July 1, 2013.Gustav Mahler.Symphony no. 1.This week we’re celebrating the 153rd birthday of the great Austrian composer.Mahler was born on July 7 in Bohemia, then part of the Austrian Empire.His Jewish, German speaking family moved to the town of Iglau (now called Jihlava) when Gustav was an infant.Mahler started playing piano at his grandparent’s house when he was four.An inattentive student at a local school, he was sent to Prague by his father, who believed that Gustav needed a good education.Gustav was unhappy there and soon returned to Iglau.In 1875, he was accepted at the piano department of the Vienna conservatory.There he also took composition classes (none of his early pieces survive).One of his friends at the conservatory was the future songwriter Hugo Wolf.Mahler revered the music of Anton Bruckner and attended several of his lectures.In 1877, Mahler and a friend, Rudolf Krzyzanowski, went to the premier of Bruckner’s Third symphony, which turned into a disaster.The designated conductor, Johann von Herbeck, had died a month before the premier, so Bruckner, a poor conductor himself, had to lead the orchestra.Most of the public stormed out of the hall, and by the end of the performance even the musicians left the stage. In an attempt to mitigate the blow, Mahler and Krzyzanowski prepared a piano duo version of the symphony and presented it to Bruckner.(The devastated Bruckner, easily affected by criticism, set up to rewrite the symphony and created two more versions, one in 1877, and another one in 1888-89).Throughout Mahler’s entire career, Bruckner was a strong influence (to a large extent, so was Wagner).
Mahler graduated from the Conservatory in 1878.Two years later he got his first conducting job, in a small theater near Linz.A year later he was hired by the major theater in Laibach (now Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia).There Mahler conducted his first important opera, Verdi’s Il Trovatore.During the next several years he moved from one provincial town to another, working as a conductor in small opera theaters.His breakthrough came in 1886, when Mahler received a six-year contract with the Leipzig Opera, and also a position with the Neues Deutsches Theater in Prague.In Prague, the German theater was supposed to compete with the National Theater, where Smetana’s operas were all the rage, so Mahler staged operas by Mozart and Wagner.Alas, his association with the theater was brief: a personal conflict forced him to quit the same year.Things were not much easier in Leipzig, where the famous Arthur Nikisch was not happy with the arrival of the talented rival.In Leipiz Mahler successfully staged Wagner’s The Ring cycle, and operas by Carl Maria von Weber, whose grandson he befriended.
It was during that time that Mahler composed his first symphony.It was not his first work: he composed the original version of the Songs of a Wayfarer in 1885 and some other songs earlier, although he didn’t publish them till some years later.It was, though, his first attempt at a symphonic work.And what a momentous attempt!It’s hard to think of another first symphony of such impact, originality and audacity.Mahler was not afraid to mix together things high and low, earthly and ethereal.He used tunes from German folk songs, quotes from his own Wayfarer cycles, the unexpectedly funereal Frère Jacques and the sounds of a Klezmer band.He wrote music of naked emotions that would’ve sounded vulgar in a different context, and then created grandiose developments that elevate it to nearly religious fervor.And by the force of his genius he melded all this material into 55 minutes of music of tremendous intensity.The symphony was premièred at the Vigadó Concert Hall, Budapest in 1889, with Mahler conducting, but was poorly received. The first two performances (the second was given at Hamburg in October 1893, also with Mahler on the podium) contained an extra movement, Blumine, which Mahler eventually took out. All later versions contain four movements.We’ll hear it in the performance of the Chicago Symphony, Sir Georg Solti conducting.
Gustav Mahler, Symphony no. 1
July 1, 2013. Gustav Mahler. Symphony no. 1. This week we’re celebrating the 153rd birthday of the great Austrian composer. Mahler was born on July 7 in Bohemia, then part of the Austrian Empire. His Jewish, German speaking family moved to the town of
Iglau (now called Jihlava) when Gustav was an infant. Mahler started playing piano at his grandparent’s house when he was four. An inattentive student at a local school, he was sent to Prague by his father, who believed that Gustav needed a good education. Gustav was unhappy there and soon returned to Iglau. In 1875, he was accepted at the piano department of the Vienna conservatory. There he also took composition classes (none of his early pieces survive). One of his friends at the conservatory was the future songwriter Hugo Wolf. Mahler revered the music of Anton Bruckner and attended several of his lectures. In 1877, Mahler and a friend, Rudolf Krzyzanowski, went to the premier of Bruckner’s Third symphony, which turned into a disaster. The designated conductor, Johann von Herbeck, had died a month before the premier, so Bruckner, a poor conductor himself, had to lead the orchestra. Most of the public stormed out of the hall, and by the end of the performance even the musicians left the stage. In an attempt to mitigate the blow, Mahler and Krzyzanowski prepared a piano duo version of the symphony and presented it to Bruckner. (The devastated Bruckner, easily affected by criticism, set up to rewrite the symphony and created two more versions, one in 1877, and another one in 1888-89). Throughout Mahler’s entire career, Bruckner was a strong influence (to a large extent, so was Wagner).
Mahler graduated from the Conservatory in 1878. Two years later he got his first conducting job, in a small theater near Linz. A year later he was hired by the major theater in Laibach (now Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia). There Mahler conducted his first important opera, Verdi’s Il Trovatore. During the next several years he moved from one provincial town to another, working as a conductor in small opera theaters. His breakthrough came in 1886, when Mahler received a six-year contract with the Leipzig Opera, and also a position with the Neues Deutsches Theater in Prague. In Prague, the German theater was supposed to compete with the National Theater, where Smetana’s operas were all the rage, so Mahler staged operas by Mozart and Wagner. Alas, his association with the theater was brief: a personal conflict forced him to quit the same year. Things were not much easier in Leipzig, where the famous Arthur Nikisch was not happy with the arrival of the talented rival. In Leipiz Mahler successfully staged Wagner’s The Ring cycle, and operas by Carl Maria von Weber, whose grandson he befriended.
It was during that time that Mahler composed his first symphony. It was not his first work: he composed the original version of the Songs of a Wayfarer in 1885 and some other songs earlier, although he didn’t publish them till some years later. It was, though, his first attempt at a symphonic work. And what a momentous attempt! It’s hard to think of another first symphony of such impact, originality and audacity. Mahler was not afraid to mix together things high and low, earthly and ethereal. He used tunes from German folk songs, quotes from his own Wayfarer cycles, the unexpectedly funereal Frère Jacques and the sounds of a Klezmer band. He wrote music of naked emotions that would’ve sounded vulgar in a different context, and then created grandiose developments that elevate it to nearly religious fervor. And by the force of his genius he melded all this material into 55 minutes of music of tremendous intensity. The symphony was premièred at the Vigadó Concert Hall, Budapest in 1889, with Mahler conducting, but was poorly received. The first two performances (the second was given at Hamburg in October 1893, also with Mahler on the podium) contained an extra movement, Blumine, which Mahler eventually took out. All later versions contain four movements. We’ll hear it in the performance of the Chicago Symphony, Sir Georg Solti conducting.