NEW YORK

T h e Mahler Broadcasts
1948-1982
NEW YORK
PHILHARMONIC
The Mahler Broadcasts
Major Funding by
Rita E. and Gustave M. Hauser
Track Listing
D i s c 7 (69:26)
1 - 4 S y m p h o n y N o . 7 in B m i n o r
Disc 1 (68:22)
1 - 4 S y m p h o n y N o . 1 in D m a j o r
52:40
Disc 8 ( 7 6 : 4 4 )
Sir J o h n Barbirolli, conductor (January 10, 1 9 5 9 )
5 - 8 Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen ( S o n g s of a Wayfarer)
William Steinberg, conductor; Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, baritone
(November 27, 1964)
Disc 2 (79:53)
1 - 5 S y m p h o n y N o . 2 in C m i n o r ("Resurrection") for O r c h e s t r a ,
S o p r a n o and Alto Solos, and Mixed C h o r u s
Z u b i n M e h t a , conductor; Kathleen Battle, soprano;
M a u r e e n Forrester, contralto ( M a r c h 7, 1 9 8 2 )
87:54
Rafael Kubelik, conductor (February 2 8 , 1981)
15:25
1 S y m p h o n y N o . 7 in B m i n o r (conclusion)
2 - 7 D a s L i e d v o n d e r Erde ( T h e S o n g o f the E a r t h )
B r u n o Walter, conductor; Kathleen Ferrier, mezzo-soprano;
Set Svanholm, tenor (January 18, 1 9 4 8 )
58:05
Disc 9 ( 7 8 : 0 0 )
79:53
1 - 10 S y m p h o n y N o . 8 in E-flat m a j o r
78:00
L e o p o l d Stokowski, conductor (April 9, 1 9 5 0 )
Disc 10 ( 7 9 : 5 0 )
Disc 3 (75:49)
1 - 5 S y m p h o n y N o . 3 in D m i n o r
Pierre Boulez, conductor; Yvonne M i n t o n , mezzo-soprano
(October 2 3 , 1 9 7 6 )
1 - 4 S y m p h o n y N o . 9 in D m a j o r
97:31
Disc 5
Disc 6
55:30
(73:02)
1 - 5 S y m p h o n y N o . 5 in C - s h a r p m i n o r
Klaus Tennstedt, conductor (June 18, 1 9 8 0 )
Sir J o h n Barbirolli, conductor ( D e c e m b e r 8, 1 9 6 2 )
Disc11(77:08)
D i s c 4 (77:27)
1 S y m p h o n y N o . 3 in D m i n o r (conclusion)
2 - 5 S y m p h o n y N o . 4 in G m a j o r , for O r c h e s t r a a n d S o p r a n o S o l o
G e o r g Solti, conductor; I r m g a r d Seefried, soprano (January 13, 1 9 6 2 )
73:02
Symphony N o . 10 in F-sharp minor
1 Andante—Adagio
Dimitri M i t r o p o u l o s , conductor (January 16, I 9 6 0 )
2 Purgatorio
D i m i t r i M i t r o p o u l o s , conductor ( M a r c h 16, 1 9 5 8 )
3 - 5 T h e Conductors Speak About Mahler
B r u n o Walter, L e o p o l d Stokowski, a n d Sir J o h n Barbirolli
6 - 9 W i l l i a m Malloch's "I R e m e m b e r Mahler"
Interviews with musicians who played u n d e r M a h l e r
(Broadcast by K P F K on July 7, 1964)
(73:30)
1 - 4 S y m p h o n y N o . 6 in A m i n o r
D i m i t r i M i t r o p o u l o s , conductor (April 10, 1955)
79:50
73:30
Disc 1 2 ( 7 4 : 1 8 )
1 - 10 W i l l i a m Malloch's "I R e m e m b e r M a h l e r " (conclusion)
30:03
25:41
4:17
14:32
106:28
Table of Contents
Book cover:
Cover detail from Mahler's
copy of his First Symphony
(first edition Vienna:
Josef Weinberger, 1899)
Inside front cover:
A stylized "GM" used by
Mahler for his letterhead.
Right:
First page from Mahler's
copy of his First Symphony
This first-edition score,
now in the New York
Philharmonic Archives,
contains the markings of
Mahler, Bruno Walter,
Leonard Bernstein,
and others.
From the Executive Director
Mahler's American Voice
Deborah Borda
Sedgwick Clark
8
10
PROGRAM N O T E S
Symphony No. 1
28
Symphony N o . 2 ("Resurrection")
36
Symphony No. 3
50
Symphony N o . 4
62
Symphony N o . 5
70
Symphony No. 6
76
Symphony N o . 7
90
Symphony N o . 8
98
Symphony N o . 9
122
Symphony N o . 10 (Adagio and Purgatorio)
130
Das Lied von der Erde
136
Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen
146
Audio Recollections
154
T H E ARTISTS
Artists' Biographies
160
Musicians' Roster
230
Recording History James North
240
Engineers' Note Seth B. Winner and Jon M. Samuels
244
Credits
246
of this century. In the 1930s and 1940s, when Mahler's music was banned in the European
From the
Executive Director
DEBORAH BORDA
cities where it had once been most strongly promoted, the New York Philharmonic
continued to bring it to the public. After 1920, hardly a season passed without a
performance of at least one major work by Mahler. Musicians who performed under Mahler
were still playing with the Philharmonic in the 1940s, providing a link with the Mahler
tradition that few other orchestras, if any, could claim.
Along with its desire to maintain continuity, of course, the Orchestra has shown its
eagerness to grow and to change. T h e superb conductors and soloists who appear on this
set, coming from different cultural backgrounds and having their own aesthetic goals, offer
a broad spectrum of approaches to Mahler. In its interactions with the many master
conductors who have led the Orchestra, this extraordinary ensemble has continually
demonstrated its interpretive versatility while putting its unmistakable stamp on the end
product. O n e striking omission in our cast of conductors requires an explanation. Leonard
Bernstein, so closely associated with the Orchestra and with Mahler, does not appear on this
I
n 1997, the New York Philharmonic took the unprecedented step of launching a
new recording label, New York Philharmonic Special Editions, and offered as its
inaugural release a collection of historic performances from six decades of live radio
broadcasts. T h e public and critical enthusiasm for the set has been stunning. In less
than a year, T h e Historic Broadcasts has won the prestigious Heritage Award from
National Public Radio and the Best Orchestral Award in the historic category from
Gramophone magazine's ICRC. Now we are tremendously pleased to present a second
collection, New York Philharmonic: The Mahler Broadcasts, 1948-1982.
8\
Gustav Mahler's music has formed a part of the Orchestras repertoire in every decade
set. Nearly every work by Mahler that Bernstein and the Orchestra played over the air,
however, was preserved in a studio recording, and those recordings continue to be readily
available. This set offers rare collaborations of the Philharmonic under other great Mahler
conductors and soloists, and the picture that emerges is of an ensemble whose dedication
to Mahler began well before Bernstein's celebrated campaign for his music. That dedication
shows no sign of waning.
The Philharmonic has always enjoyed the generous support of music lovers, and for this
collection of Philharmonic broadcasts, as for the first, we owe special thanks to G u s and
Rita Hauser, who expressed their enthusiasm for this set from its very inception. •
9
Mahler's
American Voice
by SEDGWICK CLARK
R
emember when Mahler didn't grow on trees? When each Mahler recording had
an interpretive point of view, a unique orchestral sonority, a sense of
discovery—in a word, personality? The performances in this set constitute a
time warp for Mahlerites, a return to the adventure and excitement of having
to travel far and wide to hear this music. They are live, one-time concerts by some of the
Milton G l a s e r ' s psychedelic profile of Gustav M a h l e r a p p e a r e d the cover of the S e p t e m b e r
1 9 6 7 issue of High Fidelity magazine, which c a r r i e d L e o n a r d Bernstein's f a m o u s article
10
" M a h l e r : His T i m e H a s C o m e . "
great Mahler interpreters of our century, leading an orchestra with a Mahler heritage second
to none. T h e y hover on the edge, without the safety net of splicing, without the dead hand
of "perfection." Despite all the Mahler recordings you have heard, even by the same
conductors, these are new and different.
T h e question most often asked about last year's 1 0 - C D N e w York Philharmonic set, The
Historic Broadcasts, 1923 to 1987, was why no works by Mahler had been included. Voilà!
Of course we had this Mahler set in mind; given the Philharmonic's Mahler pedigree—
dating back to when the composer himself was the Orchestra's Music Director—this
complete symphony cycle was preordained. J u d g i n g from the enthusiasm expressed as word
leaked of its imminent release, the public couldn't agree more.
W h e n Mahler predicted that his time would c o m e , I wonder if he imagined that an
American conductor and an American orchestra would be his prophets? For all the
pockets
of i m p a s s i o n e d
Mahler
boosters
scattered
around
the
world,
it
was
unquestionably the N e w York Philharmonic's 1 9 5 9 - 6 0 c o m m e m o r a t i o n of the composer's
centennial that detonated the Mahler B o o m . T h e Philharmonic's dashing y o u n g M u s i c
Director, Leonard Bernstein, asked the audience of his nationally televised Young People's
Concert, " W h o is G u s t a v Mahler?" a n d then began to record the songs and symphonies
with his new orchestra.
Symphony No. 1 (January 10, 1959)
Former Philharmonic Music Director Sir J o h n Barbirolli programmed Mahler's First in the
second week of his return, after 16 years, to the Orchestra. T h e musicians' excitement and
12
affection are palpable throughout in an interpretation of enormous character, coupled with
13
a style of playing intuitively at one with Mahler's youthful effusiveness. The dramatic
moments are attacked with full-throated commitment, and the nostalgic trios of the inner
movements are embellished with some of the sexiest glissandi on record. The rustic weight
of the Scherzo may seem eccentric at first, but Mahler's tempo marking is "Vigorously
moving, but not too fast." In the "Frère Jacques" funeral march, Sir John dares the double
bassist to play his opening solo with deliciously seedy tone and milks the klezmer-like
Parodie sections for all they're worth. Not even the flu season can conceal the fact that
Barbirolli's New York Mahler First is a revelatory addition to the Mahler discography.
Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (November 27, 1964)
The Songs of a Wayfarer couple naturally with the First Symphony, for two of the songs
found their way into the larger work: the "walking tune" of the second as the primary
melody of the Symphony's first movement and the fourth song as material for the thirdmovement funeral march. Mahler's first mature work, completed in 1885 when he was in
bis mid-20s, was the product of a broken heart. "Already," writes Deryck Cooke in his
Gustav Mahler (Cambridge, 1980), "we see the conflict to be worked out in the
symphonies—love of nature and life combating emptiness and despair." Dietrich FischerDieskau's pentetrating insight into the text sheds fresh light on Mahler's angst, as always, and
he is warmly supported by the Orchestra under William Steinberg.
Ad for the New York Philharmonic's second Mahler Festival, conducted by Pierre Boulez,
Erich Leinsdorf, and James Levine.
15
Symphony No. 2 "Resurrection" (March 7, 1982)
broadcast recording, one's ears prick up again and again as tiny rhythmic details, often
The New York Philharmonics relationship to the Second dates back to 1908, when the
smudged in other performances, emerge unobtrusively from the tapestry of Mahler's vast
composer himself conducted the work with Walter Damrosch's Symphony Society. It was
sound world. The recorded sound is spacious and natural and has the widest dynamic
the "Resurrection' Symphony that the Orchestra played at its 10,000th concert—proof, if
range of any of the recordings in this collection. Set your volume control carefully.
any were needed, of the Philharmonic's commitment to Mahler's music. On this celebratory
occasion, Zubin Mehta pulled out all the stops for maximum drama and impact, and the
Symphony No. 4 (January 13, 1962)
Philharmonic musicians responded with forceful conviction, abetted by soprano Kathleen
" Relaxation" is not the first word that comes to mind when describing Georg Solti's dynamic
Battle, contralto Maureen Forrester, and the Westminster Choir—all in top form. Of all the
music-making, but that is indeed one of the most striking elements of his 1962
performances in this set, this was the most requested by Orchestra members and Maestro
Philharmonic broadcast performance. The emotional power of Mahler's friendliest
Masur, who was present at the concert. Principal oboist Joseph Robinson tells Robert
symphony is no less affecting than that of its more turbulent siblings, and Solti captures
Sherman in the "Mahler in New York" companion books interview section, "I think it's one
every mood to perfection. Note, in particular, the deviltry of the Scherzo's main section (and
of the best performances I had anything to do with. The combination of Mahler, Mehta,
John Corigliano's scordatura fiddling) and the conductor's genial treatment of the trios; also,
and the occasion itself was very special."
the serene breadth of the slow movement. For its part, the Philharmonic's playing simply
glows, the strings imbued with warmth and portamento, and the winds characterizing their
Symphony No. 3 (October 23, 1976)
parts with matchless individuality. Manuel Zegler s bassoon playing is a special treat—now
Pierre Boulez conducted the Third Symphony as the culmination of the Philharmonics
chuckling, now singing, always investing his notes with affection—as is James Chambers's
Mahler cycle at Carnegie Hall in the fall of 1976. It was also the first work to be played
French horn, which weaves colorfully yet unobtrusively through the subtle instrumental
in subscription performances at the newly renovated Avery Fisher Hall, and I recall
textures. Irmgard Seefried had sung Mahler's "child's view of heaven" with the Philharmonic
preferring the Fisher acoustic for its greater impact and clarity. Mahler's textures gleamed
before, notably with Bruno Walter in the early 1950s. Here, she rolls her r's delectably and
with a transparency and color that seemed more appropriate to Boulez's subtle ear for
savors the final two stanzas with enchanting tenderness.
detail than the more generalized warmth and blend of Carnegie. The Philharmonic—
supposedly "Bernstein's orchestra" when it came to Mahler—once again revealed its
Symphony No. 5 (June 18,1980)
chameleon-like ability to adapt to a wholly different interpretive style. In listening to this
Talk about the white heat of inspiration! Klaus Tennstedt's appearances with the Orchestra
were always special occasions; in this case, it was a single June concert before embarking on
a tour through upstate New York. From the very first notes, the Philharmonic musicians
play with incredible commitment and edge-of-seat excitement. Yet, for all the big
moments—the vehement outbursts of anger in the first two movements, the commanding
horn playing of Philip Myers in the Scherzo, the scurrying strings in the Finale—it is the
quiet details in this performance that linger in the memory: the palpable weeping
("piangendo") of the cellos early on in the first movement and their song of lamentation
("klagend") midway in the second; Joseph Robinsons bashful oboe ("schüchtern," marks
Mahler, "timid," "shy") in bars 329-34 of the Scherzo. Most of all, ones breath catches on
every phrase of Tennstedts heartfelt yet never overwrought rendering of the Adagietto. He
performed the Fifth in New York later in the Eighties with a visiting orchestra, and a friend
who knew one of his associates told me that he was acutely aware that this concert would be
measured against his earlier performance. But lightning never strikes twice in the same place.
Cover of the first
uncut recording of
Mahler's Fourth
18
Symphony No. 6 (April 10, 1955)
Symphony,
Even though Dimitri Mitropoulos was one of the Mahler Boom's prime architects, his only
performed by the
commercial Mahler recording was of the First with the Minneapolis Symphony in 1940.
New York
Fortunately, several of his New York Philharmonic broadcasts of Mahler symphonies from
Philharmonic under
the 1950s and early 1960 survive, and the Sixth is generally regarded as his finest. His
Bruno Walter
tempos are faster than todays norm but are rarely rushed or lacking expressive weight. The
(1945)—also the
first movement has ranged widely on record—from Barbirolli's funereal trudge to Kubelik's
Orchestra's first
lightweight sprint—but Mitropoulos's measured tread strikes a happy medium, if such an
recording of a
adjective can apply to this work. Interestingly, the slow movement is played second and the
Mahler symphony.
19
Scherzo third, which is how the piece was performed prior to publication of the almost
Das Lied von der Erde (January 18, 1948)
universally adopted 1963 Critical Edition. Mitropoulos's stature as a Mahler interpreter is
This is the missing link of Bruno Walters Das Lieds, the last of his known broadcasts of the
perhaps best demonstrated in the half-hour Finale, one of Mahler's most difficult
work to be released. Even though his three commercial recordings (from 1936, 1952, and
movements to hold together, which goes in a single breath.
1960) have never been out of the catalogue for long, and pirated Philharmonic broadcasts
from 1953 and 1960 have surfaced, interest in this performance has been keen thanks to the
Symphony N o . 7 (February 2 8 , 1981)
participation of English contralto Kathleen Ferrier, who was making her American debut.
Great Mahler performances always require the utmost in solo virtuosity from an orchestra,
Movements one, four, and six, originating from a Voice of America broadcast with a
and the Philharmonic musicians under Rafael Kubelik have a field day with the Seventh.
Spanish-speaking announcer, have circulated in the tape-collectors' underground for years.
The massive outer movements are given their due panache, but it's in the wildly orchestrated
Seth Winner conjectures that the V O A had assembled Schumann's Manfred Overture,
middle movements that the Orchestra shines most brilliantly: the creepy-crawly woodwind
which opened the concert, and the three movements of Das Lied for an hour-long South
chatter in the first Nachtmusik, capped by an evocative duet of nature-murmurs between
American rebroadcast; the other movements of the song cycle were presumably discarded or
first clarinetist Stanley Drucker and French horn principal Philip Myers, accompanied by
lost. Released here for the first time is the complete performance, combining the V O A
bird calls on Julius Bakers flute; the "shadow-like" Scherzos peg-leg medley of things that
source with off-the-air acetates recently acquired by the Philharmonic Archives. This
go bump in the night, with slithering string glissandi, flatulent bassoons, and a teeth-rattling
perrformance captures Ferrier at the peak of her powers, before her untimely death from
fffff pizzicato in the lower strings that stops the music dead in its tracks; the moonlit serenade
cancer only five years later. While we should not underestimate tenor Set Svanholm's
of the second Nachtmusik, accompanied by solo mandolin, guitar, and harp. Rarely has the
dramatic projection of his songs, this performance is notable especially as a major addition
Orchestras timpanist Roland Kohloff (a student of Saul Goodman, his legendary
to the Walter and Ferrier discographies.
Philharmonic predecessor) had such an opportunity to display his extraordinary artistry,
from the clarity of the quietest drum taps to the rousing solo at the beginning of the RondoFinale. Kubelik, for his part, has rethought his interpretation since his early-1970s recording,
adding 14 minutes to the overall timing to reveal in full the work's expressive depth.
Symphony N o . 8 (April 9, 1 9 5 0 )
Mahler's colossal "Symphony of a Thousand" was Leopold Stokowski's swan song to the
Philharmonic after sharing the podium for a year with Dimitri Mitropoulos as the
Orchestra's Conductor (the equivalent of Co-Music Director). His authority in the Eighth
20
was considerable: He had been present at rehearsals and the world premiere in Munich in
21
1910, conducted by the composer, and he gave the United States premiere in Philadelphia
in 1916, followed immediately by the first New York performances. The Philharmonic
concerts at the time of this broadcast were the only other occasions he led the work,
undoubtedly the result of the overwhelming costs of presentation. Stokowski could be
flamboyant and unpredictable at times, but here Mahler's score unfolds naturally, with fluid
tempos and subtle rubato that always permits the vocalists time to phrase expressively. Our
source—an early tape recording made directly off the C B S line by engineer Stephen
Lemmer—captures the range and dimension of these huge forces to an amazing degree.
