Mahler's most personal statement in music

[shawn]

Hello everyone,

I've wondered what the board members consider Mahler's most personal statement in music. This probably is a silly question, because we may find things very personal whilst Mahler felt he was more personal in other instances. And what is the definition of 'personal'? In the end, Mahler was ALWAYS personal, there weren't that many composers that poured so much of themselves in music. His music is highly subjective and is perceived as such. I'm still going to ask the question. Based on our own perceptions (which are, indeed, very 'personal'  ), which Mahler composition ranks highly in that regard?

An excerpt from Classical Notes (http://www.classicalnotes.net/classics2/mahlerlied.html):

'Bruno Walter called Das Lied von der Erde "Mahler's most personal work, perhaps the most personal work in music." I've never heard it in concert, and frankly I never want to – it's far too personal and intimate, and thus ideally suited to recordings and the privacy they afford. Indeed, Mahler had told Walter that he feared Das Lied was too intense for an audience, and after completing the orchestration he stashed the score and never sought a performance.'

Now, whether or not the writer is completely accurate, this description of DLVDE is kind of a rough consensus of how the work is perceived. I wouldn't object to hearing it in concerts, but it's definitely one of Mahler's works that should not be 'corrupted' by an outbreak of applause at the end. Perhaps the orchestra and audience should leave the hall without further ado (of course, being as quiet as possible  ) It will never happen. A concert performance without applause? Unthinkable! (Talk about being 'personal'  )

In every way, Mahler was very personal and very direct. He never concealed his views, he never compromised his feelings, and we hear it as it is. This has naturally polarized critics and music lovers alike. Mahler, in that respect, is quite different from Brahms, a composer that almost always kept his feelings close to the chest (which is no crime!). Some even go as far as characterizing Brahms as too much of a compromise, some kind of 'no man's land' between Classicism and Romanticism. It's all relative, of course. And again, where Brahms did himself find he was being 'personal', our perceptions may be different.

But more on topic: If people ask me the question which Mahler composition strikes me as his most personal, they are often surprised by the answer: Mahler's Tenth. It's a controversial choice, because the work is not complete. It has been reconstructed quite a few times, and several of them are convincing, but they will always remain Mahler through the eyes of another composer. But, was a Mahler composition at any time definite? Had he heard his latter works in concert, they might as well be different than how we know them today. His Fifth, for example, was never a completed process, with Mahler making alterations even in his last years.

But what I DO hear in the Mahler Tenth, to my view, is the equivalent of open heart surgery. While the Mahler Sixth is fatalistic and nihilistic, it was reportedly written during one of Mahler's most happier years, and has tremendous elan. It is purposely balanced, the grim moments countered by moments of optimism, a tremendous ebb and flow. It's 'Tragic' on a heroic scale.

Now, I will never apply the term 'heroic' to his Tenth. It's a work of great desolation, even despair, a composer at war with himself. The opening Adagio enters the scene like nothing we have heard before in Mahler's output. My reaction to this music is extremely subjective. It is almost as if the music has a major problem trusting itself (I hope you know what I mean by that). There are many efforts on Mahler's behalf to counter the feeling of desolation, but it's rather forced, as if he knew darn well this is what he HAD to say at that time, without trying to compensate for its 'honesty'. Of course, the cataclysmic dissonant chords are much discussed. I find they are the equivalent of a spine chilling 'emotional auto mutilation'. Mahler is punishing himself, at least that's how I perceive it, and I agree that's VERY subjective on my behalf. The mood is somehow more consoling at the Adagio's end, but again in a rather forced way. In essence, this is a consistently desolate movement, and what we do encounter as 'relief' does very little to lighten the mood.

The middle movements are a tour de force of vigor. But as I appreciate their vitality, they again strike me as a willful sort of a distraction. Maybe I should accept them for what they are: exhilarating and buoyant. I just feel that, in the overall mood, they do not quite fit in. I think it's Mahler providing contrast first and foremost (and there's nothing wrong with that).

The Finale starts in essentially the same desolate mood as the Adagio, but it all changes (at least for a while) when the flute enters the scene. Now, has Mahler ever penned a more beautiful melody? Or, indeed, has any composer? Its melody cannot possible be described as desolate, it somehow may be called sad, a lament, and at the same time I cannot escape a feeling of a beginning of acceptance. That is, for the moment. Because after that, Mahler essentially conjures up the same forced episodes, again full of vigor. The last dissonant climax appears, but from there on the consoling mood reappears for the final time. Mahler has finally ceased protesting. There is acceptance, this time a little more convincing than in the last part of the Adagio. The music remains passionate (the composer hasn't quite given up his pleads), and dies out in a reluctant sort of way. The following major string glissando is EXTREMELY subjective, but I cannot remember any other symphony ending on such a deeply personal statement. Of course it's willfully subjective! But that's how we know Mahler, who 'couldn't feel by halves'. The last notes resemble those of the conclusion of the Adagio of Bruckner's Ninth.

