Search
Generic filters

Mahler – Das Lied von der Erde – Part 1

Last updated May 12, 2021 | Published on Jan 28, 2021

Winner of a fellowship at the Bayreuther Festspiele, Mr. Griglio’s conducting has been praised for his “energy” and “fine details”. Mr. Griglio took part in the first world recording of music by composer Irwin Bazelon and conducted several world premieres like "The song of Eddie", by Harold Farberman, a candidate for the Pulitzer Prize. Principal Conductor of International Opera Theater Philadelphia for four years, Mr.Griglio is also active as a composer. His first opera, Camille Claudel, debuted in 2013 to a great success of audience and critics. Mr. Griglio is presently working on an opera on Caravaggio and Music Director of Opera Odyssey.
h

Table of contents

Introduction

Leonard Bernstein described Das Lied von der Erde as Mahler’s greatest symphony. And as a symphony was, in fact, published: a Symphony for Tenor, Alto or Baritone, and Orchestra. Written between 1908 and 1909, Das Lied is a succession of 6 songs, for 2 singers alternating movements.

In order to even get a glimpse into this monumental work, we need to understand the biographical background that nurtured it.

Mahler had been obsessed with death for a long time but in the last years of his life, it acquired a whole new meaning. In 1907 Mahler lost his daughter Maria to scarlet fever. Soon after her death, Mahler himself was diagnosed with a congenital heart malfunction that would prohibit any activities that would exhaust his heart.

If that wasn’t enough, a long-lasting antisemitic campaign against his role as director of the then Vienna Hofoper had gotten the best of him, resulting in his resignation.

Scheherazade by Édouard Frédéric Wilhelm Richter (1844-1913)

Gustav Mahler in 1909

As he wrote to Bruno Walter:

“With one stroke I have lost everything I have gained in terms of who I thought I was, and have to learn my first steps again like a newborn”

Das Trinklied vom Jammer der Erde

Should you need a score you can find one here.

The tone of the symphony is set right from the opening piece titled “The drinking song of earth’s sorrow“. It’s a rather pessimistic reflection upon life, summarized in the verse “Dunkel ist das Leben, ist der Tod” – “Dark is life, and so is death.”

Mahler opens the work with a dramatic gesture, a 16 bars introduction in A minor. This theme, played here by 4 horns, will reappear times and again throughout the movement

Mahler - Das Lied von der Erde - mov.1 ex.1

Wine is coming but the speaker urges the audience to wait until he’s sung them his song. 

Mahler moves swiftly from A minor to Bb major, back to A minor, then A major, A minor, Bb major, and G minor. This constant harmonic fluidity makes it quite difficult to identify different sections based on the harmonic analysis. The thematic material, however, is of great help in this.

This introduction by the speaker, outlined in the first stanza of the poem, holds all the pessimism we would expect:

“The song of sorrow shall
resound in gusts of
laughter through your soul.

When sorrow draws near,
the gardens of the soul lie wasted,

Joy and song wither and die.
Dark is life, and so is death.”

Oops...

This content is available for free with all memberships.

Already a member? Login here.

Not a member yet? Subscribe today and get access to more than 80 videos, scores analysis, technical episodes, and exercises.

Notes

Cover image by Lucas Craig from Pexels

Free Download

Conducting Pills

A FREE video series with an analysis of structure, phrasing, and, of course, conducting tips of repertoire works: from Mozart to Brahms, from Beethoven to Debussy. A new episode every week!

Pass the baton

10 chapters, 11 videos, practical exercises, and examples with scores: this video course produced for iClassical-Academy will show you, through a bar-by-bar analysis of excerpts ranging from Mozart to Mahler and Copland, how to build your own technique in the most logical and effective way.

Gianmaria Griglio is an intelligent, exceptional musician. There is no question about his conducting abilities: he has exceptionally clear baton technique that allows him to articulate whatever decisions he has made about the music.

Harold Farberman

0 Comments
Submit a Comment

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This