Pirate labels have released this performance in the past, but never with such sonic fidelity.
Symphony N o . 9 (December 7, 1962)
The most crucial element of any Mahler performance is conviction. This live broadcast of
the Ninth Symphony by Sir John Barbirolli and the Philharmonic grips the listener from the
opening heartbeats and yearning violins to the lightly accented sobs from the violas at the
end. A very different experience—and a revealing example of how a conductors
interpretation can vary from orchestra to orchestra—is Sir John's 1964 recording with the
Berlin Philharmonic, beautifully played but rather disengaged from the work's churning
emotions. Sir John even admits, in an interview included on CD 11, that he had to convince
the Berliners of the Symphony's stature. No such problem in New York, where this live
Philharmonic broadcast is a vital reflection of the great British conductor's impassioned
Poster for the Philharmonic's 10,000th concert (March 7, 1982), a landmark achieved by
no other symphony orchestra.
23
music-making and thus an important addition to his discography. The performance was
recorded on Friday afternoon, December 7, and broadcast the next evening. Of several
sources we obtained, none was without minor problems, but we felt that the level of
performance dictated its release.
Audio Recollections
This set concludes with two hours' worth of rare interviews with conductors renowned for
their commitment to Mahler's music and with musicians who actually played under Mahler.
Bruno Walter's memories of his friendship with Mahler, Leopold Stokowski's acceptance of
the Mahler Medal from the Bruckner Society of America, and Sir John Barbirolli's frank
Symphony No. 10: Adagio (January 16, 1960) and Purgatorio (March 16, 1958)
Dimitri Mitropoulos led live broadcasts of the Tenth Symphony's Adagio twice with the
Philharmonic: the New York premiere on March 16, 1958, when he also conducted the
work's third-movement Purgatorio, and on January 16, 1960, as part of the Orchestra's first
Mahler Festival, in commemoration of the composers centennial. Both performances have
circulated, the 1960 one at least twice on LP and twice on C D , and all have been dated
incorrecty. As a consequence, the dates in Peter Fülöp's indispensable Mahler Discography
(The Kaplan Foundation, 1995) are also incorrect.
Both Adagio performances are distinguished yet quite different. The earlier performance
more overtly reflects the traditional notion of Mahler as the death-haunted obsessive:
comments on his crusade for Mahler form a suite of recollections from three interpretive
masters. These lead into one of the most extraordinary collections of audio interviews ever
assembled and broadcast in the field of classical music, "I Remember Mahler," produced by
William Malloch for the FM radio station KPFK in Los Angeles. In 1964, on Mahler's
birthday, Malloch aired a two-hour program of interviews he had conducted with musicians
who had known Mahler, most of them having played under him in New York. The program
has been heard in abbreviated form on several releases, but our set offers nearly the entire
two-hour program, with small excisions where an anecdote conflicted with current
scholarship on Mahler. A splendid tribute to Mahler the man, it will bring you as close to
the remarkable composer-conductor as the spoken word will allow. •
restless, beset with hesitating rubato and expressive ritards. The 1960 interpretation has
stronger linear breadth and richly Romantic string textures, and it is this sonically and
Sedgwick Clark, editor of Musical America International Directory of the Performing Arts,
interpretively superior recording that we have included in this set. The Purgatorio seems
is a regular contributor to Gramophone and Fi magazines. The producer of New York
never to have been released in any form, so inclusion in this set of the 1958 broadcast was
Philharmonic: The Historic Broadcasts, 1923 to 1987, he is also a regular consultant for the
a "must." Mitropoulos's performance of this quirky movement is good to have, but it
Mercury Living Presence and Sony Classical Masterworks Heritage series.
certainly leaves the listener up in the air when coupled with the Adagio; its not surprising
that the conductor omitted it when he programmed the Adagio two years later.
24 \
25
Program Notes
Disc 1
Symphony No. 1 in D major
I . L a n g s a m . S c h l e p p e n d . W i e ein N a t u r l a u t
II. Kräftig b e w e g t , d o c h n i c h t zu schnell
III. Feierlich u n d g e m e s s e n , o h n e z u s c h l e p p e n
IV. S t ü r m i s c h b e w e g t
SIR JOHN BARBIROLLI
Broadcast of January 10,
M
1959,
Carnegie Hall
ahler was well short of 30 years of age when he completed this first
s y m p h o n y in 1 8 8 8 . He had, in the 10 years since he left the Vienna
Conservatory, m a d e a considerable n a m e for himself as conductor in
Austria and Germany, primarily in opera. He progressed from such
smaller places as Laibach and O l m ü t z to the larger opportunities of Kassel. He came under
the influence of A n t o n Seidl in Prague and Arthur Nikisch in Leipzig. In 1888 he seemed
to have found a full measure of recognition when he was engaged as director of the opera
in Budapest for 10 years, but he found the situation not to his liking and resigned in 1 8 9 0 .
It was something of a retrogression for him to accept a post as first Kapellmeister in
28
H a m b u r g , but it proved a congenial atmosphere in which he could demonstrate the
abilities that led to his engagement in Vienna in 1897 and the beginning of the marvelous
textures of a hunter's funeral procession in an old German fairy-tale book." A band of
decade of opera there in which he was a leading spirit.
Bohemian musicians leads the way as the hunter's coffin is borne to his grave, with birds
From his earliest days of musical education, Mahler was torn between the creation of
and beasts in the procession. Sometimes the mood is ironically joyous, sometimes
his own music and the re-creation of other men's. There was, to be sure, also the problem
mysteriously brooding. From it arises the transition from hell to Paradise ("Dall inferno
of earning a living. He could not take the lofty attitude of indifference to practical affairs
al Paradiso") with which the work concludes.
of a Wagner, nor was he a conformist such as Brahms. In working out his own solution
In his absorbing study of Mahler, Bruno Walter mentions that it was the newspaper
of the age-old problem, Mahler managed to arrive eventually at a livable arrangement of
reports of a performance of the First Symphony (at the Weimar premiere previously
composing mostly in the summer months and working at his public occupation in the
mentioned) that first acquainted him with the name of the composer. "It was above all,"
winter. His first notable composition, Das klagende Lied, dates from 1880. T h e manifest
Waller writes, "the 'Funeral March in the Manner of Callot' which was rejected with anger
personality becomes more strongly apparent in the Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen,
and scorn." It was but a few months after this that Walter began his apprenticeship in the
written in 1883.
Hamburg theater and fulfilled his wish to know this daring man well. Few 20th-century
When the First Symphony was introduced in Budapest in 1889, it was described as a
"Symphonic Poem in Two Parts." By the time of its Weimar premiere in 1894, Mahler
Thus it is profitable to call into account what Dr. Walter has written about it. In the
had taken to describing it as the "Titan," after a romance of Jean Paul Richter. It was
early works (Das klagende Lied and Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen), he sees the
divided into two sections, the first titled "From the Days of Youth," the second
manifestation of a romantic spirit that was basic in Mahler. The First Symphony marks
"Commedia umana." In that form it contained an Andante between the present first and
his attraction to the classic elements, an endeavor "to put the musical flow into solid
second movements, which was omitted from the published score.
forms, to curb and master his virile power, his imagination and his emotions." In Walter's
Also omitted was the prose commentary, in which the first movement was described
30
musicians have known this symphony longer, or more intimately.
view, "the work may be called the creed of his heart set to music."
as "Spring and no end." T h e Introduction portrays the awakening of nature in the early
In musical terms, the symphony contains much that is characteristic of Mahler,
morning. T h e now-excised Andante was called "Flower Chaplet." T h e Scherzo was named
(though he referred to it, after a performance in New York in 1909, as "a youthful sketch"
"Under Full Sail." In the "Commedia umana," the inspiration for the "dead march in the
which, nevertheless, "satisfied" him and affected him "strangely." T h e opening movement,
manner of Callot" (a French engraver of the 17th century who possessed a remarkable skill
with its sounds of nature, cuckoo calls, and upsurging horns, is the bucolic Mahler of
for grouping a large number of figures in a small space) was attributed to "the burlesque
many fine pages to come, while the main body of the movement is based on a quotation
31
from the Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen ("Songs of a Wayfarer") whose text goes: "As I
walked abroad this morn, dew was sparkling on the grass." Utilization of song themes for
expansion in longer works was a practice initiated by Schubert and extended by Brahms.
Mahler made it something of a hallmark of his style, intimately influencing the kind of
music he wrote. Thus this movement which, instead of developing in the usual sense,
rather accumulates, through repetition and alteration.
There is no need for elaborate comment on the Scherzo, a masterly example of the
kind of ländler-like movement which Mahler could produce almost at will. Brucknerian
horns are heard, and if Paul Stefan's suggestion be honored—that the wanderer has
wandered into a happy hidden village, where dancing and merriment are in progress but
where he brings his own sorrow, nevertheless—that would be in the true Schubertian
tradition of Die schöne Müllerin or Die Winterreise.
When mention is made of Schubertian "tradition" or a "Brucknerish" influence, there
is no implication that this is an indication of an imitative nature or a lack of originality.
It is merely that, like all creators of any kind, Mahler had his spiritual antecedents as
surely as he had his physical ones. It is, again, an aid to understanding to be aware of them
and to observe how they are merged into a new, personal synthesis.
Certainly no one could think of as "imitative" the 28-year-old composer capable of
this "Funeral March in the Manner of Callot." The old French tune "Frère Jacques"
Lady Evelyn Barbirolli, Sir John Barbirolli, "Minnie" Guggenheimer, and Leonard Bernstein
at an reception held by Mrs. Guggenheimer in celebration of Sir John's return to
the Philharmonic in 1 9 5 9 .
33
provides the basis for a grotesque round, with its funereal tread. Also to be noted is the
FROM T H E C R I T I C S : SYMPHONY N O . 1
introduction of another quotation from Songs of a Wayfarer, "Die zwei blaue Augen." Its
text has to do with "Deliverance," expressed in the words "Then knew I not how life may
Louis Biancolli, New York World Telegram and Sun, January 10, 1959
be, and all again was well with me." This hopeful thought is submerged, however, by the
I find myself become more and more fascinated by the music of this troubled and valiant
return of the funereal mood, reorchestrated and strengthened.
genius who was such a perfectionist as a conductor and such a rugged individualist as a
In the classic spirit of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, the Finale of Mahler's First is the
Composer. . . . Sir John brought searching conviction and perception to the Philharmonic
attestation of the affirmative against Iago's negation of "Nullo." The progress in the music
performance. Here is a Mahlerite of probing alertness who senses the psychological as well
is evident enough. The opening outburst of resistance and rebellion is tempered by a
is the musical whys of each sudden shift of rhythm and time and color.
melodic idea of a melting tenderness it was given to few men to write. For such a moment,
much can be forgiven, though there is very little in this work that one would want
Harriett Johnson, New York Post, January 11, 1959
otherwise. The ascent from the Inferno to Paradise is accompanied by a reminiscence of
[Sir John] obviously understands the core of Mahler's exuberant style and has the insight to
the opening of the work, which seems to imply that the end justifies the beginning.
dramatize its originality, which is inspired by many sources, including the Austrian folk
Mahler's score calls for an orchestra of Wagnerian Ring proportions: two piccolos, four
idiom, and the nocturnal fantasy of E. T. A. Hoffmann. . . . The whole is vividly pictorial
flutes, four oboes, English Horn, four clarinets, E-flat clarinet, bass clarinet, three
and, reflecting the force of interpretation, induced hypnotic quiet among the audience.
bassoons, contrabassoon, seven horns, five trumpets, four trombones, tuba, kettledrums,
During the extended final movement, there are vivid contrasts both receding from, and
bass drum, tam-tam, cymbals, triangle, harp, and the traditional string choir. •
building the Mahler exultation in abundance, all of which, the orchestra, under Sir John's
—Irving Kolodin
spell, delineated with magnificence of tone.
Howard Taubman, The New York Times, January 10, 1959
Sir John led the Philharmonic in a vigorous, large-voiced performance. He made the most
of the rousing climaxes, and he got some enamoring effects from the various choirs. It was
clear that he enjoyed conducting the symphony, and the audience—the part of it that stayed
34
to the end—found pleasure in listening to it.
35
Disc 2
Symphony No. 2 in C minor
("Resurrection")
for O r c h e s t r a , S o p r a n o a n d Alto S o l o s , a n d M i x e d C h o r u s
I. Allegro maestoso. Mit durchaus ernstem und feierlichem Ausdruck
I I . Andante moderato. Sehr gemächlich
I I I . In ruhig fliessender Bewegung
IV. "Urlicht." Sehr feierlich, aber schlicht; Choralmässig
V. Im T e m p o des Scherzos. Wild herausfahrend
Z U B I N M E H T A , conductor
K A T H L E E N B A T T L E , soprano; M A U R E E N F O R R E S T E R , contralto
W E S T M I N S T E R C H O I R ( Joseph Flummerfelt, director)
March 7, 1982, Avery Fisher Hall
T
he idea for the triumphant conclusion of the Second Symphony, generally
known as the "Resurrection" Symphony, came to Mahler in a flash of
inspiration, "like a thunderbolt," as he himself described it. The circumstance
was curious and dramatic. It was a memorial service for his benefactor and
36
predecessor as conductor of the Hamburg Philharmonic, Hans von Bülow.
Three years earlier, when Mahler had come to be first conductor of the Hamburg Opera,
he attracted the attention of
Bülow
was then nearing the end of an illustrious career,
one of the most influential musicians in Europe. Bülow acclaimed the 30-year-old Mahler
as one of the greatest living conductors, took every opportunity to honor him in public, and
designated Mahler to be his successor as conductor of the Hamburg Philharmonic.
Since Bülow was also famous as a crusader for new and difficult music, Mahler was
disappointed to find that Bülow did not care for his compositions. Since Mahler cared
infinitely more about his composing than his conducting, Bülow's attitude was a blow. The
fact that Mahler worshipped Bülow as an artist only made the masters verdict more painful.
But Mahler did not give up.
A work close to Mahler's heart but as yet unperformed was his tone poem Totenfeier
("Funeral Rites"). He had conceived it in 1887 when he was working on his First
Symphony and at a time when he was plagued by waking visions—almost
hallucinations—of himself lying on a bier surrounded by funeral wreaths. The title of the
tone poem was almost certainly suggested to Mahler by the translation, named Totenfeier,
of the Polish epic Dziady by the celebrated Romantic poet Adam Mickiewicz. As the
Mahler authority Henry-Louis de La Grange has pointed out, the translation, made by
Mahler's close friend Siegfried Lipiner, was published exactly at the time Mahler was
beginning to work on his own Totenfeier. He completed it in August 1888, but it was still
unperformed when he was called to Hamburg in 1891. Encouraged by Büllow's
admiration of his conducting, Mahler asked him to look over the score of Totenfeier. The
When Bülow saw how complicated the score was, he urged me play it to him
instead, [saying] "At least I will hear it in an authentic concept...."
I played. It occurred to me to glance at Bülow, and I see that he is holding both
hands over his ears. I stop playing. Bülow, who is standing at the window, notices
at once and urges me to continue.
I played. After a little while I turn around again. Bülow is sitting at the table
holding his ears. The whole scene is repeated: I stop pla·ying, again he urges me to
continue. I go ahead, and all kinds of thoughts pass through my mind: Perhaps
Bülow, who is a piano virtuoso, does not like my playing style or my touch, perhaps
my forte is too passionate or too heavy handed. I remember that Bülow is
extremely nervous and often complains of headaches. But I play on without
interruption, without paying attention to anything else; I may even have forgotten
that Bülow was present.
When I had finished I awaited the verdict silently. But my older listener
remained long at the table, silent and motionless. Suddenly he made an energetic
gesture of rejection and said: "If that is still music then I do not understand a single
thing about music."
We parted from each other in complete friendship, I, however, with the
conviction that Bülow considers me an able conductor but absolutely hopeless
as a composer.
result was a painful experience which Mahler described soon after to his friend, the
38
composer-critic Josef Förster:
The "complete friendship," however, had developed a fatal flaw. Mahler was not only
deeply wounded; he was angered by Bülow's drastic rejection of a work that meant so much
39
to him. Yet his intense admiration for Bülow and gratitude for Bülow's extraordinary
Theodore Reik's book The Haunting Melody. Dr. Reik's wealth of evidence marshalled over
kindnesses were too great for Mahler to allow himself any explosion of anger. Despite his
years of research, and his illuminating conclusions, which have been only touched on
explosive nature, Mahler seems to have thrust the painful feelings into the back of his mind.
There they festered, creating pressures that interfered with his composing and finally
here, make a most rewarding study.
Mahler himself described his moment of liberation in a letter:
brought him to a complete standstill.
Mahler was able to defy Bülow's judgment to the extent of making Totenfeier the
When I conceive a great musical picture, I always arrive at a point where I must
foundation and first movement of a gigantic symphony. He completed the second and third
employ the "word" as the bearer of my musical idea. . . . My experience with the
movements (Andante and Scherzo) in June and July 1893. For his fourth movement (planned
last movement of my Second Symphony was such that I literally ransacked world
as an introduction to a grand choral Finale), Mahler adapted a song he had composed some
literature even including the Bible to find the redeeming word-—and finally felt
years earlier to a native folk poem, "O Röschen rot" ("O Little Rose Red") from his favorite
forced to express my feelings and thought in my own words. . . . Just then Bülow
collection of folk poetry, Des Knaben Wunderhorn ("The Boy's Magic Horn").
died, and I attended the memorial service for him here. The mood in which I sat
But the Finale which was to crown the work—the answer to the first-movement
there and thought of the departed one was exactly that of the work which, at the
"Funeral Rite," to the question of the meaning of death and hence of life itself—refused to
time, occupied me constantly—at that moment the chorus near the organ intoned
take shape in his mind. During the summer of 1893 Mahler sought, struggled, agonized,
the Klopstock chorale "Aufersteh'n. "It struck me like a thunderbolt, and everything
and worked himself into such a state of nerves over the Finale to his Second Symphony that
stood clear and vivid before my soul. The creator waits for this lightning flash, this
his sisters, who kept house for him, worried about his health and almost wished he would
is his "holy annunciation." What I then experienced, I had now to shape into tones.
stop composing.
And yet, if I had not carried the idea with me, how could I have experienced it?
Mahler himself attributed his trouble with the Finale to the difficulty of finding an
There were a thousand people with me in the church at that moment.
appropriate text for the voices he planned to include, after the model of Beethoven's Ninth
Symphony. But the difficulties ran deeper. They involved both his highly charged feelings
It is significant that, although the Klopstock O d e struck Mahler as the liberating word,
about Bülow, a fear of competing with Beethoven (a similar fear had paralyzed Brahms's
his "holy annunciation," he found it only partly satisfactory, for it refers only to the
symphonic efforts for half his career), and other factors. For a masterly example of
resurrection of the physical body. Mahler replaced the last part of the ode with words of his
psychological detective work on this crisis in Mahler's career, the reader is referred to
own, answering the question of the first movement and giving additional meaning to the
idea of resurrection: "With wings I have won for myself I shall soar . . . aloft. . . . I shall die
it were, from an elevated viewpoint. At the same time it poses the great question: To what
to live again!" In prosaic words, the music he has struggled to create will bear him to
purpose have you lived? To what purpose have you suffered? H a s it all been only a huge,
immortality after his own death. T h u s this ecstatic Finale is more than a momentary victory
frightful joke? We must all somehow answer these questions, if we are to continue living,
over a creative deadlock. It is more even than a triumph over the dire verdict of the dead
yes, if we are to go on to die. Anyone who has heard this question must answer, and this
Bülow; it embodies an intimation of that immortality for which m o s t human beings seem
to yearn, a feeling which s o m e artists achieve at great peaks of their creative power and which
answer I give in the last movement."