This may not be Mahler's most inspired symphony. It's not finished, and therefore we may never know how it ended if Mahler lived to complete it. But I do feel, this symphony is about raw emotions, about reality, the journey towards acceptance. It's not a story about the love for nature, for life, for redemption. It's a story about coming to terms with yourself. I'm aware this is a very subjective assessment on my part, it's certainly not a fact 

Essentially, I think of M10 as another 'darkness to light' symphony. It's a deeply tragic work without the intended theatricality of, say, the Sixth. Other listeners may find that the Tenth is just as theatrical. Maybe it is. I just feel it's Mahler in his most Mahlerian form, without offering a clear concept symphony, or a specific theme. There is no poetical context. It's just Mahler offering a 'realistic' slice of himself and the last troubled period of his life. I find it a spine chilling symphony, and indeed I identify myself with many of its elements. That's what makes it personal for ME.

[Russ Smiley]

I believe all of Mahler's music is personal, obviously to various degrees and emotions, but perhaps the single composition that strikes me as most poignantly "personal Mahler" is "Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen".

[shawn]

Hello Russ,

'Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen' is indeed a very personal statement! (High on my list as well)


In my message I said that 'Mahler couldn't feel by halves', but I confused it with Schoenberg's reply to one of Mahler's works 

[barryguerrero]

"The most" is always difficult to say. It's also difficult to define "personal", because Mahler was no less personal when you composed his 'happier' Wunderhorn symphonies. But if you held a gun to my head and commanded that I choose or die, I would say "DLvdE" and the 10th symphony. I agree with Schonberg when he said that the 9th was composed from the 'third person' perspective. I know what he meant by that.

The 10th symphony is a fair answer because it's basically the same work, regardless of which completion or 'performing version' you listen to.

[shawn]

Hello Barry,

I, too, understand Schoenberg's 'third person' assessment concerning the Mahler Ninth.

A lot of people say it's Mahler's greatest symphony. A deeply personal work. For some reason, though, it is not in my 'top 3'. I believe it was Klemperer's favorite.

I never found it a consistently inspired work. Mahler's Ninth has a magnificent first movement. A symphony in itself. But the Andante comodo is a tough act to follow. The other movements are very alive and distinctive, but not on the same level of inspiration. Bernstein described the conclusion to its Adagio as the greatest page Mahler ever wrote. He is perfectly in his right to say that, but I can name at least three other ones that surpass it in terms of 'great'. To each his own.

This aptly describes why it is very difficult to rank Mahler's music in terms of great or personal. But it's an interesting discussion, not to compile a 'Mahler's most personal statement top 10', but just for finding out how the board members respond to his music 

[shawn]

Hello Thomass,

Das klagende Lied is extremely precocious, a highly original composition. I remember reading that, in regard to its greatness, Mengelberg could not believe that there weren't earlier Mahler works of equal stature composed prior to Das klagende Lied. Well, it demonstrates how excellent it is 

It had to wait more than 20 years for its premiere. It has a very distinctive mood. It is a model for Mahler's later compositions.

[Prospero]

In these matters, it seems best to say "from my personal perspective."

[barryguerrero]

Good points, all the way around. Interesting, as "DKL" also came to my mind. While it lacks the focus and maturity of later works, there is something so direct and honest about it. It's like a young kid blurting out the truth around adults who generally monitor what they say.

[waderice]

It is too bad that people can no longer obtain the one recording of DkL in its original scoring, before Mahler did anything to revise it.  That recording was conducted by Kent Nagano.  There are some quite unusual things that can be heard in that recording compared to Mahler’s final revisions to the work immediately before it received its first performance.  Things too numerous to relate here, and things that everyone else has said that made Mahler quite a precocious composer at an early age.  But when you compare the original to Mahler’s final version, it certainly represents Mahler as a mature composer.

If there is one recording in my Mahler collection that I value highly, it is this one by Nagano.  Sort of a bit of compensation for my being unable to obtain the de Waart box set of the complete symphonies.

Wade

[barryguerrero]

I second your enthusiasm for the Nagano "DKL".

I did own the DeWaart Mahler box set years ago, but chose to keep just M7 and M8. I could have very easily kept symphonies 2, 3, 5 and 9 as well - less so M1 and M4.  I did, however, keep the actual box. I use it for holding pens, sharpies, scissors, etc.

[erikwilson7]

Upon reading these posts I purchased the last new Nagano/Hallé Das klagende Lied in stock on Amazon, from a third party seller for a steal of only $7.95. Needless to say, this recording is outstanding. Thank you for the recommendations. I’m hoping someday this either gets reissued or put on Spotify/Idagio because it’s quite a special recording.

For my own two cents on the topic, I second (third?) that Das Lied von der Erde and M10 are his most personal works near the end of his life.

Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen was very personal to him at the earlier stages of his compositional career as well as Das klagende Lied. In addition to seeking to compose music in the style of Schubert’s Winterreise (a work Mahler greatly admired at this stage in his life), Mahler’s Jewish heritage and less affluent Czech background caused feelings of ostracism throughout his life, and those are arguably most evident in this song cycle and his First Symphony. Take M1/III for example, which incorporates Jewish folk tunes surrounded by the Catholic children’s folk tune ”Frère Jacques;” structurally speaking, the klezmer tunes are “trapped” between these haunting minor-key nursery rhymes. In the song ”Die zwei blauen Augen von meinem Schatz,” Mahler describes the wanderer as being so laden with grief and devastated by his environment that he rests under a linden tree (more Winterreise), only finding solace when he submits to sleep (death?) and allows the linden blossoms to “snow” onto him. Yes, the song cycle is about love-grief on the surface, but I believe Mahler is telling us more.

Erik