Jester's Cap Schelle (little bells) in M4

[mike bosworth]

This issue had been nagging at me for a few days, and I finally found Mahler's direct reference to it in a discussion he had with Natalie Bauer-Lechner:

"Commenting on the individual movements, he said: 'The first begins characteristically enough, with the bells of the Fool's Cap (mit der Schellenkappe)..."

Therefore sleigh bells were never a part of Mahler's thinking.  And as Mahler himself said, the appearance of the little bells of the Jester's cap was a wry/ironic touch very much 'in character' for him.

Unfortunately the incorrect 'sleigh bells' depiction still persists in some program guides and published descriptions of the symphony.

Mike Bosworth
Hanoi

[stillivor]

Interesting, and there's an idea there for a sexed-up performance, using an actor seeking a tiny amount of work.


    Ivor

[barry guerrero]

Be that as it may, I wouldn't suggest trying to perform it with tiny little bells - they'll never project from the back of the percussion section, out into a big auditorium. That MIGHT be OK for the very opening of the symphony - especially if you were to put the player somewhere near the front - but wouldn't work at the climax of the first movement, where the bells suddenly appear after the trumpet fanfare that sounds something like the beginning of the 5th symphony. It also wouldn't work at the loud orchestral outbursts between vocal stanzas in the final movement. Perhaps the percussionist could put a jester's hat on, just to get the right idea across. Frankly, I just don't buy this idea at all. The start of the 4th symphony is, indeed, very wintery (wintry?) sounding. I'd rather think of frolicking in the snow.

Barry

[john haueisen]

Couldn't it also be argued that a snowy, wintery setting might also set the stage for a heavenly view of what the angels tell me?  The sound of bells has many associations with angels, and a childlike approach to a simple child's view of heaven.  M4 strikes me far more as a child's image of heaven, rather than a jester's mockery.  Mahler's iinstructions in the score admonish the musicians not to play in a mocking attitude.
--John H

[akiralx]

Why not have the conductor wearing the jester's cap with bells, at least at the beginning - then they could nod and make sure the tricky tempo change there was exactly as they want it!   

[mike bosworth]

Couldn't it also be argued that a snowy, wintery setting might also set the stage for a heavenly view of what the angels tell me?  The sound of bells has many associations with angels, and a childlike approach to a simple child's view of heaven.  M4 strikes me far more as a child's image of heaven, rather than a jester's mockery.  Mahler's iinstructions in the score admonish the musicians not to play in a mocking attitude.
--John H

A childlike/child's view of heaven in the Finale, yes.  But not in the first movement.  Mahler's once subtitled the first movement (unofficially) as "Die Welt als ewige Jenseits" (the world as the eternal present).  I see the first movement as to some extent making fun of the all-consuming concern for the day-to-day or the mundane that adults have; something that children often can't relate to.  It is no surprise in this sense that Mahler sees the appearance of the "Schelle" as representing the jester's cap.  Remember also that in Catholic parts of Germany these caps play an important role at Karneval time.  As I myself have witnessed, they have a symbolism that includes fun and humour more generally than that which we in America migtht simply impart to a 'court jester'; i.e., they are not necessarily 'mocking'.

The appearances of the Schelle in the Finale are part of loud intrusions that hark back to the adult world of the first movement.  Of course the child's view of things wins out in the end and the symphony ends calmly.  But even in the Finale there is a bit of humour--it is not all serious.  Back in 1905 Richard Specht wrote that the finale "contains a charming humor that is still not fully understood".

Of course the actually "Schelle" (little bells, not 'sleigh bells' in German) are a standard musical device that Mahler was surely confident would be audilble even in louder passages.  But their symbolism for him was linked clearly to the "Schellenkappe".

Mike Bosworth
Hanoi

[barry guerrero]

I think that the issue is really more about what works, musically speaking, than it is about what the bells symbolize, or don't symbolize. Mahler was a thorough enough composer that if he had wanted particularly small bells - or just a few bells - he would specified that in the score. As it is, the score simply says Schellen.

The Concertgebouw, for example, uses a nice, deep sounding set of sleigh bells. Yet, the Concertgebouw has a direct connection to Mahler's 4th symphony: there was that famous concert where Mengelberg conducted the fourth symphony on the first half of the concert, then Mahler himself conducted it on the second half. If there had been any controversy over the bells, Mahler would have straightened the issue out, right there and then. As for the imagery in one's mind, can't that be left up to the listener? Remember, Mahler dropped the whole notion of program notes, simply because so many people were taking things too literally, or taking them clear out of context.

[mike bosworth]

I think that the issue is really more about what works, musically speaking, than it is about what the bells symbolize, or don't symbolize. Mahler was a thorough enough composer that if he had wanted particularly small bells - or just a few bells - he would specified that in the score. As it is, the score simply says Schellen....

As for the imagery in one's mind, can't that be left up to the listener? Remember, Mahler dropped the whole notion of program notes, simply because so many people were taking things too literally, or taking them clear out of context.

Of course, the imagery of M4 must be left up to the listener.  That is what Mahler would have wanted and he is of course right. 

But once again, remember that in German "Schelle" simply means little bells.  It does not mean 'sleigh bells' (or "Schlittenschelle").   People might discount what Mahler told Natalie Bauer-Lechner about the "Schellenkappe";  conversely they should not automatically assume that images of sleighbells were dancing in Mahler's mind, even if that is what we call this particular percussion device in this day and age.

Mike Bosworth

[barry guerrero]

OK, but aren't we splitting hairs then? Isn't it simply a matter of semantics or nomenclature? The type of bells that are on top of a jester's cap are essentially the same as those on a dowel (or strap) with "sleigh bells" attached to them. The main difference would simply be size and quantity. If Mahler had felt that the bells used by the Concertgebouw were too deep in pitch, he could have insisted on smaller ones at that point. The same goes for the quantity of bells. I'll admit that the standard Ludwig brand, dowel of bells - with bells attached to all four sides of the dowel - is probably overkill.  But most orchestras aren't using those anyway. They're usually using a smaller dowel of bells, or a leather strap with bells attached. The dowel, however, is far more easy to control than the strap (the strap gets a slightly better sound).

Also, keep in mind that, at times, Mahler dragged his own deep bells and cowbells around with him. I've never read anything about him bringing his own M4 "schellen". I just don't think that a small quantity of small bells is going to solve anything. Personally, I really like the Concertgebouw's "schellen" sound. That's just me.