This gigantic Allegro maestoso starts with string tremolos, reminiscent of Beethoven's
Horace put into words 2 0 0 0 years ago in his famous ode: "I have built a m o n u m e n t more
Ninth Symphony.
After a succession of thematic fragments, we hear a solemn, fanfare-like
enduring than brass. . . . I shall not wholly die. . . . Non omnis moriar."
theme in the woodwinds. With a sudden modulation into the distant key of E major, there
T h e day of the memorial service was March 2 8 , 1894. As Mahler rushed to his desk,
appears a soaring, lyric theme for violins. O n e of the most important themes in the first
words and music were pouring into his mind. In three months, almost to the day, on J u n e
movement, this anticipates from afar the final choral theme of resurrection, sung in the last
2 9 , the Symphony was finished. Richard Strauss led the Berlin Philharmonic in the first
movement to Mahler's own words: "Mit Flügeln, die ich mir errungen." There is a rich array
performance of the first three movements on March 4, 1 8 9 5 , and on the following December
of complex, interrelated themes, which develop to a cataclysmic climax. T h e concluding coda,
13 Mahler himself conducted the Berlin Philharmonic in the premiere of the entire work. It
with its ominous, repetitive, descending figure in the basses, again recalls Beethoven's Ninth.
is scored for a characteristically large late-Romantic orchestra: four flutes, four piccolos, four
oboes, two English horns, five clarinets, bass clarinet, four bassoons, two contrabassoons, ten
II. Andante moderato. Sehr gemächlich
horns, eight trumpets, four trombones, tuba, timpani, bass drum, military drum, triangle,
The second and third movements Mahler described as interludes, memories and fantasies
cymbals, high tam-tam, low tam-tam, rute, glockenspiel, three low bells of indeterminate
following the funeral rites: "You must have had the experience of attending the funeral of a
pitch, two harps, organ, the usual strings, soprano solo, alto solo, and chorus.
person dear to you and then, perhaps, on the way back suddenly the picture of a happy hour
long past arises in your mind like a ray of sun u n d i m m e d by anything—and you can almost
I. Allegro maestoso. Mit durchaus ernstem und feierlichem Ausdruck
42
forget what has just happened. T h a t is the second movement."
"I have called the first movement, "Funeral Rite," wrote Mahler to his friend, the
The m o o d is set by a tender waltz melody, so simple that it might almost be thought a
composer-critic M a x Marschalk, "and if you wish to know, it is the hero of my First
peasant ländler, if it were not for the delicacy and sophistication of its instrumental garb.
S y m p h o n y w h o m I bear to the grave, and whose life I can see reflected in a pure mirror, as
The melody serves as the refrain of a free rondo. At its first return the refrain is carried by
43
muted violins against a broadly flowing song for the cello. The second return is for softly
plucked pizzicato strings.
III. In ruhig fliessender Bewegung
This Scherzo incorporates large stretches of Mahler's satirical song "Saint Anthony of Padua's
Sermon to the Fishes," in which the fishes, like many a human congregation, praise the
sermon to the skies as they return to their self-indulgent, fleshly lives. But Mahler uses the
song only as a taking-off point. The gentle humor of the beginning grows more and more
grotesque, the melody and harmony more and more distorted, until we arrive at an
atmosphere of savage, almost terrifying caricature.
"When you awaken from the nostalgic daydream [of the preceding movement]," wrote
Mahler, "and you must return to the confusion of real life, it can easily happen that the
ceaseless motion, the restless, senseless bustle of daily activity may strike you with horror, as
if you were watching a whirling crowd of dancers in a brightly lighted ballroom—watching
them from the darkness outside and from such a great distance that you cannot hear the
music. Then life can seem meaningless, a gruesome, ghostly spectacle, from which you may
recoil with a cry of disgust! That is the third movement!"
Zubin Mehta, with soloists Maureen Forrester and Kathleen Battle, at the
10,000th concert given by the Orchestra.
45
IV. "Urlicht" ("Primal Light"). Sehr feierlich aber schlicht
This short slow movement serves as an introduction to the Finale. The alto solo is set to a
German folk poem from the famous Romantic collection Des Knaben Wunderhorn:
O Röschen rot,
Der Mensch liegt in grösster Not!
Der Mensch liegt in grösster Pein!
Je lieber möcht' ich im Himmel sein.
Da kam ich auf einen breiten Weg
Da kam ein Engelein und wollt' mich abweisen.
Ach nein! Ich liess mich nicht abweisen.
Ich bin von Gott und will wieder zu Gott.
Der liebe Gott wird mir ein Lichtchen geben,
Wird leuchten mir bis in das ewig selig Leben!
O rosebud red,
Mankind lies in greatest need!
Mankind lies in greatest woe!
I would fain to Heaven go.
I came upon a broad fair way
There came an angel and would have turned me back.
But no! I did not let him turn me back.
I am from God and wish to return to God.
The dear Lord will lend me a little light,
He will light my way to eternal, blissful life.
V. Im Tempo des Scherzos. Wild herausfahrend
The Finale begins with a wild outburst of the full orchestra, which Mahler intended to recall
the cry of horror and disgust in the third-movement Scherzo. The tumult dies away to
silence. Then from a great distance (the score asks for "as many horns as possible" placed
very far away, to play very loudly), we hear a solemn fanfare.
It is "the voice of him that crieth in the wilderness" [wrote Mahler in a program note,
referring to Isaiah, XL, 31]. The end of all living things has come. The Last judgment is
announced and the ultimate terror of this Day of Days has arrived.
46
The earth quakes, the graves burst open, the dead rise and stride hither in endless
procession. The great and the humble of this earth—kings and beggars, the just and the
unjust—all are coming and their cry for mercy, for grace, sounds terror-stricken on our ears.
Our senses fail us, and all consciousness fades away at the approach of the eternal Spirit. The
"Great Summons" resounds: the trumpets of the apocalypse call. Amid the ghastly silence we
seem to hear a distant, distant nightingale, like a last trembling echo of earthly life. Softly
there sounds a choir of saints and heavenly creatures: "Rise again, yes, thou shalt rise again.
And the glory of God appears. A miraculously mild light penetrates us to the heart—all is still
and blissful. And behold: there is no judgment; there are no sinners, righteous ones, no great
and no humbe—there is no punishment and no reward!
An almighty love shines through us with blessed knowing and being.
In the merest whisper, without orchestral accompaniment, the chorus begins the Klopstock Ode, the overwhelming message or "holy annunciation," as Mahler called it, which he
received at Bülow's memorial service. The first two of Klopstock's three stanzas are used with
only very slight changes of individual words, as follows:
Aufersteh'n, ja aufersteh'n wirst du,
Mein Staub, nach kurzer Ruh!
Unsterblich Leben!
Wird der dich rief dir geben,
Wieder aufzublüh'n wirst du gesä't!
Der Herr der Ernte geht
Und sammelt Garben
Uns ein, die starben.
Thou shalt rise again, yes again,
My dust, after a short rest!
Immortal life
Will He grant who called thee.
Thou shalt be sowed like seed to flower again.
The Lord of harvests goes forth
To gather sheaves,
Sheaves of those who died.
Thus far Mahler follows the Klopstock verses. In an ethereal transition passage the
orchestra links the soaring, lyric E major theme of the first movement to the coming
resurrection melody: "With wings I have won for myself." But first come Mahler's own
47
reassuring words for alto, soprano, and, at last, for chorus:
O glaube, mein Herz,
Es geht dir nichts verloren!
Dein ist, dein, ja dein, was du gesehnt!
Dein was du geliebt, was du gestritten!
O glaube: du wardst nicht umsonst geboren!
Hast nicht umsonst gelebt, gelitten!
Was entstanden ist, das muss vergehen!
Was vergangen, auferstehen!
Hör' auf zu beben!
Bereite dich zu leben!
O Schmerz, du Alldurchdringer!
Dir bin ich entrungen.
O Tod, du Allbezwinger!
Nun bist du bezwungen!
FROM THE CRITICS: SYMPHONY N o . 2
Believe, my heart,
Naught shall be lost to thee!
Thine, yes thine is what thou hast longed for!
Thine is what thou hast loved, what thou
hast striven for!
O believe: thou wast not born in vain!
Thou hast not lived and suffered in vain!
All that exists must pass!
All that has passed, must rise again!
Now cease to tremble!
Prepare thyself to live!
O ever-present suffering,
Thee I have escaped.
Oh, all-conquering Death,
Now art thou conquered!
Theodore W. Libbey, Jr., The New York Times, March 8, 1982
The orchestras performance of the Mahler symphony [was] an incandescent account that
brought enormous dimensions to the music and reached a moving climax in the choral
finale. Mr. Mehta paced the performance brilliantly, keeping a tight rein on tempos and
dynamics, and shaping the scores epic portrayal of cataclysm and consolation in the most
dramatic and sensational fashion. The orchestra played with extraordinary power in the
climactic moments, and with breathtaking discipline and presence in the still ones. Maureen
Forrester, the contralto soloist, and Kathleen Battle, the soprano soloist, each made radiant
contributions. Together with the Westminster Choir, they helped to assure the sublime effect
of the work's final pages.
The closing pages of the Symphony are dominated by the rising line of the resurrection
melody sung first by the basses, then taken up by the other sections of the chorus, the
Harriett Johnson, New York Post, March 8, 1982
soloists, and the orchestra in a paean of triumph:
Mehta's sense of drama in music is superb and he inspired his musicians to instrumental
excitement. Maureen Forrester, the contralto soloist, is a great Mahler interpreter, and her
Mit Flügeln, die ich mir errungen,
In heissem Liebesstreben werd' ich entschweben
Zum Licht, zu dem kein Aug' gedrungen!
Sterben werd' ich um zu leben!
Aufersteh'n, ja aufersteh'n wirst du
Mein Herz in einem Nu!
Was du geschlagen
Zu Gott wird es dich tragen!
With wings I have won for myself,
I shall soar in fervent love aloft
To the Light no eye has yet beheld!
I shall die to live again!
Thou shalt rise again, yes again,
My heart, in a single moment!
Thy battle's brave heartbeat
Will bear thee up to God!
solo in Movement IV is unforgettable, the ultimate in vocal beauty and interpretative
splendor.
Jack Diether, Chelsea Clinton News, March 18, 1982
The New York Philharmonic was even more virtuosic than last autumn, the solo and choral
singing was electrifying, and Maestro Mehta pulled out all the stops to make it a display
48
—Edward Downes
piece worthy of an ensemble with continuous history of nearly a century and a half.
:
'
49
Discs 3 & 4
Symphony No. 3 in D minor
PART O N E : I . Kräftig. Entschieden
PART T W O : I I . T e m p o d i M e n u e t t o Sehr mässig
I I I . C o m o d o . Scherzando. O h n e Hast
I V . " O Mensch! G i b Acht!" Sehr langsam. Misterioso
V. "Es sungen drei Engel." Lustig im T e m p o u n d keck im Ausdruck
V I . Langsam. Ruhevoll. E m p f u n d e n
P I E R R E B O U L E Z , conductor; Y V O N N E M I N T O N ,
mezzo-soprano
CAMERATA S I N G E R S ( A b r a h a m Kaplan, director), B O Y S ' C H O I R F R O M T H E L I T T L E
C H U R C H A R O U N D THE C O R N E R A N D T H E T R I N I T Y C H U R C H B O Y S ' C H O I R
(Stuart Gardner, director), B R O O K L Y N B O Y S ' C H O I R (James McCarthy, director)
Broadcast of October 23,
W
1976, Avery Fisher Hall
ith his own characteristic mixture of sarcasm and affection, Mahler once
called his S y m p h o n y N o . 3 his "monster." A n d a monster it must have
seemed to s o m e — m o n s t r o u s in its dimensions (with a first movement
lasting longer than Beethoven's entire Fifth S y m p h o n y ) and monstrous
in the crass contrast of its emotional extremes.
I expect [wrote Mahler to his friend and disciple Bruno Walter] that the
intuit in a dream! I tell you, at certain places in the score, a quite uncanny feeling takes
reviewing gentry, partisan and non-partisan, will again suffer attacks of the
possesion of me, and I feel as if I had not created this myself. If only I can complete the
staggers, while those who can enjoy a good joke will find much to be amused by
whole as I envisage it!"
in the little promenades I am preparing for them. Unfortunately, the whole
Some days before August 6, 1896, the score was "done to a turn," and Mahler mailed to
thing is infected by my notorious sense of humor "and offers many an
his friend Max Marschalk, the critic of the Berlin Vossische Zeitung, the following titles for
opportunity to indulge [my] taste for raucous noise." Sometimes the musicians
the new Symphony and its six movements"
play "without the faintest consideration for each other, and on these occasions
[my] devastatingly brutal nature shows itself quite naked. "It is well known that
A Summer Noon's Dream
I can do nothing without indulging in trivialities. This time, however, I breach
First Section
all permissible restraints. "Sometimes one has the feeling of being in some low
I. Introduction: The awakening of Pan; Summer marches in (procession of Bacchus)
bar or in a barnyard stall."
But do come to visit us very soon and see that you are well armed when you
come! Your taste, which has perhaps been somewhat purified in Berlin, will be
quite ruined again.
Second Section
II. What the flowers of the meadow tell me
III. What the animals in the forest tell me
IV. What man tells me
V. What the angels tell me
Mahler composed his beloved "monster" during the summers of 1895 and 1896 at
VI. What love tells me
Steinbach on the Attersee, some 30 miles east of Salzburg. Before the end of the first
52
summer, Mahler was convinced that his new Symphony was turning into "probably the
Mahler was of two minds concerning explanatory titles and other verbal aids for the
ripest and most individual work I have yet composed." By the second summer, he fell
listener. Initially he wrote his own titles and programs. Then, finding that his words were
possessed by the growth of the Symphony, which seemed to have taken on a life of its
misinterpreted, he fulminated against all "programs." And having fulminated, he would
own. In a letter of July 18, 1896, to his close friend and colleague the Wagnerian soprano
again resort to words to explain the unexplainable.
Anna von Mildenburg, he declared: "My Symphony will be something that the world had
On the occasion of the world premiere of Mahler's Symphony N o . 3, which he himself
never heard before! In this score, all nature speaks and tells such deep secrets as one may
conducted in the small Ruhr city of Krefeld on June 9, 1902, he had the above titles printed
53
In the program, a n d t h e n p r o m p t l y regretted it. Before the end of the year 1902, he
explained to another conductor:
I now have given up for good any farther commentating analyzing, or providing any listener's
aid whatever! These titles . . . will certainly tell you something after you have become acquainted
with the score. From them, you can gain some suggestion of how I imagined the constantly increasing
articulation of feeling, from the brooding, rigid, elementary forces of nature, to the tender creations of the human heart, which in turn reach out beyond themselves, pointing the way to God.
Please express this in your language,
without quoting the highly inadequate
titles, and then you will have acted according to my lights.
With or without programs or titles, the T h i r d Symphony was slow to make its way. It took
12 years to reach the United States for its first presentation on M a y 9, 1914, at the Cincinnati
May Festival, when it was conducted by Ernst Kunwald. T h e N e w York Philharmonic
first performed the symphony on February 28, 1922, under the direction of Willem Mengelberg.
I. Kräftig. Entschieden
This i s o n e o f t h e m o s t gigantic o p e n i n g m o v e m e n t s o f s y m p h o n i c literature. Its
dimensions startled even Mahler himself as he was writing it.
Pierre Boulez at a New York Philharmonic rehearsal.
55
The movement opens with a powerful theme somewhat reminiscent of Brahms's First
Symphony and proclaimed fortissimo by eight horns in unison. The theme is punctuated,
by outbursts of the full orchestra, which, however, quickly die away to silence. There
follows a melancholy figure for the woodwinds like the rise and fall of a sigh. This in turn
is cut through by a stabbing little fanfare in a muted trumpet. Both the sustained
melancholy of this sigh figure and the dissonant trumpet fanfare are characteristically
Mahlerian. All this material is developed richly, culminating in the long-sustained elegy for
the solo trombone. Then follows the lively march section originally designed by the words
"Summer marches in."
A new section, which we may think of as the free fantasia section of a grand-scale
sonata-form movement, culminates in an even wilder march. The recapitulation of the
opening material with which the movement concludes is very free, but its architectural
sense seems clear.
II. Tempo di menuetto. Sehr mässig
This movement, half minuet and half scherzo in character, is predominantly a pastoral
interlude. It opens with a simple, charmingly dancelike figure related to the opening
theme of the first movement. We hear it first in an oboe solo accompanied by pizzicato
strings. It is taken up by violins and a clarinet solo, and touches of other woodwind color
are added, but with the utmost delicacy. The effect is of chamber music. There are two
contrasting episodes, more strident and scherzo-like in character, and the movement
concludes with a shimmering chord of high string harmonics, including the harp.
III. Comodo. Scherzando. Ohne Hast
V. Lustig im Tempo und keck im Ausdruck
T h e movement begins with a perky quotation in the orchestra from one of the c o m p o s e r s
The choral text for this movement is taken from the famous German collection of
own Wunderhorn songs (originally for voice and piano). Again Mahler indulges his love of
traditional poetry called Des Knaben Wunderhorn, an inexhaustible source of inspiration for
folklike themes and delicate coloristic effects. There are several extended solos for an
several generations of Romantic composers. T h e movement opens with a boys' choir
instrument designated as a "posthorn," an ancestor of our present-day French horn. T h i s
imitating the ding-dong of joyful bells. T h e charmingly naive text is sung by a women's
instrument has an especially bright and gleaming tone. Toward the end of the movement,
chorus:
one of the most poetic passages for the solo posthorn is accompanied very softly by f o u l
of the normal symphonic French horns, with unforgettable effect.
IV. Sehr langsam. Misterioso
T h i s movement includes an alto solo, using a text from Nietzsche's Thus Spake Zarathustra.
Against a background of murmuring strings, two French horns, playing in thirds, suggest
the m o o d of a sensuous nocturne rather than the austere Nietzschean rhapsody:
O Mensch! Gib Acht!
Was spricht die tiefe Mitternacht?
Ich schlief, ich schlief—
Aus tiefem Traum bin ich erwacht.
Die Welt ist tief,
Und tiefer als der Tag gedacht.
Tief ist ihr Weh!
Lust tiefer noch als Herzeleid!
Weh spricht: Vergeh!
Doch alle Lust will Ewigkeit—
Will tiefe, tiefe Ewigkeit!
T h e next movement follows without pause.
O Man! Give heed!
What does the deep midnight say?
I slept!
From deepest dream I have awakened!
The world is deep!
And deeper than the day had thought!
Deep, deep, deep is the woe!
Ecstasy, deeper still than grief!
Woe cries: pass on!
But all ecstasy seeks eternity!
Seeks deep, deep eternity!
Bimm, bamm, bimm, bamm
Es sungen drei Engel einen süssen Gesang,
Mit Freuden es selig in den Himmel klang;
Sie jauchzten fröhlich auch dabei,
Dass Petrus sei von Sünden frei.
Ding, dong, ding, dong.
