western cultural and philosophic thought; Kant,Hegel,Kierkegaard,and Marx,the history of art,literature,painting and music. Less film,a realm Adorno never got to know. Here in Mahler,we have a concise profile of this one time neglected composer, long misunderstood,even today. I recall a rehearsal with Bernstein and the Vienna Philharmonic who couldn't quite understand Bernstein's raving from the heart,for clarity yet passion. Adorno knew Mahler's art much better than Mahler ever did for we learn this from Adorno, that Mahler simply abandoned himself to his own intuition to resolve his creative problems. Each chapter in this masterwork in miniature is self-sustaining. In the chapter "Tone" Adorno reveals the basic music materials of Mahler his orchestral pallete.The high positioned violins,in uncomfortable registers where they loose their souls to a menanced, shrill, thin timbre. The string section for Mahler is creatively undisciplined to begin with, each playing differing roles, each contributing its own independence, as in the opening of Mahler's "Ninth" Symphony, the melody tossed between the violins, tremoli in the violas, and the contrbass above or equal in register to all with harmonics. Mahler's progressiveness was in pure content,he was not one to pursue "tangible innovations" but secured his tenuous position with the diatonic mode,familiar scales and harmonic surfaces. A chiaroscuro of means (schatten) the shadows he creates with reliefs of foreground and background.Tonality is not so much renewed as an unheard voice enters the stage, Mahler's voice cracks,is overstrethched, the various woodwind passages like in the "Scherzo" of his "Seventh" Symphony. The forced tone is itself an expressive innovation of his own making a premonition of the darker legubrious brooding up the road in the orchestral works of Arnold Schoenberg. In fact we find ev! ery bit of these darker pages in Mahler before the horrors which await the citizens of Eastern Europe,even up to Bosnia.Adorno's focus is always how Mahler creates meaning within familiar confines,the roads that lead to simple harmonies. He disrupts the stabilityof rhythm,of gesture that once was, the familiar in Mahler's orchestral context becomes something quite different, no longer can the romantic symphony depend on redemption. Bruckner could depend on this, for he already found his spirituality, whereas Mahler spent his life in pursuit of it . Adorno in the chapter "Novel" reveals the non-progressive side of Mahler.He needed to depend on some stability so his musical characters come and go untarnished at times, the lowlife natural trombone,to the intimate/elegant solo violin, and thecracking horn moments in Mahler. This is where we find"Stufenreichtum" the richness of texture,the musical thread running from the full orchestral (tutti) everyone's voice heard, tothe single voice the solos. This is Mahler's context from the distance "in sehr weiter entfernung" to the immediate. It is this expressive immediacy, he learned from Beethoven that gives way to developed chaos as his life wears away. The overblown vacuous "Eighth Symphony" resolved nothing for his real creativity, and the "Ninth" the ideas begin toward the irrational,Mahler is serious even in the "Rondo-Burleske" from the "Ninth",the almost improvised gesture reminded me of Charles Ives,who was writing just about the same time. Adorno's chapter "Variant-Form" we learn Mahler's technique progressed away from what an academic would consider "good" Mahler needn't be as glib as Richard Strauss,nor as consummate as Wagner. He learned music in another wayand pointed toward a profound goal. A goal in which his music simply breaks its own voice"Durchbruch" as Adorno mentions where there was no comfort in traditional moments. Adorno opens thi! s expressive vault of Mahler and we can see Mahler again. As recently as Pierre Boulez in his ongoing recordings with The Chicago Symphony we find a Mahler quite as a turning point to the 20th century. Well Boulez brings Mahler into our century whether we want him there or not. Boulez brings a sublime ugliness at times to Mahler's simplicity, the functional predictable movements of harmony creates a kind of timbral dirt. Mahler wanted this. No we are not done with his marvelous "Symphonies" we can contemplate them for some time. ... Read more

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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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This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

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Complex symphony integrates on a truly grand scale the musical ideas, forms and media that dominated the composer's creative life. A two-part work, the symphony is scored for orchestra, eight solo voices, double chorus, boys' choir and organ. A monumental masterpiece, affordably priced for students, performers and Mahler admirers.
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Discovering Mahler is the fourth and final volume of Donald Mitchell's unique studies of Mahler and his music.
This new publication fills the remaining gaps in the scrutiny of Mahler's works in the series, principally the Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Symphonies, with the Ninth and Tenth. It begins with a substantial survey of Mahler's music, commissioned for the sixth edition of Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians (1980), but here printed in full for the first time.
A striking feature throughout this collection is the examination of the revelatory role of the performer; this is epitomized in transcripts of significant conversations about the Fifth and Seventh Symphonies with, respectively, Riccardo Chailly and Bernard Haitink. The concluding section consists of major lectures and celebratory essays, some here published for the first time in English. These form a fascinating and frequently moving personal testament to a lifetime, and specifically fifty working years, of discovering Mahler.
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Book:Discovering Mahler: Writings on Mahler, 1955-2005 by Donald Mitchell
Another excellent book on Gustav Mahler by Donald Mitchell.Mr. Mitchell is one of the foremost authorities on Mahler, and his book are essential for any serious musician or historian studying Mahler's life and music. ... Read more

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The great Austrian composer’s most highly regarded work, a fusion of song and symphony epitomizing both his genius and the very spirit of late Romanticism. Reprinted from the original Viennese edition published in 1912 by Universal Edition, with English translations of song texts. Table of contents.
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Nearly perfect
This is a beautiful Dover reproduction of the full score of Das Lied von der Erde. Quite readable, high quality paper, and fully usable for study or conducting. What's not to like?

Accessible Mahler
Das Lied von der Erde typifies Mahler's genius; a genius for transposing the Wagnerian/Jungian preoccupation with mankind's myths from the Operatic stage to Symphony hall. Taken from a series of Chinese poetic meditationson man's relationship to the earth, Das Lied von der Erde is a deeplycontemplative work for a large orchestra and three singers: a Soprano, aTenor, and a Baritone. Like most Dover scores, Das Lied von der Erde is atreasure. Reprinted from an original edition, it includes a translation ofall frontismatter from that edition, as well as a small glossary of Germanmusical terms used in the score. The paper is acid free, and the binding ishigh quality, so this thing is going to last for a while. Also, the bookitself and the printing are large enough that, contrary to complaints I'veheard regarding other Dover Mahler scores, you could conduct from it.Finally, all Dover scores are so moderately priced that any devoted Mahlerfan simply will not be able to resist this Das Lied von der Erde. ... Read more