Three angels sang a sweet song;
Joyfully it sounded through Heaven,
They shouted joyfully the while
That St. Peter was free of sin,
Und als der Herr Jesus zu Tische sass,
Mit seinen zwölf Jüngern das Abendmahl ass,
Da sprach der Herr Jesus: Was stehst du denn hier?
Wenn ich dich anseh', so weinest du mir.
Und sollt' ich nicht weinen, du gütiger Gott;
Ich hab' übertreten die zehn Gebot'.
Ich gehe und weine ja bitterlich.
Du sollst ja nicht weinen!
Ach, komm und erbarme dich über mich.
Hast du denn übertreten die zehen Gebot,
So fall auf die Knie und bete zu Gott.
Liebe nur Gott in alle Zeit,
So wirst du erlangen die himmlische Freud'!
Die himmlische Freud' ist eine selige Stadt,
Die himmlische Freud', die kein Ende mehr hat.
Die himmlische Freud' war Petro bereit't
Durch Jesum und allen zur Seligkeit.
And when the Lord Jesus sat at the board,
For the last supper with his twelve Disciples,
The Lord Jesus spoke: what doest thou here?
As I behold thee, thou weepest!
And should I not weep, thou merciful God?
I have broken the Ten Commandments.
I go my way with bitter tears.
Thou shalt not weep!
Ah, come, and have mercy on me!
If thou hast broken the Ten Commandments
Fall on thy knees and pray to God!
Love only God in eternity!
So shalt thou know heavenly joys!
Heavenly joy is a holy city,
Heavenly joy, which has no end;
The heavenly city was made ready for Peter
Through Jesus and all for salvation.
This movement in turn is connected to the Finale without pause.
59
VI. Langsam. Ruhevoll. Empfunden
One of the most lyric of all symphonic movements, this presents Mahler at his most serene.
The movement is rich in subtle color effects, though color is never used merely for its own
sake. The long, melodic line rises slowly from an opening pianissimo to a succession of
climaxes, each more glowing than its predecessor. The close is powerful, and in the final
measures the composer asks for "a noble tone."
Mahler's Third Symphony is scored for two piccolos, four flutes, four oboes, English
horn, two clarinets in E-flat, four bassoons, contrabassoon, eight horns, four trumpets, four
trombones, tuba, kettledrum, bass drum, snare drum, tambourine, triangle, tam-tam, bells,
cymbals, two harps, and the traditional string choir. •
—Edward Downes
FROM THE CRITICS: SYMPHONY N O . 3
Harold Schonberg, The New York Times, October 22, 1976
This was Mr. Boulez at his best—a musician who stressed coherence, and interpreter who
shaped the music with well-paced tempos and with a canny use of ritards and other devices
to lend variety. The interpretation had plenty of sentiment without being sentimental. Mr.
Boulez has been known to go through a score in a manner more methodical than
inspirational, but on this occasion he threw himself into the music. It obviously means
something very close to him, and he was the complete master of the mixture of elements
that go into this sprawling score—the mad march of the first movement, the dancelike
"Ländler" elements of the second, the soaring lines of the finale. The Camerata Singers and
the boys' choirs . . . fully held up their end. It was a magnificent evening in all respects.
Disc 4
Symphony No. 4 in G major
for Orchestra and Soprano Solo
I. Heiter bedächtig. Nicht eilen—recht gemächlich
II. I n g e m ä c h l i c h e r B e w e g u n g . O h n e H a s t
III. R u h e v o l l (Poco a d a g i o )
IV. " W i r geniessen die h i m m l i s c h e n F r e u d e n . " S e h r b e h a g l i c h
GEORG SOLTI,
conductor
IRMGARD SEEFRIED, soprano
Broadcast of January 13, 1962, Carnegie Hall
A
lthough he was much given to gigantic forms and metaphysical thought,
Mahler also was strongly attracted by the simplicity and n a i v e t é of folk art,
which are reflected in his Second, Third, and Fourth Symphonies. All three
symphonies of this group are further connected through their use of poems
from the famous Romantic collection of folk poetry Des Knaben Wunderhorn, published in
the early 19th century by Arnim and Brentano. The Fourth S y m p h o n y is still more closely connected to the T h i r d because the Finale of the Fourth was originally intended as an
extra movement of the T h i r d Symphony. T h i s accounts for its thematic links to the second
a n d fifth movements of the T h i r d Symphony. T h e Fourth S y m p h o n y was evolved backwards from the Finale. T h a t is to say, the first three movements are all thematically related
rent refrain. Here it serves as introduction to the principal theme. A l m o s t immediately the
first violins take up the graceful, easy-going melody:
to the Finale.
Mahler used to call himself a "summer composer," because he had time to c o m p o s e only
during the s u m m e r vacations from his highly d e m a n d i n g schedule of conducting opera and
concert performances during the remainder of the year. He began work on his Fourth
S y m p h o n y during the s u m m e r holiday of 1 8 9 9 at the resort town of Aussee, and he completed the S y m p h o n y the following s u m m e r at the same resort. Although he rarely found
the peace of mind to c o m p o s e during the winter season, Mahler was able to adjust com-
After a few bars, the secondary theme, a lilting melody in folk-song style, is "sung broadly,"
pleted works, revising or making fair copies of his score. T h u s he had scarcely completed the
according to the composer's directions, by the cellos. As the movement develops, other sim-
first version of his Fourth S y m p h o n y during the s u m m e r of 1 9 0 0 when he embarked on a
ple melodies are added before the opening themes are recalled in approximately their origi-
revision, which took him most of the winter of 1 9 0 0 to 1 9 0 1 . T h e first performance of the
nal form.
S y m p h o n y was given in Munich on November 25 of the same year. But Mahler's revisions
were not completed. T h e alterations in the score extended over a number of years, and the
final version was not completed until October 1 1 , 1 9 1 0 .
T h e Fourth is the shortest of Mahler's symphonies, the most unpretentious, ingratiating
and, in its first three movements, the most unorthodox in form of any symphony he had
written up to this point.
I. Heiter bedächtig. Nicht eilen—Recht gemächlich
The glittering color of four flutes and sleigh bells, with which the S y m p h o n y opens, suggests, as Mahler's music so often does, an unadmitted descriptive inspiration. T h e bright
chirping sound of these opening bars is taken from the fourth movement, where it is a recur-
II. In gemächlicher Bewegung. Ohne Hast
The movement is a strange sort of scherzo which Mahler characterized with the words
Freund Hein spielt auf ("Death leads the music"). T h e concertmaster is directed to alternate
between two violins, one of which is tuned a whole tone higher than normal and played
like a fiddle" (a primitive sort of violin) very assertively. This is his theme:
III. Ruhevoll (Poco adagio)
Bruno Walter once asked Mahler what lay behind the "profound quiet and dear beauty
of
this movement. Mahler explained that the movement had been inspired by a vision of a
Sankt Lukas den Ochsen tät schlachten
Ohn' einig's Bedenken und Achten.
Der Wein kost' kein Heller
Im himmlischen Keller.
Die Englein, die backen das Brot.
St. Luke slaughters the oxen
Without any worry or heed.
The wine costs us naught
From our heavenly draught,
And the angels bake us our bread.
Gut' Kräuter von allerhand Arten,
Die wachsen im himmlischen Garten!
Gut' Spargel, Fisolen,
Und was wir nur wollen.
Ganze Schüsseln voll sind uns bereit!
The finest vegetables grow
In the garden of Heaven.
Good beans, asparagus,
Whatever we want,
Whole plates-full just wait to be eaten!
Gut' Äpfel, gut' Birn 'und gut' Trauben!
Die Gärtner, die Alles erlauben!
Willst Rehbock, willst Hasen
Auf offener Strassen,
Sie laufen herbei!
Good apples, good pears, good grapes!
The gardeners give what we wish.
And roebucks and hares
Run into our arms
Here in the open streets!
Sollt' ein Festtag etwa kommen,
Alle Fische gleich mit Freuden angeschwommen!
Dort läuft schon Sankt Peter
Mit Netz und mit Köder
Zum himmlischen Weiher hinein.
Sankt Martha die Köchin muss sein!
And when there is a Fast Day
The fishes come swarming in.
And St. Peter he runs
With his net and bait
To fish in the heavenly pond.
St. Martha must cook us the catch.
Kein Musik ist ja nicht auf Erden,
Die uns'rer verglichen kann werden.
Elftausend Jungfrauen
Zu tanzen sich trauen!
Sankt Ursula, selbst dazu lacht!
On earth there is no music
To be compared with ours.
The eleven thousand virgins
Make bold to dance
And St. Ursula smiles on the scene.
Cäcilia mit ihren Verwandten
Sind treffliche Hofmusikanten!
Die englischen Stimmen
Ermuntern die Sinnen,
Dass Alles für Freuden erwacht.
Cecilia, her kith and her kin
Play like a royal band.
And choirs of angels
Lift up our spirits
To the highest of heavenly joys.
church sepulchre, with the reclining stone figures of the dead, "their arms closed in eternal
peace." Formally, it is an amalgam of variation and sonata form.
IV. Sehr behaglich
T h e Finale originally had the title "The Celestial Life." T h e mood is light and joyous, as
befits a peasant vision of the green pastures of heaven. T h e vocal solo is set to verses from
Des Knaben Wunderhorn, with intervening orchestral ritornellos featuring the cheery chirping sounds which open the first movement. Mahler directs that the vocal solo should be sung
"with childlike, bright expression, and without the slightest suggestion of parody."
Wir geniessen die himmlischen Freuden,
D'rum tun wir das Irdische meiden.
Kein weltlich' Getümmel
Hört man nicht im Himmel
Lebt Alles in sanftester Ruh'!
All heavenly joys are ours,
Pleasures of earth we disdain.
No worldly strife
Mars our heavenly life.
We live here in sweetest peace.
Wir führen ein englisches Leben!
Sind dennoch ganz lustig daneben!
Wir tanzen und springen,
Wir hüpfen und singen,
Sankt Peter im Himmel sieht zu!
We lead an angelic life,
Yet are merry as can be.
We dance and spring,
We jump and sing,
And St. Peter watches us here.
Johannes das Lämmlein auslasset,
Der Metzger Herodes drauf passet!
Wir führen ein geduldig's,
Unschuldig's, geduldig's
Ein liebliches lämmlein zu Tod!
The lamb we have from St. John.
Herod, the butcher will be.
We lead a meek
And innocent
Little lamb to the death.
67
T h e Fourth Symphony is scored for four flutes, piccolo, three oboes, English horn, tree
FROM THE CRITICS: SYMPHONY N O . 4
clarinets, bass clarinet, three bassoons, contrabassoon, four horns, three trumpets, glocken
spiel, sleigh bells, bass drum, cymbals, tam-tam, kettledrums, triangle, harp, and strings. The
first performance of the Fourth in this country was given by the Symphony Society of New
York in 1904 under the direction of Walter Damrosch. On January 19, 1 9 1 1 , Mahler himself conducted the N e w York Philharmonic in his Symphony.
Louis Biancolli, New York World Telegram and Sun, J a n u a r y 13, 1962
[Solti] is a masterful conductor, fiery and intense, but only where needed. For when it
came to another kind of splendor, the childlike radiance of the Mahler symphony, he was
•
—Edward
Downes
tender and relaxed, completely immersed in the quiet joy and solace of the music. As the
soprano soloist of the Mahler work, Irmgard Seefried was pretty much the same way—
thoroughly a part of the music as if, indeed, Mahler had scored her. What an artist!
Paul Henry Lang, New York Herald Tribune, January 13, 1962
Mahler's Fourth Symphony bears the marks of a personality of exceptional artistic
courage and honesty, but the listener must extract these qualities from a rather unclarified wisdom. . . . Mr. Solti appreciated all these qualities. T h e big orchestra sounded
under his guidance like a chamber ensemble; the sound was delicate, and the many
sophisticated dynamic and tempo changes (which may or may not be in the score) were
executed with impressive mastery.
John Ardoin, Musical America, March 1962
As for the Mahler, we have been fortunate enough to have three performances of this eloquent work in the last two years, and this was by far the most impressive. Under Mr. Solti,
the music unfolded in a translucent, free-flowing manner.
69
Disc: 5
Symphony No. 5 in C-sharp minor
PART O N E : I .
Trauermarsch: In gemessenem Schritt
I I . Stürmisch bewegt. M i t grösster Vehemenz
PART T W O : I I I .
Scherzo: Kräftig, nicht zu schnell
P A R T T H R E E : I V . Adagietto: Sehr langsam
V. Rondo-Finale: Allegro giocoso. Frisch
K L A U S T E N N S T E D T , conductor
Broadcast of June 18, 1980, Avery Fisher Hall
W
hen Gustav Mahler conducted the first performances of his
Fifth
S y m p h o n y at a Gürzenich concert in C o l o g n e in 1 9 0 4 , it was described
as "the giant Symphony." It is characteristic of Mahler in many ways. Its
fundamental adherence to the traditional four-movement pattern of
classical symphonic form is as typical of Mahler as are his radical amplifications of certain
sections and telescoping of others. Characteristic, too, is Mahler's fastidious use of a gigantic
orchestra for subtle chamber-music effects.
completed in the s u m m e r of 1902)
70
Finally, his Fifth S y m p h o n y (which was
is an extreme example of his perfectionism in
orchestration, which led to endless revision.
Much, if not all, of Mahler's symphonic music was program music in the sense that it
shuddering triplet rhythm, building to a strong climax, which quickly makes way for a
was inspired by extra-musical thoughts or feelings, or at least suggested such extra-musical
lyric second theme: a mournful, wraithlike melody. The alternation of these two themes
ideas to Mahler after he had composed it. The Fifth Symphony is related thematically to
makes up the body of the movement. But there is a contrasting middle section, which
more than one of Mahler's songs. Yet Mahler had extremely mixed feelings about publishing
Lawrence Gilman, former New York Philharmonic program annotator, admired above
programmatic descriptions of the content of his scores. His vehement outburst "Perish all
any part of the Symphony:
programs!" became famous, and the Fifth Symphony, however much it may suggest
emotional cataclysm and triumph, is one of the works in which he kept to his resolve to let
It is that passage [he wrote] in B-flat minor in which the music, grown suddenly
the music speak for itself.
and passionately vehement, breaks in upon the measured tread of the "Funeral
One of the particular fascinations of this masterly score is the subtle web of thematic
Music" like an uncontrollable outburst of shattering maniacal, wild-visaged grief.
interrelationships which unifies the entire work in a way dear to the hearts of Romantic
Above an ostinato of the double basses and bassoons, a trumpet shrieks its heaven-
composers. It is written in three parts, but with the first and last parts divided into two
storming woe, against the chromatic wailing of the strings.
sections each. Thus, one may think of the entire work as being in five movements. However
tumultuous despair of this passage is like nothing else in music that one can recall
the two movements of Part I are so intimately related through common thematic material
Tchaikovsky's is restrained and decorous beside it. Mahler has here imagined an
that it is logical to think of the opening Trauermarsch, or "Funeral March," as merely a vast
elemental and universal human emotion with sensibility and with justice and has
expansion of the slow introductions which had been familiar since Haydn's day. It is equally
turned it into direct and vivid and irresistible musical speech.
The plangent,
possible to think of the Adagietto, which leads without pause to the Rondo-Finale, as
another slow introduction rather than a traditional slow movement.
As the final paroxysm of this section subsides, we hear again very softly the triplets of the
fanfare-like opening theme as the thematic material of the entire opening section returns. As
Part I
the music finally dies, the triplet fanfare lingers in the fading color of a single muted
trumpet, with a final disembodied echo, pianississimo for solo flute.
I. Trauermarsch: In gemessenem Schritt
A solitary trumpet announces the first and most important theme of this "Funeral
72
March." It begins like a solemn summons from afar. The entire orchestra takes up the
II. Stürmisch bewegt. Mit grösster Vehemenz
This stormy movement (to which one might well regard the preceding as one long
73
introduction) is based freely on traditional first-movement (sonata allegro) form. Its
strings, leads without pause into the Finale proper.
principal theme, launched by the woodwinds after introductory rumblings in the depths of
the orchestra, is a frantic outburst related to the middle section of the opening movement.
V. Rondo-Finale: Allegro giocoso. Frisch
For his second, lyric theme (which seems related to the second theme of the opening
Far from the tragic conclusions of many other Mahler works, the Fifth Symphony proceeds
movement), Mahler specifically calls for a return to the tempo of the "Funeral March," thus
from sorrow (in the opening "Funeral March") to jubilation in the Rondo-Finale. There is
emphasizing yet another link to that introductory movement.
a curiously
pastoral mood in the opening measures, where solo woodwinds anticipate three
In the development and free recapitulation that follow, there are repeated references to
important themes. T h e Rondo refrain, which follows, is an elaboration of a simple, vigorous
the principal themes of both movements. The triumphal coda of the last movement is
figure. A lively cello figure is taken up by violins, violas, and basses successively in fugato style
anticipated near the close, but it loses its momentum and sinks into defeat. Like its
and combined with a third theme, one of those anticipated in the opening measures. This
predecessor, this movement ends with dying echoes of its principal theme.
develops into one of the most important themes of the movement and is transformed in its
final pages into a stately hymn of triumph.
Part II
The Rondo refrain returns. In the episodes that follow, the principal themes of the
movement are developed in a richly symphonic style along with the main theme of the
III. Scherzo: Kräftig, nicht zu schnell
preceding Adagietto. There are no further simple, literal returns of the Rondo refrain. On
T h e waltzlike middle movement is a Scherzo as rich in thematic variety and development
the surface the music grows more complex as the interrelationships of the themes increase.
as it is complex in form. One of its most striking traits is the prominence given to an
In essence it becomes simpler because of their growing unity as we approach the exultant
obbligato horn.
coda which was anticipated near the end of the second movement.
The score of the Fifth Symphony calls for four flutes (three interchangeable with
Part III
piccolos), three oboes, English horn, three clarinets (one interchangeable with bass clarinet),
two bassoons, contrabassoon, six horns (including solo obbligato horn), four trumpets, three
74
IV. Adagietto: Sehr langsam
trombones, bass tuba, kettledrums, bass drum, snare drum, cymbals, triangle, glockenspiel,
The yearning principal melody, rich in Romantic appoggiatura effects, is directed to be
gong, harp, and the customary strings. •
played "expressively" and "soulfully." This movement, which is scored for harp plus the usual
—Edward
Downes
75
Disc 6
Symphony No. 6 in A minor
I. Allegro energico, ma non troppo
II. Andante moderato
III. Scherzo
IV. Finale: Sostenuto—Allegro energico
DIMITRI MITROPOULOS,conductor
Broadcast of April 10, 1955, Carnegie Hall
I
n the s u m m e r of 1 9 0 6 , Mahler wrote to his friend and then junior colleague Bruno
Walter: "If a man wants to make music, he may not want to paint, write poetry, or
compose. But what a m a n composes is surely the whole man, his feelings, thoughts,
his breathing, his suffering. There is nothing against a program (even if it is not exactly
the highest rung of the ladder), but a musician must express himself and not an author, a
philosopher, a painter, all of w h o m may be contained in a musician. In a word, who has no
genius must stay away from it, and who has genius doesn't have to be scared of a n y t h i n g .
The whole stew reminds me of a man who has begotten a child but who breaks his head
76
afterwards
as to whether it is a true child, or as to whether he begot it with g o o d intentions,
etc. He loved and he achieved. Period. If a man does not love and does not achieve, there is
no child. Again period. And as one is and achieves, so is the child. Still once more period.
"My Sixth is finished. I believe I achieved. A thousand periods."
That, however, is but the beginning of the life of a work, of art, even as birth is but the
first happening in the life of a child. What the creator put into it—in terms of effort—only
he could attest. What the creator puts into it, in terms of "the whole man, his feelings,
thoughts, his breathing, his suffering," is hardly within his power to say. For it depicts "the
whole man" only so far as the processes of art have been satisfied in the act of creation. That,
of course, can only be evaluated by the individual listener and by the mass of listeners known
as posterity.
Alma Mahler Werfel has said that the summer in which Mahler worked on this
Symphony (known in some circles as the "Tragic") was "beautiful, serene, and happy." Also
that it was difficult to comprehend how a work of such ominous tone could have been
begotten in the kind of well-being Mahler then achieved. It is, of course, one of the
fundamental verities of art that there is little correlation between the outer life of man and
the inner life of his spirit. Much happy music has been written by men enjoying well-being;
and a good deal of anguished music has been written by men in despairing spirits. But there
has also been ample instance of serene, good-humored music being written by a composer
faced by a crisis in his physical life (such as Beethoven's Second Symphony, dating from a
period in which he was alarmed by the increasing evidence of his deafness); or, as in the
the unconscious processes involved. Taking one thing with another, Beethoven, as "a whole
man," was of a humorous, ironic, but fundamentally optimistic turn of mind. Mahler, as "a
whole man," exists in his art as bitter, fundamentally serious, and of a pessimistic turn of
thought. It may be an oversimplification, but it is possible to say of Beethoven, when things
were bad, he tended to think of how much better they might become. With Mahler, when
things were good, he tended to think of how much worse they might become.
One of the most devoted students of Mahler's work was the late Gabriel Engel (he died
in 1952), author of numerous published works on Mahler, also Bruckner. Prompted by the
first American performance of the Sixth Symphony by Dimitri Mitropoulos and the New
York Philharmonic-Symphony Society in December 1947, Engel published an elaborate
commentary on the work in the 1948 issue of Chord and Discord, a periodical subtitled "A
journal of Modern Musical Progress." It is so much more comprehensive in scope than
could be produced by anyone lacking Engel's familiarity with the Symphony that a digest of
it is appended below.
It may be mentioned in passing that much has been made of Mahler's use, in this score,
of a set of Herdenglocken (cowbells) and a hammer struck (so the score directs) against a
non-metallic object. The first occurs periodically, to evoke a pastoral atmosphere of quiet
and serenity as contrast to the turmoil prevalent in the music. The second is used at three
points in the Finale to depict the blows of fate which, with Mahlerian foreboding, he could
see in the offing for him, no matter what 1906 afforded.
present instance, troubled—to use an understatement—music from a man in seemingly
untroubled circumstances.
78
In using the term "the whole man," Mahler has, it seems to me, given a strong clue to
I. Allegro energico, ma non troppo
"Listening to the opening strains," wrote Engel, "one seeks in vain to single out a definite
79
lesser melodic component corresponding to the traditional concept of a 'first theme.' There
atmosphere of height, with the cowbells "echoing out of the valley below." A choir of eight
is here no cadence, no marker for the quick, facile analyst. One is swept along by an
muted horns and trombones intones the chorale theme. Now the song theme returns, and
impassioned march-like outburst of lyricism, the vehicle of a number of motivating sources.
in its wake, a rejuvenated statement of the march, in a confident major. A stupendous
. . . Through 60 measures of alternate wide leaps and zig-zag rushes, it pursues its breathless
way. It is not just a theme; it is a march-song of symphonic scope, an integral creation of the
climax,
in which Mahler proposes the orchestra play as though "furious with anger," rejects
any encroachment on the affirmative mood thus achieved.
process known to musical rhetoric as 'free fantasy.'" Succeeding this, states Engel, is "a
singular motive, of grim, relentless power. A word about the origin and nature of this fateful
II. Andante moderato
motive, destined for a paramount role in the Symphony, may be of interest. At the end of
Originally, the Andante was the third movement of the Symphony, with the Scherzo
the opening movement of Mahler's Second, there occurs a particularly gloomy, brief episode,
preceding. Eventually Mahler decided to transpose them in the sequence. "The opening
reflecting the victory of death over life. It involves an instant change of mood from major to
theme of the Andante," Engle writes, "set in major and entrusted mainly to the violins, is
minor by the depression of the middle tone of a major triad. The aptness of this harmonic
a tender love song, of deceptive simplicity, if one passes too lightly over the striking
transformation as a symbol of the shadow of death ever impending over life must have struck
injection of evasive touches of minor in the melodic line. Those more intimately
Mahler when planning his Sixth. . . ."
acquainted with Mahler's individual characteristics will appreciate their significance.
"Echoes of the fate-symbol's harmonic change haunt the brief, mysterious chorale that
The subtle interchange of the theme's major and minor moments is firmly based on the
follows, softly chanted by the woodwind. Gradually the air grows more peaceful and
fate-symbol. Early in its unfolding is heard a plaintive motive, aptly set for the oboe, its
cheerful, to greet the advent of the lighthearted song theme, which seems at first nothing
rhythm much like a lullaby fragment. This lullaby-motive becomes one of the
principal vehicles of the movement, a dream of love, peace, and contentment." Later in the
phrases, alternately amorous and lilting. . . ." Engel notes also that Mahler has marked the
movement the cowbells resound again (faintly) and, says Engel, "bear the everyday world's
whole first section for repetition, in view of the "numerous" motives, or characters in the
last greeting to the intrepid mountain-climber (the human soul) on the lonely lofty summit
symphonic drama, which would be better remembered through repetition.
he has scaled." A recurrence of the minor element is thrust away by the "broad-winged
Engel isolates four divisions in the extended development "separated by the strongly
contrasted moods which hold successive sway." The first utilizes rhythmic figures from the
80
rocking
more than the idealized chorus of a Viennese popular song, characterized by short, separated
march theme. Then, as the score directs, "gradually more sustained," the violins paint an
countermelody of the violins." The movement "draws to a close along a fine-spun, eversofter strand of motives."
81
III. Scherzo
This ground plan is demarked, at strategic points, by the hammer stroke of which
The Scherzo returns us to the basic A minor of the Symphony's tonality. In Engel's words:
mention has previously been made. The first marks the beginning of the development; the
"Instead of humor it offers the wild cachinnation of lurking demons; in place of a smile of
second, its end; and the third, the beginning of the coda.
cheer, a gargoyle leer. The opening theme (rather, a succession of varied dance-themes)
Included among the thematic elements of the introduction are a lugubrious figure in
reveals several salient points in common with the march of the first movement, the highly
the tuba, which is an inversion of the first march motive. "Startled reiterations of an
serious mood of which it seems at times openly to parodize." A middle section, marked
upward-rushing phrase are familiar from the Scherzo," notes Engel. "Again and again" the
Altväterisch ("in archaic style"), serves the function of a trio in the classic scherzo, and
fate motive, "masterful in the trumpets, bars the way." The Finale proper begins with a
"pretends to evoke a memory of pre-Haydn Austrian folk music, where the oboe was the
"theme group, a larger song-structure of almost spontaneous growth." At a point of
melody-carrying instrument," comments Engel. "Yet even here the unsettled rhythm ...
climax, the first hammer blow falls. "What now?" queries Engel. "Panic—but not for
shows a Mahler not just making, but rather poking, fun." At a moment when hardly
long." The forces are rallied, driving ahead, as the composer notes in the score, "with
expected, the theme identified by Engel as the "fate motive dormant through the Andante
tough strength." At "the very threshold of supreme fulfillment, the fateful hammer strikes
reappears, adding an ominous element to the fantastic spell. . . . At the end, with trumpets
again." The recapitulation "is comprehensive, embracing not only the themes of the
muted, it is a descending succession of sardonic, nerve-tingling utterances, lending the close
Allegro . . . but the introductory Sostenuto as well. .. . The violins have just entered upon
an air of dire foreboding...."
their final impassioned cadenza, a restatement from the Sostenuto's beginning, when the
third and last hammer blow falls. . . . Gloom invests the hushed closing measures, in a
IV. Finale: Sostenuto—Allegro energico
The great expanse of the Finale (Sostenuto) is ushered in by an introduction of 114 measures.
82
brief, mournful elegy. . . . "
In addition to the eight horns previously mentioned, the orchestra includes four flutes,
In this Finale, says Engel, "The listener becomes aware that all that preceded was
four oboes, four clarinets plus bass clarinet, four trumpets, three trombones, tuba, three
preparation for this titanic welding of forces. The heroic ascent of the mountain-climber
bassoons, and contrabassoon. Mahler also uses subdivided strings, and there are numerous
(the human will) only to awaken at the summit to the insuperable limitations of the
solo passages for the first violin. Mutes are common among the wind instruments, with odd
earth-bound mortal; the idyllic invocation to love and peaceful contentment, a fleeting
ways of striking the side drum, as well as the cowbells and hammer, adding to the
yearning dream; the diabolic mockery of malicious demons; and over all, the shadow of
individuality of Mahler's sound texture. •
inevitable Fate, a warning apparition foretell the tragic outcome.
—Irving
Kolodin
83
FROM THE CRITICS: SYMPHONY N O . 6
Louis Biancolli, New York World Telegram, April 8, 1955
Howard Taubman, The New York Times, April 8, 1955
Mahler's Sixth Symphony was given a powerful and exciting performance by Dimitri
[Mitropoulos] conducted it in its American premiere in 1947, and he returned to it last
Mitropoulos and the Philharmonic-Symphony in Carnegie Hall last night. The
night in Carnegie Hall even though he must know that the public resists these lengthy
audience was far from large—what with the weather, the holidays, and, let's face it,
symphonies.... There are pages that call for tremendous virtuosity on the part of all hands.
Mahler. But what it lacked in size it made up for in resounding bravos and prolonged
Perhaps the greatest amount of virtuosity is demanded of the conductor, and Mr.
applause. If Mahler is still something of a problem in American Symphonic circles, his
Mitropoulos met the requirements with immense gusto. He conducted this great hulk of a
Sixth Symphony is almost the prize-winning problem child of the whole repertory.
score from memory, and made the most of its opportunities for dramatic effects. It is almost
Composed in 1906, this monumental score waited over 40 years for an American
platitudinous to say that Mahler's thematic material cannot carry the weight of his grandiose
premiere, and then it was only because of Mr. Mitropoulos that we heard it—and it is
ideas, but the judgment must be repeated. Only in the slow movement does one feel that
still this perfect Mahlerite who pleads its case. One would suppose it was an easy case,
matter and manner are truly and searchingly joined.
to plead. This is a great symphony by any yardstick—great in its length, great in its
craftsmanship, great in its wealth of music. It is a good deal longer than the average
Miles Kastendieck, New York Journal-American, April 8, 1955
symphony, and a good deal different in its emotional and thematic scheme. It abides by
In a dynamic performance by Dimitri Mitropoulos and the Philharmonic-Symphony,
a law and logic of its own, and as such it is overwhelming. On its own merits it is a
[Mahler's Sixth Symphony] unfolded its unique brand of soul-searing with relentless
symphony that is endlessly absorbing. There are passages fiery with drama, passages of
power of statement allied with forceful power of conviction. . . . Mitropoulos chose to
a shattering despair, and priceless moments of calm affirmation. While tragic in some
divide the performance by presenting two movements before the intermission and two
of its most arresting pages, the symphony is far from morbid or neurotic. At its core it
after it. This was a shrewd idea. The habitual disparagement about the length of the work
is rich and romantic and wholesome. There is menace, cruel and corrosive, but life faces
disappeared automatically. Though the continuity may have been broken, both orchestra
up bravely to it. Mr. Mitropoulos' reading clinched the case for the symphony. It was
and audience gained by being fresher for the sardonic Scherzo and tragic affirmation of
warm and intense, pulsing with life-giving insight, a marvel of absorption in the ideas
the finale.
and ideals of spurned genius.
85
Mitropoulos and Mahler's Sixth
by J O H N CANARINA
D
imitri Mitropoulos was always at his supreme best in complex scores of the late
Romantic and contemporary repertoire, and if these pieces were of the
magnitude of the Mahler Sixth or Wozzeck, so much the better. As was his
custom, Mitropoulos conducted the Sixth from memory in 1955, achieving a
complete unanimity and identification with the score such as I have seldom encountered in all
my years of concert-going. When it was over, the entire Orchestra joined the audience in
applauding Mitropoulos, an extremely rare occurrence for a conductor, certainly in those days.
Today, when Mahler has become pretty much an "everyday" composer, it's hard to
imagine there was a time not too long ago when performances and recordings of his music
were few and far between. Those 1955 performances marked only the second time the Sixth
Symphony had been played in the United States. It was none other than Mitropoulos who
had given the American premiere in 1947, also with the New York Philharmonic, though it
was not heard on the Sunday broadcast; the work was apparently considered too daunting
for the radio audience. On that occasion, the Symphony opened the program (!), and after
the intermission the audience was treated to Gershwin's Concerto in F with Oscar Levant as
soloist. Mitropoulos was especially eager that the Mahler Sixth be included on the Sunday
broadcast, for which Levant's Gershwin had also been scheduled. As the 90-minute radio
timing could not accommodate both works, Mitropoulos, in a letter to Philharmonic
manager Arthur Judson, hoped (in vain) that Levant could be persuaded to relinquish his
broadcast "for the sake of a great work of art."
At the 1955 concert I attended, the program was equally eccentric; the Symphony was
preceded by Morton Gould's Show Piece for Orchestra. By that time Mitropoulos was
Musical Director, so the decision was probably his. After the Gould, the first two
movements of the Mahler were played, followed by an intermission, and then the
completion of the Symphony. Some of the critics thought it a good idea to break the work
up in this way, so as to make a long and unfamiliar score more easily digestible. For the
broadcast (the American radio premiere), no intermission was taken, and the Symphony was
preceded by Weber's Overture to Der Freischütz.
Mitropoulos brought a greatly personal approach to his music making, one
complemented by an extremely idiosyncratic conducting style. Batonless until late in his
career, he conducted with his entire body, crouching or jumping according to the dynamics
or intensity of the music, his arms often flailing about with no semblance of a conventional
beat that the Orchestra could latch on to. Virgil Thomson, in a review of a Mitropoulos
concert, wrote, "He whipped [the orchestra] up as if it were a cake, kneaded it like bread,
shuffled and riffled an imaginary deck of cards, wound up a clock, shook a recalcitrant
umbrella, rubbed something on a washboard and wrung it out." And yet the man made
great music, as his Mahler performances attest.
John Canarina was an Assistant Conductor of the New York Philharmonic for the 1961-62
season and is Director of Orchestral Studies at Drake University, Des Moines, Iowa. He is the
author of Uncle Sam's Orchestra: Memories of the Seventh Army Symphony, published by
the University of Rochester Press.
89
Discs
7&8
Symphony No. 7 in B minor
I. Langsam—Allegro con fuoco
II. Nachtmusik: Allegro moderato
III. Schattenhaft: Fliessend, aber nicht schnell
IV. Nachtmusik: A n d a n t e amoroso
V. Rondo-Finale: Allegro ordinario
RAFAEL K U B E L I K , conductor
Broadcast of February 28,
1981, Avery Fisher Hall
A
great heritage can be a great burden. Many a 19th-century composer was
haunted by the ghost of Beethoven. Brahms was a middle-aged man before he
finished his first symphony, and the main reason for this hesitation seems to
have been that he was m a d e self-conscious by hearing the "tramp of a giant"
like Beethoven behind him. For Mahler, the problem was still greater because of the greater
accumulated heritage, and it was complicated by the constant struggle between his desire to
c o m p o s e and the necessity to earn a living as a conductor.
With astonishing speed, Mahler worked his way up from provincial opera houses to
b e c o m e the Musical Director of the Vienna C o u r t O p e r a and, for a time, of the Vienna
Philharmonic Orchestra. During his decade as the head of the Vienna Opera, he made it
the greatest operatic institution in the world. Then he was called to conduct at the
Metropolitan Opera in New York, where he was soon joined by Arturo Toscanini. It was a
conducted the first performance in Prague in 1 9 0 8 . His widow, Alma Maria Mahler,
described the feverish preparations for the premiere (in her Gustav Mahler: Memories
and Letters):
golden moment for opera in this country. But in his frantic desire to put away money to
give himself up solely to composing, Mahler also undertook the direction of the New York
Philharmonic, which position he held from 1909 to 1 9 1 1 . His friends expressed
amazement, but Mahler wrote to Guido Adler: "I need a practical outlet for my musical
capabilities as an essential counterbalance to the incredible inner stresses of creation; and
the direction of a concert orchestra has been a lifelong wish. I am glad to have this pleasure
for once in my life (quite aside from the fact that I am learning, for the technique of an
opera orchestra is a quite different one, and I am convinced that a number of my
weaknesses in instrumentation hitherto have sprung from this fact)."
There were many of Mahler's friends in Prague: [Albert] Neiser, [Arnold] Berliner,
[Ossip] Gabrilowitsch, and also several youthful musicians, Alban Berg, [Artur]
Bodanzky, [Gerhard von] Keussler, [Otto] Klemperer.
They all helped him revise
the orchestration and to copy the parts. Even at the final rehearsal, he was aware
of lack of balance and never ceased making alterations in the proofs as long as any
possibility of doing so remained. On all the various occasions when his symphonies
were performed for the first time, younger musicians gathered around to give him
their help, as they did now.
Mahler's doctors in Vienna warned him that his many activities had already
undermined his health and he must reduce them sharply. This he was temperamentally
Alma Mahler arrived in time for the last rehearsals:
unable to do. Before the end of his fourth season in New York, he collapsed and was taken
back to Vienna to die.
The Seventh Symphony is one of a trio of symphonic scores (the Fifth, Sixth, and
Seventh) written, during Mahler's tenure at the Vienna Opera. All three are purely
instrumental; that is, they use neither chorus nor vocal solos. They even have certain
thematic links, as well as common moods. Finally, Mahler seems to have experienced an
agony of uncertainty over details of each of the three scores.
T h e Seventh Symphony was written during the summers of 1904 and 1 9 0 5 , minor
revisions and a fair copy being completed during the following winters. Mahler himself
I found him in bed; he was nervous and unwell. His room was littered with
orchestral parts, for his alterations were incessant in those days, not of course in the
composition,
but in the instrumentation.
From the Fifth onwards,
he found it
impossible to satisfy himself... It was a phase. His self-assurance returned with the
Eighth, and although Das Lied von der Erde is posthumous, I cannot imagine his
altering a note in a work so economical in its means of expression . . . But now he
was torn by doubts. He avoided the society of his fellow musicians, which as a rule
he eagerly sought, and went to bed immediately after dinner to save his energy for
93
the rehearsals. . . [yet] Mahler's health and spirits improved as the rehearsals went
on, and his self-confidence rose.
III. Schattenhaft: Fliessend, aber nicht schnell
The shadowy mood of this movement suggests spooks rather than mere shade. In function,
the movement is a scherzo, with four contrasting "trio" sections. Its grotesque character is
The performance was only mildly successful. "The Seventh was scarcely understood by
the public," wrote his wife. "It had a succès d' estime"
refected in many details, including the passage where cellos and double basses are directed
to play fffff pizzicati so violent that the string snaps back against the fingerboard.
The Symphony is composed in five, instead of the traditional four, movements, the
central Scherzo being flanked by two nocturnes or Nachtmusiken.
IV. Nachtmusik: Andante amoroso
In this movement, Mahler achieves special effects by using a mandolin and a guitar. T h e
I. Langsam; Allegro con fuoco
The first movement has an introduction in a gloomy, almost funereal mood. Against a
delicate ensemble is in chamber-music style, contrapuntal in texture and fascinating in its
subtle shades of instrumental color.
shuddering rhythm of winds and strings, a tenor horn intones a jagged phrase related to the
principal theme of the first movement proper, the Allegro con fuoco. There are lyric passages
for contrast, as in traditional first-movement form, but the structure itself is extremely
elaborate and original with Mahler.
V. Rondo-Finale: Allegro ordinario
The Finale opens with a bravura solo for timpani and brilliant fanfares for horns and winds,
which introduce the principal theme. T h e family relation of this theme to the firstmovement theme seems obvious. But Mahler went further in his characteristically Romantic
II. Nachtmusik: Allegro m o d e r a t o
Despite the Allegro marking, the mood and color of this movement recall the Scène aux
champs of the third movement in Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique. Here the country
atmosphere is emphasized by flute passages marked to be played "like bird voices" and by
the use of cowbells, which for Mahler had an almost mystical significance. On more than
one occasion he spoke of cowbells as being the last terrestrial sound one hears before
reaching the peak of the mountain.
linking of movements by bringing back the Symphony's opening theme in the coda of his
Finale. The rondo form of the Finale is very free, and the closing pages, with their
combination of fanfares and earlier themes, build to a tremendous rhetorical climax.
Despite the brave show of the conclusion, the Symphony has many brooding,
foreboding passages, often with a suggestion of hopelessness, in which imaginative listeners
have heard a premonition of the catastrophies which were to sweep away the almost
oppressive riches of Mahler's cultural inheritance. But in spite of his premonitions, Mahler
had a redeeming sense of humor, sometimes sardonic, which also sounds in his music. He
95
knew that the end of Romanticism was not really the end of music but only of an epoch.
FROM T H E C R I T I C S : SYMPHONY No. 7
One day, Mahler was climbing the banks of a mountain stream with another musician.
His friend, in a lugubrious mood, lamented that no more great music was being written.
After Beethoven, Wagner, Bruckner, and Mahler, nothing new of importance could be
expected. Suddenly, Mahler stood rooted to the ground in an attitude of mock alarm. He
gestured in consternation to the stream and cried, "Great God, look there!"
Bill Zakariasen, Daily News, March 2, 1981
For sweep, grandeur, spectacular playing, and absolutely convincing timing, Kubelik gave
these ears at least the very finest performance of this symphony they've ever heard. The
reading was full, all-out, never for an instant apologizing for musical content, reveling in the
grotesqueries, the former structural nonsense, the gloriously ricocheting orchestral details
"What is it?" asked his anxious friend.
and above all the wacko childlike humor. What was once monstrous was made
"The last wave," was Mahler's reply.
monumental.
T h e Seventh Symphony is scored for two piccolos, three oboes, English horn, E-flat
clarinet, three clarinets in A and B-flat, bass clarinet, three bassoons, contrabassoon, tenor
Byron Belt, Jersey Journal, February 28, 1981
horn in B-flat, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, bass drum,
The tall, genial [Kubelik] is one of today's master conductors and he brings to Mahler—as
glockenspiel, cowbells, triangle, cymbals, gong, two harps, guitar, mandolin, and the
indeed, to everything else he conducts—a rare dimension of spirituality, integrity, and
traditional strings.
sensitivity. At Thursday's premiere performance this listener found the Mahler Seventh more
•
—Edward Downes
magnificent than ever. Kubelik led it with intense feeling, expansive, flexible tempi, and
subtle awareness of the quicksilver changes in mood and pacing that keep the music alive and
meaningful even during the bombast of much of the opening and closing movements.
Shirley Fleming, New York Post, February 27, 1981
The Seventh is not everybody's cup of tea—even devoted Mahlerians find some verbosity
and lack of unity in the work as a whole. Last night Rafael Kubelik and the New York
Philharmonic defied the odds and achieved a performance of clarity, excitement, and a great
deal of real vitality and s h a p e . . . . In short, Kubelik made it work.
97
Disc 9
S y m p h o n y N o . 8 in E-flat major
PART O N E : Veni, Creator Spiritus
PART T W O : Final Scene of Goethes Faust
LEOPOLD STOKOWSKI, conductor
FRANCES YEEND, soprano (Magna Peccatrix); UTA GRAF, soprano
(Una Poenitentium, Gretchen); CAMILLA WILLIAMS, soprano (Mater Gloriosa);
MARTHA LIPTON, contralto (Mulier Samaritana), LOUISE BERNHARDT, contralto
(Maria Aegyptiaca); EUGENE CONLEY, tenor (Doctor Marianus);CARLOS ALEXANDER,
baritone (Pater Ecstaticus); GEORGE LONDON, bass-baritone (Pater Profundus)
SCHOLA CANTORUM (Hugh Ross, director); WESTMINSTER CHOIR
(John Finley Williamson, director); BOYS' CHORUS FROM
PUBLIC SCHOOL N O . 12, MANHATTAN (Pauline Covner, teacher)
Broadcast of April 9,
T
1950,
Carnegie Hall
his work is a symphony in two parts, with solos and double chorus. The first
part, a sonata movement with double fugue, is a setting of the hymn Veni
Creator Spiritus, an invocation to the Creative Spirit, written by the Archbishop
of Mainz, Hrabanus Maurus (though sometimes attributed by tradition to
98
Charlemagne). The second half, in which may be distinguished an Andante, a Scherzo, and
a Finale, with a coda, is based on the closing scenes of the second part of Goethe's Faust
together the large choral passages; only at one point did an instinctive feeling of the
with "a fulfillment of the first fervent invocation to the 'Creator Spiritus.'
composer seem to demand a more extended orchestral passage in spite of his efforts to curtail
T h e first performance took place in Munich, under the composers direction, on
September 12, 1910. T h e first American hearings were given by the Philadelphia Orchestra,
certain errors in the matter of Latin declamation lay at the root of the trouble that he had
under Leopold Stokowski, in the Academy of Music, Philadelphia, on March 2, 1916, and
to recognize that his purely musical instincts had been sound.
in the Metropolitan Opera House, N e w York (under the sponsorship of the Friends of
Music), on April 17 of the same year.
Upon completing the Eighth Symphony, Mahler wrote to Willem Mengelberg: "It is the
greatest thing I have done so far, and so unusual in form and content that one has difficulty
Mahler worked on the Eighth Symphony during the summer of 1906, shortly after the
in writing about it. Imagine to yourself the entire universe suddenly beginning to sound and
first production (in Essen) of his Sixth. He had gone, as was his custom, to Maiernigg on
sing! These are no longer human voices, but revolving suns and planets." Shortly afterwards
the Wörthersee. In her Memories, Alma Mahler Werfel writes: "There was the usual
he spoke of it as "a gift to the nation," adding that "all my earlier symphonies are only
fortnight during which, nearly every year, he was haunted by the spectre of failing
preludes to this one. In those works everything is still tragically subjective; this one is a
inspiration. Then one morning, just as he crossed the threshold of his studio in the woods,
mighty dispenser of joy." Specht, at Mahler's request "and yet against his wish," wrote an
it came to him—'Veni, Creator Spiritus.'
elaborately detailed analysis of the musical structure and poetic aims of the symphony. He
"He composed and wrote down the whole opening chorus to the half-forgotten words,
called the analysis "paradoxical," since the composer had expressly asked him to make it,
But the music and words did not fit in—the music overlapped the text. In a fever of
though always the sworn foe of this sort of musical vivisection. Mahler was concerned with
excitement he telegraphed to Vienna and had the whole of the Latin hymn telegraphed
the entity of a vital impression, not with the dissection of thematic relationships. B u t . . .
back. T h e complete text fitted the music perfectly. Intuitively he had composed the music
this little book was written because the composer could not hinder the appearance of all
for the full strophes. He worked with superhuman energy this summer. . . . He was
kinds of 'guides' to his works, some of which drove him into a rage of resentment—and,
boundlessly happy and exalted. Unfortunately he had to break off and go to Salzburg. Once
also, because he wanted to prevent too great a misconception of his artistic intentions and
back in Maiernigg he worked feverishly at the Eighth."
too serious a misunderstanding on the part of his hearers."
Richard Specht states that he composed the music in the space of three weeks "without
100
it." It was not until he had sought the advice of a Viennese philologist and discovered that
But if Mahler claimed not to be a composer of program music in the sense of descriptive
preliminary sketches or studies," while the instrumentation was indicated in outline, "as
realism, he is supposed to have said: "When I conceive a great musical picture, I always arrive
though it had been dictated to him." "Brief instrumental interludes," says Specht, "bound
at the point where I must employ the 'word' as the bearer of my musical idea. . . . My
101
experience with the last movement of my Second Symphony was such that I ransacked the
literature of the world, up to the Bible, to find the expository word." Specht felt that the
employment of the human voice, "as bearer of the clarifying Word" and as "an obbligato
instrument," was the actual "new problem of this work. Be this as it may, Mahler published
his symphonies first and last as "absolute music"; hence his dislike of explanations or analyses.
It seems to have been the German concert manager Emil Gutmann who first called the
present work the Symphony of a Thousand. The vocal part of the symphony calls for two
mixed choruses and a boys' choir. Eight soloists are needed for the second half, where the
roles from the closing scenes from Faust are distributed as follows:
First Soprano: Including the role of Una Poenitentium
Second Soprano: Including the role of Magna Peccatrix
Third Soprano: Mater Gloriosa
First Alto: Mulier Samaritana
Second Alto: Maria Aegyptiaca
Tenor: Doctor Marianus
Baritone: Pater Ecstaticus
Bass: Pater Profundus
The orchestral score calls for two or more piccolos, four flutes, four oboes, English horn,
two or more E-flat clarinets, three clarinets, bass clarinet, four bassoons, contrabassoon,
eight horns, four trumpets, four trombones, bass tuba, three kettledrums, big drum,
cymbals, tam-tam, triangle, bells (in low register), glockenspiel, strings (double-basses with
103
low C string). Additional instruments are celesta, piano, harmonium, organ, two or more
corresponding passage in the Second Symphony? On the whole, the orchestra of the Eighth
harps, mandolin, four trumpets, and three trombones (these brass additions at a distance
Symphony is similar to that of the Second, although somewhat enlarged.... The final brass
from the other instruments). A note in the score says that in the case of a large chorus and
chorus of the Eighth—quite aside from its purely dramatic (not programmatic)
a group of strings, the higher woodwind may be doubled.
significance—serves the purpose of heightened thematic emphasis; for it is the apotheosis of
"His most astonishing and certainly one of his most publicised compositions," Dika
Newlin, in her book Bruckner, Mahler, Schoenberg, calls Mahler's Eighth Symphony. "A
"Regarding the use of groups of isolated instruments in the Second and Eighth
special glamor has always surrounded it ever since the eventful day of its world premiere.
Symphonies, we may conclude that in one respect at least these groups serve the same
That day marked the high point of Mahler's career; but it marked, too, something more
function, that of adding a sense of physical space to the music. When we introduce the
fateful. Beneath the tumult and the shouting of the gala occasion graver undertones might
concept of physical space, we are very close to the concept of stage music; and, indeed,
be sensed. Within the year Mahler would be buried at Grinzing. The enthusiastic audience,
Mahler as an original composer is . . . never closer to opera than in the Second and Eighth
who had risen from their seats in awe-stricken silence when Mahler mounted the podium
Symphonies. Discovering this increases our regret that we may never know the dramatic
on this greatest day of his life, could not know that a doomed man stood before them. The
works of Mahler's youth, which he destroyed. We must construct (or reconstruct) Mahler's
more perceptive among them might, however, have been able to realize a more profound
dramaturgy on a symphonic basis alone. When we do this, we shall discover that what
truth—that they viewed not the end of a man's life, but the symbol of an end of an era. For
Mahler has created in the Eighth Symphony is in reality a new kind of Gesamtkunstwerk,
how would it be possible to go any further in the monumentalization of the symphonic style
liberated from the distractions of the s t a g e . . . .
than Mahler had gone in this work? He had exhausted all the possibilities; others, unless they
wished to create a merely epigonous art, would have to strike out in new p a t h s . . . .
"It represents, historically, the end of an era. . . . In a sense, too, it is the ultimate
consummation of certain tendencies already present in Mahler's earlier works. Spiritually
104
the 'Veni, Creator Spiritus' which is the cornerstone of the entire symphony....
"In spite of the exclusively choral character of the Eighth Symphony, it would be hard to
justify the application of the term 'cantata' to it, for it completely lacks that freedom of
structure which characterizes the cantata. Every scrap of thematic material is worked out
svmphonically, and the intersectional thematic relationships are never lost sight of. . . .
and musically, it is a pendant to the Finale of the Second Symphony, displaying, especially
"Fundamentally, in spite of its orchestra, which glows with all the vivid colors of post
in the Faust section, a striking parallelism, not only in tonality, but also in philosophical
Romanticism, and in spite of its peculiarly symphonic style of development, which could
content... to that work. The similarities extend even to orchestration—for what else is the
never have existed without the achievements of the Viennese classic era, the Eighth
final page of the Eighth Symphony but a heightened, accentuated version of the
Symphony is in spirit a baroque composition. The grandiose élan of its opening chorus has
105
the quality of a Handelian oratorio. The literary form of any oratorio must of necessity be a
narrative one; in the Eighth Symphony, on the other hand, we are confronted with the
triumph of musical logic over verbal logic, the combination of texts in two differernt
languages (German and Latin). No symphonist had yet dared to combine two different
languages in a choral-symphonic work; that Mahler could do it without sacrificing unity is
a striking tribute to the strength of his musical structure. . . .
"In connection with what we have said about operatic elements in the Eighth Symphony,
it is important to keep in mind that in the second part of the work we are dealing with
drama—the final scene of Faust. Needless to say, Mahler has taken full advantage of the
dramatic possibilities of his material, and the imaginative listener (placed in a receptive
mood by the atmospheric introduction, with its 164-bar pedal point in E-flat) may well
visualize the scene laid before him at the beginning. . . . It is when we come to the closing
Chorus mysticus, 'Alles Vergängliche ist nur ein Gleichnis,' that we find the opportunity for
a valuable comparative study in styles, since Liszt had already used that same text in the final
Andante mistico section of his Faust Symphony. . . . The chorus serves a completely different
function in Liszt's music; whereas Mahler brings it as the logical musical and emotional
climax to a complete choral work, Liszt simply adds it at the end of the Mephistopheles
movement. . . . Furthermore, the choral setting of L i s z t . . . is markedly different from that
of Mahler.... Liszt's orchestral setting does not even approach the size of Mahler's, although
Liszt ends his symphony with a triumphant blaze of glory in C major, which is, surely
comparable in function to the closing pages of Mahler's work. An interesting detail in the
106I
Memo to Bruno Zirato, initialed by Leopold Stokowski
orchestration of Liszt's setting is the use of the organ (for which the harmonium may be
in the Eighth Symphony as honorary concertmaster. However, out of cowardice he had
substituted), which may well have inspired Mahler's use of organ and harmonium (not to
neglected to pass the word along. Mahler thought the whole matter was arranged, and
mention the piano) in the same context.
telegraphed Rosé, who immediately came from Vienna. All unsuspecting, he went to the
"When all the differences are taken into account, there still remain some notable
rehearsal with him. The orchestra felt that its concertmaster had been insulted, and the
similarities between the two settings.... The rhythmical declamation of the text is identical,
moment that Rosé started to sit down they all got up and left their places. Mahler stood
except for small details. This would not necessarily prove that Liszt's version influenced
motionless.
Mahler, for the text naturally suggests such a declamation.... But it is remarkable that both
"Rosé got up slowly, begged Mahler not to disturb himself, and gravely walked away
composers should have turned to a five-bar phrasing; this coincidence cannot be accounted
from the podium with his violin, down to where we were sitting. This was a demeaning
for in terms of the text, since it would readily permit a four-bar phrasing. Certainly the
deduction is clear that Mahler was definitely influenced by the conception of Liszt."
action, and so blameworthy; but the noble feelings which he revealed thereby immediately
put the fault on the side of the others."
Mahler dedicated the Eighth Symphony to his wife. The work, we are told, "kept his
The performance on September 12, 1910, has been described as "an unforgettable
emotions in a constant state of pleasurable turmoil." Nevertheless, the rehearsals at Munich
experience by anyone privileged to be there, as Thomas Mann and Stefan Zweig and Max
were not without disturbing features. There were delays with the printing of the piano score,
Reinhardt could testify." Miss Newlin alludes, also, to the "unforgettable festivities which
reports that the Leipzig Riedelverein might be substituted for the Vienna Singverein (which
the gay party in the big banquet hall reserved for the composer's friends and guests; the
Mahler wanted for the choruses), and quarrels with the manager, Gutmann, who wished to
gradual break-up of the happy and congenial group, and the wonderful dialogue between
omit one day's rehearsal. The composer finally delivered an ultimatum: "Either you stick to
husband and wife afterwards, which lasted far into the dawn. Never again would Mahler see
your agreement in every respect—or you accept my final resignation herewith." Even at the
eleventh hour, there was trouble about the Munich concertmaster, with whom Mahler was
a night quite like this one."
—Herbert F. Peyser
dissatisfied. His demand that his brother-in-law Arnold Rosé, concertmaster of the Vienna
Philharmonic, be engaged in his place precipitated a further scandal, which Alma Mahler
Werfel described in some detail:
108
"Before the first general rehearsal, something painful had occurred. The arranger had, at
Overleaf: Painting of Gustav Mahler (1920) by Hans Rudolf Herrmann (b. 1858), a gift to
Mahler's request, taken over the duty of informing the orchestra that Rosé wanted to play
the New York Philharmonic from Mrs. John H. Steiner.
109
Veni, Creator Spiritus
C o m e , Holy Ghost, Creator Blest
Veni, creator spiritus,
C o m e , H o l y G h o s t , C r e a t o r Blest,
Mentes t u o r u m visita,
Vouchsafe within our souls to rest,
Imple superna gratia,
C o m e w i t h T h y grace and h e a v ' n l y aid,
Q u a e tu creasti pectora.
A n d f i l l the hearts w h i c h T h o u hast made.
Q u i Paraclitus diceris,
To T h e e , the
D o n u m Dei altissimi.
T o T h e e , the G i f t o f G o d most H i g h ,
Comforter, we cry.
F o n s v i v u s , ignis, caritas
The F o u n t of life, the Fire of love,
Et spiritalis unctio.
T h e soul's A n o i n t i n g from a b o v e .
Infirma nostri corporis
T h e weakness of o u r mortal state
V i r t u t e firmans perpeti,
W i t h deathless m i g h t invigorate.
A c c e n d e l u m e n sensibus,
Thy light to every t h o u g h t impart,
Infunde a m o r e m cordibus.
A n d shed T h y love i n every heart.
H o s t e m repellas longius,
D r i v e far a w a y our ghostly foe,
P a c e m q u e dones protinus.
A n d T h i n e a b i d i n g peace bestow;
D u c t o r e sic te praevio,
If T h o u be our preventing G u i d e ,
Vitemus omne pessìmum.
N o evil can o u r steps betide.
Tu septiformis m u n e r e
T h e sevenfold gifts o f G r a c e are T h i n e ,
D e x t r a e paternae digitus.
O Finger of the H a n d D i v i n e .
Per te s c i a m u s da patrem
M a k e T h o u to us the Father k n o w n ;
N o s c a m u s atque f i l i u m ,
T e a c h us th' Eternal S o n to o w n
Te utriusque spiritum
A n d T h e e , W h o s e N a m e w e ever bless
C r e d a m u s o m n i tempore.
Of both the Spirit to confess.
D a gratiarum m u n e r a ,
G r a n t us T h y heavenly j o y to know,
D a g a u d i o r u m praemia.
A b u n d a n t grace on us bestow,
Dissolve litis vincula,
F r o m sin's enslavement give release,
Adstringe pacìs foedera.
A n d knit us in the b o n d of peace.
G l o r i a Patri D o m i n o ,
Praise we the Father and the S o n ,
N a t o q u e , qui a m o r t u i s
A n d H o l y Spirit w i t h T h e m O n e :
Surrexit, ac Paraclito
A n d m a y the S o n on us bestow
In s a e c u l o r u m saecula.
T h e gifts that from the Spirit flow.
///
Faust, Part Two, Act 5, Scene 7
Mountain Gorges, Forest, Rocks, Desert
Holy anchorites scattered up the mountain-side,
dwelling among the clefts
Chorus and Echo
Waldung, sie schwankt heran,
Felsen, sie lasten dran,
Wurzeln, sie klammern an,
Stamm dicht an Stamm hinan,
Woge nach Woge spritzt,
Höhle, die tiefste, schützt;
Löwen, sie schleichen stumm,
Freundlich um uns herum,
Ehren geweihten Ort,
Heiligen Liebeshort.
Forests are swaying here,
Rocks weight them downward sheer,
Roots clutching rocks appear,
Trunk close by trunk is near.
Wave dashes after wave,
Shelter hath deepest cave.
Lions, soft-footed, dumb,
Friendly around us come,
Honoring the sacred place,
Refuge of love and grace.
Pater ecstaticus
(hovering up and down)
Ewiger Wonnebrand,
Glühendes Liebeband,
Siedender Schmerz der Brust,
Schäumende Gotteslust.
Pfeile, durchdringet mich,
Lanzen, bezwinget mich,
Keulen, zerschmettert mich,
Blitze, durchwettert mich,
Dass ja das Nichtige
Alles verflüchtige,
Glänze der Dauerstern,
Ewiger Liebe Kern!
Endless ecstatic fire,
Glow of pure love's desire,
Pangs of the yearning breast,
Rapture in G o d to rest.
Arrows, pierce through me here,
Lances, subdue me here,
Bludgeons, come, batter me,
Lightnings, come, shatter me,
That my mortality
Flee from reality,
Endless star shine above,
Core of eternal love.
um grausen Sturz des Schaums der Flut,
Wie stark, mit eignem, kräftigen Triebe,
Der Stamm sich in die Lüfte trägt;
So ist es die allmächtige Liebe,
Die alles bildet, alles hegt.
Ist um mich her ein wildes Brausen,
Als wogte Wald und Felsengrund!
Und doch stürzt, liebevoll im Sausen,
Die Wasserfülle sich zum Schlund,
Berufen gleich das Tal zu wässern;
Der Blitz, der flammend niederschlug,
Die Atmosphäre zu verbessern,
Die Gift und Dunst im Busen trug:
Sind Liebesboten, sie verkünden,
Was ewig schaffend uns umwallt.
Mein Inn'res mög' es auch entzünden,
Wo sich der Geist, verworren, kalt,
Verquält in stumpfer Sinne Schranken,
Scharf angeschloss'nem Ketten-Schmerz.
O Gott! Beschwichtige die Gedanken,
Erleuchte mein bedürftig Herz!
Chorus of Angels
Gerettet ist das edle Glied
Der Geisterwelt vom Bösen:
Wer immer strebend sich bemüht,
Den können wie erlösen;
Und hat an ihm die Liebe gar
Von oben teilgenommen,
Begegnet ihm die selige Schar
Mit herzlichem Willkommen.
112
As chasms at my feet descending
Burden the chasms more profound,
As a thousand radiant streams are wending
Hand in hand clinging,
In a glad ring unite,
Soaring and singing,
Feeling a pure delight.
Godlike the yearning,
Confident be;
For whom ye're yearning,
Him shall ye see.
Chorus of Blessed Boys
Pater profundus, Lower Region
Wie Felsenabgrund mir zu Füssen
Auf tiefem Abgrund lastend ruht,
Wie tausend Bäche strahlend fliessen
To foaming cataracts' awesome bound,
As, by its own strong impulse driven,
The tree mounts upward, straight and tall,
So to Almighty Love 'tis given
To fashion all, to cherish all.
All round me is a savage roaring
As if swayed wood and rocky steep;
Yet plunges, lovely in its pouring,
The wealth of water to the deep,
Summoned below, the vale to brighten,
The bolt that fell with sudden flare,
The atmosphere to cleanse and lighten
Which in its bosom poison bare,
Heralds of love are they, proclaiming
Creative powers that us enfold.
May they, my inner self inflaming,
Quicken my soul confused with cold,
Its blunted senses galled unceasing.
Bound fast in chains that cramp and smart.
O God! these thoughts of mine appeasing,
Illumine T h o u my needy heart!
(soaring in the higher atmosphere,
bearing the immortal part of Faust)
Hände verschlinget
Freudig zum Ringverein
Lo! rescued is this noble one
From evil machination;
113
Regt euch und singet
Heil'ge Gefühle drein!
Göttlich belehret,
Dürft ihr vertrauen;
Den ihr verehret,
Werdet ihr schauen.
114
Who e'er aspiring, struggles on,
For him there is salvation.
And if to him Celestial Love
Its favoring grace has given,
The Blessed Host comes from Above
And welcomes him to Heaven.
Jene Rosen, aus den Händen
Liebend-heihger Büsserinnen,
Halfen uns den Sieg gewinnen
Und das hohe Werk vollenden,
Diesen Seelenschatz erbeuten.
Böse wichen, als wir streuten,
Teufel flohen, als wir trafen
Statt gewohnter Höllenstrafen
Fühlten Liebesqual die Geister;
Selbst der alte Satans-Meister
War von spitzer Pein durchdrungen
Jauchzet auf! es ist gelungen.
Chorus of Younger Angels
Roses sainted women spended,
Penitent through mercy glorious,
Helped to make the fight victorious,
That the lofty work be ended,
That he won his spirit-treasure.
Demons shrank in sore displeasure,
Devils fled the roses' flinging.
Not with wonted hell-pangs stinging,
Love-pangs brought them to disaster.
Even the old Satan-Master
By sharp pain was penetrated.
Shout with joy! It's consummated!
Uns bleibt ein Erdenrest
Zu tragen peinlich,
Un wär' er von Asbest
Er ist nicht reinlich.
Wenn starke Geisteskraft
Die Elemente
An sich herangerafft,
Kein Engel trennte
Geeinte Zwienatur
Der innigen beiden;
Die ewige Liebe nur
Vermag's zu scheiden.
The More Perfect Angels
Still earthly rests remain
Which have oppressed us;
They'd not be pure of stain,
Though of asbestos.
When every element
Strong spirit-forces
Have borne away and blent,
No angel divorces
The natures two in one,
So close they weave them;
Eternal Love alone
Can ever cleave them.
Nebelnd um Felsenhöh'
The Younger Angels
Mist-like round yonder height,
Spür Ich soeben,
Regend sich in der Näh',
Ein Geisterleben.
Die Wölkchen werden klar; Ich seh' bewegte Schar
Seliger Knaben,
Los von der Erde Druck,
Im Kreis gesellt,
Die sich erlaben
Am neuen Lenz und Schmuck
Der oberen Welt.
Sei er zum Anbeginn,
Steigendem Vollgewinn
Diesen gesellt!
I'm just discovering
Where in approaching flight
Spirit-life's hovering.
The clouds are growing clear,
I see a host draw near
Of Blessed Boys,
Freed from the stress of earth,
Circling, united!
They taste the joys
Of spring in their new birth,
Therein delighted.
Let him at once begin
Perfected joy to win,
With these united!
Freudig empfangen wir
Diesen im Puppenstand;
Also erlangen wir
Englisches Unterpfand.
Löset die Flocken los,
Die ihn umgeben!
Schon ist er schön und gross
Von heiligem Leben.
The Blessed Boys
Glad we're receiving now
Him as a chrysalis,
Thereby achieving now
Pledge of angelic bliss.
Loosen all earthly flakes
That cling around him;
Fair and great now he wakes,
Divine life has crowned him.
Hier ist die Aussicht frei,
Der Geist erhoben!
Dort ziehen Frauen vorbei,
Schwebend nach oben;
Die Herrliche mittenin
Im Sternenkranze,
Die himmelskönigin,
Ich seh's am Glanze.
Höchste Herrscherin der Welt!
Lasse mich im blauen
Ausgespannten Himmelszelt
Doctor Marianus
Here is the outlook free,
The soul uplifting.
Women I yonder see,
Heavenward drifting,
And glorious, midway seen,
Star-crowned, yet tender,
Heaven's own lofty Queen!
It is Her splendor.
Highest mistress of the world,
Let me, of Thy pleasure,
See Thy mystery unfurled
ll5
In the vaulted azure.
L o o k with grace on what doth move
H u m a n hearts to greet Thee
A n d with holy bliss of love
Bears them up to meet Thee.
All invincible we feel
When supreme T h o u willest,
Swiftly tempered is our zeal
When its glow T h o u stillest.
Virgin, pure in fairest sense,
Mother sweet, supernal,
Chosen Queen of our defence,
Peer of gods eternal!
Dein Geheimnis schauen!
Billige, was des Mannes Brust
Ernst und zart beweget
U n d mit heiliger Liebeslust
Dir entgegen träget!
Unbezwinglich unser Mut,
Wenn du hehr gebietest;
Plötzlich mildert sich die Glut,
Wie du uns befriedest,
Jungfrau, rein im schönsten Sinn,
Mutter, Ehren würdig,
Uns erwählte Königin,
Göttern ebenbürtig.
(Mater Gloriosa hovers above)
Chorus
Dir, der Unberührbaren,
Ist es nicht benommen,
Dass die leicht Verführbaren
Traulich zu dir kommen.
In die Schwachheit hingerafft,
Sind sie schwer zu retten:
Wer zerreisst aus eigner Kraft
Der Gelüste Ketten?
Wie entgleitet schnell der Fuss
Schiefem, glattem Boden?
Du schwebst zu Höhen
Der ewigen Reiche,
Vernimm das Flehen,
D u Ohnegleiche!
D u Gnadenreiche!
116
Bei der Liebe, die den Füssen
O T h o u of immaculate ray,
From Thee 'tis not taken
T h a t those lightly led astray
C o m e with trust unshaken.
Rapt away, to weakness prone,
It is hard to save them.
W h o by their own strength alone
Rend the lusts that slave them?
Whose foot does not slip awhile
On steep, slippery places?
C h o r u s of Penitent W o m e n
To heights art soaring
Of realms eternal,
Hear our imploring,
Matchless, Maternal,
Of grace supernal!
M a g n a peccatrix
By the love that ever glowing
For thy Son, the Heaven-born,
Shed warm tears to balsam flowing
Spite of Pharisaic scorn;
By the box whose ointment precious
Dropped its perfume rare and sweet;
By the locks whose gentle meshes
Dried the Saviour's holy feet
Deines gottverklärten Sohnes
Tränen liess zum Balsam fliessen,
Trotz des Pharisäer-Hohnes;
Beim Gefässe, das so reichlich
Tropfte Wohlgeruch hernieder;
Bei den Locken, die so weichlich
Trockneten die heiligen Glieder—
Bei dem Bronn, zu dem schon weiland
Abram liess die Herde führen;
Bei dem Eimer, der dem Heiland
Kühl die Lippe durft' berühren;
Bei der reinen reichen Quelle,
Die nun dorther sich ergiesset,
Uberflüssig, ewig helle,
Rings durch alle Welten fliesset—
Bei dem hochgeweihten Orte,
Wo den Herrn man niederliess,
Bei dem Arm, der von der Pforte
Warnend mich zurücke stiess;
Bei der vierzigjährigen Busse,
Der ich treu in Wüsten blieb;
Bei dem seligen Scheidegrusse,
Den im Sand ich niederschrieb—
Mulier Samaritana
By the well to which were driven
Abram's herds in days of yore;
By the pitcher once 'twas given
Our dear Saviour to restore;
By the spring, rich and supernal,
Whence flow waters far and wide,
Overflowing, bright, eternal,
Pouring through the worlds their tide—
M a r i a Aegyptiaca
By the sacred place where mortals
Our dear Master's body laid;
By the arm which at the portals
Warningly my entrance stayed;
By the forty years' repentance
Truly passed in desert-land;
By the blessed farewell sentence
T h a t I wrote upon the s a n d —
All Three
Die du grossen Sünderinnen
Deine N ä h e nicht verweigerst,
Und ein büssendes Gewinnen
In die Ewigkeiten steigerst,
Gönn' auch dieser guten Seele,
Die sich einmal nur vergessen,
Die nicht ahnte, dass sie fehle
Dein Verzeihen angemessen!
T h o u who women greatly sinning
Grantest to come nigh to Thee,
By sincere repentance winning
Bliss through all eternity,
Grant to this good soul T h y blessing,
W h o but once herself forgot,
W h o knew not she was transgressing,
Pardon meet refuse T h o u not!
117
Una poenitentium
(formerly named Gretchen, drawing closer)
Neige, neige,
Du Ohnegleiche,
Du Strahlenreiche,
Dein Antlitz gnädig meinem Glück!
Der früh Geliebte,
Nicht mehr Getrübte,
Er kommt zurück.
Er überwächst uns schon
An mächtigen Gliedern,
Wird treuer Pflege Lohn
Reichlich erwidern.
Wir wurden früh entfernt
Von Lebechören;
Doch dieser hat gelernt:
Er wird uns lehren.
Vom edlen Geisterchor umgeben,
Wird sich der Neue kaum gewahr,
Er ahnet kaum das frische Leben,
So gleicht er schon der heiligen Schar.
Sieht, wie er jedem Erdenbande
Der alten Hülle sich entrafft,
Und aus ätherischem Gewande
Hervortritt erste Jugendkraft!
Vergönne mir, ihn zu belehren,
Noch blendet ihn der neue Tag!
Komm! Hebe dich zu höhern Sphären!
Wenn er dich ahnet, folgt er nach.
Bend, oh bend now,
Matchless, attend Thou,
Thy radiance spend now,
Look on my bliss in charity.
My early lover,
His troubles over,
Comes back to me.
T h e Blessed Boys
Mighty of limb, he towers
Already above us;
Soon for this care of ours
Richly he'll love us.
Early were we removed,
Life did not reach us;
But he has learned and loved
And he will teach us.
Blicket auf zum Retterblick,
Alle reuig Zarten,
Euch zu seligem Geschick
Dankend nun umzuarten!
Werde jeder bess're Sinn
Dir zum Dienst erbötig;
Jungfrau, Mutter, Königin,
Göttin, bleibe gnädig!
Alles Vergängliche
Ist nur ein Gleichnis!
Das Unzulängliche,
Hier wird's Ereignis;
Das Unbeschreibliche,
Hier ist's getan;
Das Ewig-Weibliche
Zieht uns hinan.
Doctor Marianus
(prostrate, adoring)
Penitents, look up, elate,
Where ye see salvation;
Grateful, to your blessed fate
Grow through re-creation.
May each better sense be keen
In Thy service precious;
O Thou Virgin, Mother, Queen,
Goddess, be Thou gracious!
Chorus mysticus
All earth comprises
Is symbol alone;
What there ne'er suffices
As fact here is known;
All past the humanly
Wrought here in love;
The Eternal-Womanly
Draws us above.
T h e Penitent (Gretchen)
Girt by the noble choir of Heaven,
Himself the new-come scarcely knows,
Scarce feels the fresh life newly given
Ere like the holy throng he grows;
See! how each earthly bond he's riven,
From that old vesture freed at length,
Now in ethereal garb of Heaven
Appears his pristine, youthful strength,
Oh, grant that I may now instruct him,
Since blinds him still the new-born day.
Mater gloriosa
Come, rise to higher spheres! Conduct him!
If he feels thee, he'll go thy way.
119
118
FROM T H E CRITICS: SYMPHONY N o . 8
Harriett Johnson, New York Post, April 7, 1950
Mahler's gigantic Eighth Symphony—a musical fresco which in its monumental
combination of forces, forms a kind of ecstatic apostrophe to faith—had its first complete
New York performance in over 30 years last night by the Philharmonic-Symphony, Leopold
Stokowski conducting . . . The privilege of hearing the Mahler "Eighth" is one to be
cherished and we are grateful to the conductor for his urge to recreate it. The performance
has much to commend it and the score itself, even though orchestrally theatrical, is highly
imaginative; on the whole it is deeply moving.
Miles Kastendieck, New York Journal-American, April 7, 1950
Carnegie Hall reverberated with the exaltant sounds of Mahler's Eighth Symphony last
night. It was a momentous occasion.... Perhaps this choral work finds Mahler at the height
of his powers. Though not completely sustained throughout, it has pages and pages of
transcendent beauty, penned in the white heat of inspiration and emotion. These gave
impact to the performance and rekindled enthusiasm for Mahler.
Francis D. Perkins, New York Herald Tribune, April 10, 1950
Gustav Mahler's Eighth Symphony, again prefaced by Giovanni Gabrielli's ceremonial, "In
Ecclesiis Benedicite Domino," was repeated under Leopold Stokowski' s direction in yesterday
afternoon's Philharmonic-Symphony concert at Carnegie Hall . . . [and] was fervently
applauded by a capacity audience. The interpretation was a remarkable achievement for Mr.
120
Stokowski, who made his last appearance of the season with the Philharmonic musicians.
Disc 10
10
.
t
Symphony No. 9 in D major
I. Andante comodo
I I . Im Tempo eines gemächlichen Ländlers. Etwas täppisch und sehr derb
I I I . Rondo. Burleske: Allegro assai. Sehr trotzig
IV. Molto adagio
SIR JOHN
Broadcast
of December
M
8,
1962,
Philharmonic
Hall
BARBIROLLI,
(now Avery
conductor
Fisher
Hall)
ahler composed his Ninth Symphony, the last he was destined to complete,
during the first of his two seasons as conductor of the N e w York
Philharmonic. T h e score, finished on April 1, 1910, reflects the complex
emotions of a morbidly sensitive artist who knew that he had little time to
live—that he was, in fact, killing himself.
In 1907, following his resignation as General Music Director of the Vienna Opera,
Mahler's physician diagnosed a serious heart ailment, which was confirmed by a second
specialist. Both men warned Mahler that he would have to change his entire strenuous way
of life, avoiding all strain and even the long walks in the country he so loved. But Mahler
122
was temperamentally unable to follow their counsel. N o t only did he accept an invitation to
conduct the Metropolitan Opera for the following seasons; he continued meanwhile to
Bruno Walter, close friend and devoted disciple of Mahler, wrote in his book Gustav Mahler:
compose and conduct extensively in Europe during the summers. In the fall of 1909 he
added to the Metropolitan the direction of the New York Philharmonic concerts and worked
Der Abschied ("The Farewell") might well have been used as the tide of the Ninth
simultaneously on his gigantic Ninth Symphony. As he had been warned, the strain was too
Symphony. Born of the same mood, but without musical connection with Das Lied
great. He collapsed before the end of his second Philharmonic season—he conducted his last
von der Erde . . . , the first movement grew to be a tragically moving and noble
concert on February 2 1 , 1911—and was taken back to Vienna to die.
paraphrase of the farewell feeling. A unique soaring between farewell sadness and a
The works Mahler composed during the New York years preceding the catastrophe, Das
vision of Heavenly Light... lifts the movement into an atmosphere of celestial bliss.
Lied von der Erde, the Ninth Symphony, and the sketches for the unfinished Tenth, are
But the Ninth Symphony is more than a personal leave-taking. Its poignance
obsessed with the mood of farewell, not only in the music but in the words that abound in
is compounded by Mahler's acute awareness of his historical position at the end of
the sketches. Those for the Tenth Symphony, for example, conclude with a verbal explosion
a great line of Romantic composers. Mahler speaks the tortured introspective,
including the words Leb wohl, mein Saitenspiel. . . ("Farewell, my music making . . . " ) .
oversensitive, oversubtle language of a man who is perhaps too conscious of the
But even without comment, and long before Mahler's final illness, a sensitive friend like
great tradition he must carry on. His mood is related to that of his friend and
the composer Alban Berg felt the power of this mood. When Berg was permitted to study
contemporary, Pfitzner, in the latter's opera Palestrina. The composer feels that the
the score of the first movement six months before Mahler was stricken, Berg wrote to his
rich tradition, the works he has loved from the past, the values by which he has
future wife:
lived and created, even the sensitivity to perceive these things—all are sliding with
him irretrievably into oblivion. This Romantic obsession with dissolution and
Once again I have played through the score of Mahler's Ninth Symphony: the first
Death is as strong in its way as in Wagner's Tristan. .. .
movement is the most heavenly thing Mahler ever wrote. It is the expression of an
exceptional fondness for this earth, the longing to live in peace on it, to enjoy nature
to its depths—before death comes.
For he comes irresistibly. The whole movement is permeated by premonitions of
death. Again and again it crops up, all the elements of terrestrial dreaming
124
culminate in i t . . . .
As in old German woodcuts and engravings, the Totentänze or "Dances of Death," with
a grinning skeleton in a hundred friendly and unfriendly guises, one could easily imagine
the four movements of this symphony to represent Death as a liberator, Death as fiddler for
the dance, Death as the opponent in battle, and the Finale: Death, the consoling friend.
The movements are not classical in form, tempo, or key relations. The first and last
125
movements are slow, with two quick movements between. Each movement is in a different
key: D major, C major, A minor, and the Finale in the remote key of D-flat.
following passage for horns:
I. Andante comodo
The first movement begins very softly with a syncopated three-note rhythm in the bottom
of the orchestra ('cellos and horn), a rhythm to which Mahler attached special importance
since he brings it back fff "with the utmost violence'' at the climax of the movement, the
passage which Berg called "Death itself."
After a delay of six measures, the principal melody makes its first, timid appearance in
the second violins:
This melody appears and reappears in a dozen different guises. Very soon the first two
descending notes of the melody are extended to three. By imperceptible degrees they begin
to recall the motto-theme of Beethoven's Lebewohl ("Farewell") Sonata for Piano, Opus 81:
126
By themselves, of course, three descending notes may recall nothing more mystical than
the melody of "Three Blind Mice." But used as Mahler uses them—for example, in the
which overlap with a dissonant fragment of the same figure—they come so close to
Beethoven's treatment of the "Farewell" theme in a famous passage of the Lebewohl Sonata
that the resemblance can hardly have been accidental.
The melancholy associations of Mahler's principal melody are further borne out by the
orchestral sketch, where the return of the melody in almost its original form is sung very
tenderly by a solo horn. At this point the sketch is labeled: "O vanished days of youth, O
scattered love...." Finally the movement dies away with ever-slower and softer reiterations
of the melody's first notes.
II. Im Tempo eines gemächlichen Ländlers. Etwas täppisch und sehr derb
The principal theme announced by clarinets and bassoon has the character of a peasant
ländler dance:
The middle of the movement brings a melody for the horn which obviously derives from
the principal melody of the first movement. There is a return to the opening material, but
127
the dance mood palls. "A tragic undertone sounds in the joy," wrote Bruno Walter, "and one
feels that 'the dance is over.'"
III. Rondo. Burleske: Allegro assai. Sehr trotzig
Mahler's sketch for the movement bears the title Meinen Brüdern in Apoll ("To my brothers
in Apollo"). It is a wild, defiant, grotesque movement, often parodistic seeming, or bitterly
humorous. Toward the end it becomes a contrapuntal maelstrom of many themes, and there
is a frenzied presto coda.
IV. Molto adagio
In the last movement, as Bruno Walter heard it, Mahler "peacefully bids farewell to the
world, the Finale being like the melting of a cloud into the ethereal blue."
It opens with a broadly flowing melody in which the violins are soon joined by the
remaining strings. The Italianate melodic "turn" plays an important part in this melody and
its development, which is the thematic basis of the whole movement. The poignant
conclusion, with its increasingly diaphanous fragments of the melody, fades to an almost
inaudible quadruple pppp, its closing measure marked ersterbend ("dying away").
The symphony was first performed under the direction of Bruno Walter at Vienna in
June 1912, 13 months after Mahler's death. The score calls for piccolo, four flutes, four
oboes, English horn, E-flat clarinet, three clarinets in A or B-flat, bass clarinet, four
bassoons, contrabassoon, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, bass tuba, timpani,
bass drum, glockenspiel, triangle, cymbals, harp, and the usual strings. •
128
I
—Edward Downes
FROM THE CRITICS: SYMPHONY N O . 9
Irving Kolodin, Saturday Review, December 29, 1962
The New York Philharmonic made Sir John Barbirolli a going-away gift the end of his brief
guest engagement, which spoke in equal parts of respect and affection. It was not an inscribed
silver tray, but four performances of Mahler's Symphony No. 9, which were of a quality to
delight any conductor. . . . [Barbirolli's Mahler] is solidly and intrinsically musical, with a
sense of the phrase, an ear for the color, and a heart for the pulse of Mahler's music which
becomes him profoundly as an artist. "Him" in this context could mean either Barbirolli or
Mahler, which is less a confusion of construction than an inter-identity of creator and
recreator, fair evidence that the essential act of interpretation has occurred. Lest it may be
forgotten, Barbirolli's own background as an orchestral musician is very much a part of his
procedure. One might pur it, in the context of Lincoln's phrase, "as he would not be a slave,
so he would not be a master." Rendered musically, it means that he views his function literally
as "leader" rather than driver or disciplinarian. It is the van Beinum concept of primus inter
pares ("first among equals") and when it works, as it did in this instance, one hears that the
Philharmonic horns can master the tricky problems of movement one with beautifully
controlled as well as precisely accurate sound, that the strings can sigh as well as exult, its
woodwinds phrase with the best (at the end of the second movement), and its peerless
percussionist (Saul Goodman) make a vibrant melodic instrument of what is too often merely
a source of noise. It was a multiplicity of such fine details that made up the continuously
interesting texture of the four movements. But their purposefulness reposed in Barbirolli's
long vista of how they should play their part in the hour-and-20-minute sequence.
129
Disc 11
Symphony No. 10 in F-sharp minor
I. Andante—Adagio
DIMITRI MITROPOULOS, conductor
Broadcast of January 16,
I960,
Carnegie Hall
F
rom one point of view, Mahler's Tenth Symphony is really his Eleventh. Alma
Mahler Werfel, the composer's widow, explains that he was afraid to give the
number nine to a symphony "because neither Beethoven nor Bruckner had lived
beyond their respective Ninths. Privately he considered The Song of the Earth to be
his Ninth Symphony, but he purposely avoided calling it that at the time when he wrote it.
"Later," Mrs. Werfel reports, "when he wrote his Ninth Symphony, Mahler said to me: 'It's
really the Tenth; my Ninth is The Song of the Earth.' He thought he had outsmarted our
L o r d . . . . " In this sense, if the ninth place is occupied by The Song of the Earth, Mahler's last,
unfinished symphony would actually be the eleventh one he composed. For all practical
purposes, of course, it is always referred to as his Tenth Symphony, since no one thinks at
this late date of restoring the number nine to The Song of the Earth.
130
Mahler worked on his Tenth Symphony during the last two years of his life, in New York
and in Toblach in the South Tyrolean Alps. He planned it in five movements, of which he
FROM THE CRITICS: SYMPHONY N O . 10
finished only two, one in full score and the other in "short" score. For the remaining
movements there are sketches, sometimes in considerable detail. All of this material was
Howard T a u b m a n , The New York Times, M a r c h 14, 1 9 5 8
published in facsimile by Paul Zsolnay in 1924—including even a reproduction of the
The most provocative novelty was a work—or two movements from an uncompleted
original paper and the portfolio!
work—by Mahler that was almost 50 years old . . . , a substantial fragment from a
There have been several attempts to complete the work from the sketches. In 1951
composition with which he was struggling shortly before his death in 1 9 1 1 . . . . Mr.
Associated Music Publishers of N e w York brought out a printed score based on a version by
Mitropoulos conducted a highly charged and affecting performance of this music. . . . In the
Ernst Krenek (the Czech-Austrian composer who had been married to Mahler's daughter
delicately conceived "Purgatorio," the playing was airy and yet poignant.
Anna) and edited by Otto Jokl (a former pupil of Alban Berg). Two movements of the Tenth
Symphony were performed by Franz Schalk on October 2 4 , 1924. Dimitri Mitropoulos
Miles Kastendieck, New York Journal-American, M a r c h 14, 1 9 5 8
conducted the first N e w York performance, with the N e w York Philharmonic, on March 13,
Mahlerites and music lovers in general should be eternally grateful to Dimitri Mitropoulos
1958. But the first American performance had already been given by the Erie Philharmonic,
for giving the first N e w York performance of Mahler's Tenth Symphony. . . . Mitropoulos'
under Fritz Mahler, on December 6, 1949.
belief in Mahler found eloquent expression in this first performance. T h e romanticism of
T h e sketches for the Symphony bear various remarks in Mahler's hand, which have
conductor and composer blended into an utterance replete with understanding. T h e
occasionally been reprinted. But they are of so personal a nature—Mahler's wife has said that
performance thus became a tribute as well as a prophecy. Many in the audience were
they were "outcries and pleas" directed toward her after a terrible crisis in their lives when
profoundly moved.
her husband feared he might lose her to Walter Gropius—that, especially when one
considers Mahler's well-known dislike for all program explanations, it seems a disservice to
Jack Diether, Musical America, February 1 9 6 0
him to print these personal remarks.
Mr. Mitropoulos, it would seem, has also evolved in his thinking about the Adagio of
•
—Howard
Shanet
Mahler's Tenth, which has lost the restlessness he imparted two years ago, and now flows
more calmly and evenly. He even understated that vivid outburst before the coda which gives
rise to a unique and fantastically scored dominant seventh chord. . . . T h e overall result was
132
affecting in the extreme, being the closest to a true Adagio I remember hearing from him.
133
Disc 11
Symphony No. 10 in F-sharp minor
II. Purgatorio
DIMITRI MITROPOULOS, conductor
Broadcast of March 16, 1958, Carnegie Hall
O
f the other four movements in Mahler's plan for his Symphony No. 10, two
or even more are believed to have been planned as scherzos. The one which
was completed in short score, and is used as the second element in this
sequence, bears the superscription "Purgatorio." This, and other marginal
notes which Mahler made between the staves of his sketches, supports a belief that the
composer was deeply immersed in the imagery of Dante as he wrote this work and may have
intended it finally to bear such an attribution. By comparison with the slow movement, the
Scherzo is relatively conventional, with a pervasive, restless figure (first heard from the
strings) similar to devices used by Mahler in other works, an oboe theme in a folkish vein,
a recognizable trio, and return to the opening.
134
—Irving Kolodin
Disc 8
Das Lied von der Erde
( T h e S o n g o f the E a r t h )
I. " D a s Trinklied v o m J a m m e r der Erde"
I I . " D e r E i n s a m e i m Herbst"
I I I . "Von der J u g e n d "
IV. "Von der Schönheit"
V. " D e r Trunkene im Frühling"
V I . " D e r Abschied"
B R U N O W A L T E R , conductor
K A T H L E E N F E R R I E R , mezzo-soprano; S E T S V A N H O L Mtenor
,
Broadcast of January 18, 1948, Carnegie Hall
T
he composer called this cycle of six songs a "symphony for tenor and alto (or
baritone) soli and orchestra." He wrote it in the s u m m e r of 1908 but died
before he could hear its first performance, which was given in M u n i c h , on
N o v e m b e r 10, 1 9 1 1 , under the direction of his disciple, friend, and biographer
Bruno Walter.
136
T h e work was introduced to this country by L e o p o l d Stokowski at a concert of the
Philadelphia Orchestra in Philadelphia, on D e c e m b e r 1 5 , 1 9 1 6 . A n d it was first heard in
New York under the auspices of the Society of the Friends of M u s i c , in Carnegie Hall, on
February 1, 1 9 2 2 . On that occasion Artur B o d a n z k y c o n d u c t e d a n d the soloists were Orville
Harrold, tenor, a n d M m e . Charles Cahier, contralto. T h e Philharmonic-Symphony Society
first presented it on January 3, 1 9 2 9 , when Willem M e n g e l b e r g conducted. H i s soloists were
Richard C r o o k s and Margaret Matzenauer.
Das Lied von der Erde has been called "one of Mahler's surest claims to immortality as a
composer." It consists of six pieces "for tenor or contralto in alternation, the texts being
taken from six Chinese p o e m s . " T h e s e are derived from Die chinesische Flöte ("The C h i n e s e
Flute"), by H a n s Bethge, the G e r m a n poet w h o paraphrased eighth-century C h i n e s e verses.
The sixth section of the w o r k consists of two parts separated by an orchestral interlude.
—Robert
Bagar
Kathleen Ferrier and Bruno Walter at the time of her American debut
in Das Lied von der Erde, 1948.
139
140
I. D a s Trinklied von Jammer der Erde
Schon winkt der Wein im gold'nen Pokale,
D o c h trinkt noch nicht, erst sing' ich euch ein Lied!
Das Lied vom K u m m e r
Soll auflachend in die Seele euch klingen.
W e n n der K u m m e r naht,
Liegen wüst die Gärten der Seele.
Welkt hin u n d stirbt die Freude, der Gesang.
D u n k e l ist das Leben, ist der Tod.
Herr dieses Hauses!
T h e Drinking Song of Earthly W o e
W i n e in the golden goblet is beckoning.
But drink not yet; first I will sing you a song!
T h e Song of Sorrow; let its mockery
laugh itself into your soul.
W h e n sorrow approaches,
T h e souls gardens lie desolate,
Joy and song wither and die.
D a r k is life, is death.
Lord of this house!
Dein Keller birgt die Fülle des goldenen Weins!
Hier diese Laute nenn' ich mein!
Die Laute schlagen u n d die Gläser leeren,
Das sind die Dinge, die zusammen passen.
Ein voller Becher Weins zur rechten Zeit
Ist m e h r wert, als alle Reiche dieser Erde!
D u n k e l ist das Leben, ist der Tod!
Das Firmament blaut ewig, u n d die Erde
Wird lange fest steh' n u n d aufblüh'n im Lenz.
D u , aber, Mensch, wie lang lebst d e n n du?
N i c h t h u n d e r t Jahre darfst du dich ergötzen
An all d e m morschen Tande dieser Erde!
Seht d o r t hinab! I m Mondschein a u f d e n G r ä b e r n
Hockt eine wild-gespenstische Gestalt.
Ein Aff' ist's! H ö r t ihr, wie sein H e u l e n
Hinausgellt in den süssen Duft des Lebens!
Jetzt n e h m t d e n Wein! Jetzt ist es Zeit, Genossen!
Leert eure gold'nen Becher zu G r u n d !
D u n k e l ist das Leben, ist der Tod!
T h y cellar holds the fullness of golden wine!
Here, this lute, I call mine own!
To play u p o n t h e lute, to e m p t y glasses,
These are things that fit each other.
At the proper time a goblet full of wine
Is w o r t h m o r e than all t h e kingdoms of this earth!
Dark is life, is death!
T h e firmament in its eternal blue, and the earth,
These will long endure, will blossom in springtime.
But thou, O man, what is the span of thy life?
N o t a h u n d r e d years are you permitted to enjoy
T h e idle vanities of this earth!
II. Der Einsame im Herbst
Herbstnebel wallen bläulich überm See;
Vom Reif bezogen stehen alle Gräser;
M a n meint, ein Künstler habe Staub von Jade
Über die feinen Blüten ausgestreut.
D e r süsse Duft der Blumen ist verflogen;
Ein kalter W i n d beugt ihre Stengel nieder.
T h e Lonely O n e in Autumn
T h e mists of autumn build their blue wall over the sea;
W i t h hoarfrost covered, stands the grass;
It seems as if an artist had strewn the
D u s t of jade over delicate blossoms.
T h e flowers' fragrance has spent itself;
A cold wind bows t h e m to earth.
Look there below! In the moonlight u p o n the graves
T h e r e crouches a wild, ghostly figure—
An ape it is! H a r k h o w his howling
Shrills o u t into the sweet airs of this our life!
Bring on the wine! T h e time has come, my comrades!
Drain your golden goblets to t h e dregs;
Dark is life, is death!
Bald werden die verwelkten, gold'nen Blätter
Der Lotusblüten auf d e m Wasser zieh'n.
Mein Herz ist m ü d e . Meine kleine Lampe
Erlosch m i t Knistern, es gemahnt mich an den Schlaf.
Ich k o m m ' zu dir, traute Ruhestätte!
Ja, gib mir Ruh', ich hab' Erquickung not!
Ich weine viel in meinen Einsamkeiten.
Der Herbst in m e i n e m Herzen währt zu lange.
Sonne der Liebe, willst du nie m e h r scheinen,
Um meine bittern Tränen mild aufzutrocknen?
Soon the withered, golden leaves
Of lotus flowers will be scattered u p o n t h e waters.
My heart is weary. My little lamp
Has gone out, a-crackling, minding me of need for sleep,
I c o m e to you, blest resting-place!
Yea, give me rest; for I need quickening!
I w e e p a n d weep in all my solitude.
A u t u m n in my heart t o o long is lasting.
O Sun of Love, never again wilt t h o u shine,
Gently to d r y my bitter tears?
III. Von der Jugend
Mitten in d e m kleinen Teiche
Sieht ein Pavillon aus g r ü n e m
Und aus weissem Porzellan.
Wie der Rücken eines Tigers
Wölbt die Brücke sich aus Jade
Zu d e m Pavillon hinüber.
In d e m H ä u s c h e n sitzen Freunde,
Schön gekleidet, trinken, plaudern,
Manche schreiben Verse nieder.
Ihre seidnen Ärmel gleiten
Rückwärts, ihre seidnen M ü t z e n
I locken lustig tief im Nacken.
Auf des kleinen Teiches stiller
Wasserfläche zeigt sich alles
Wunderlich im Spiegelbilde.
Alles auf d e m Kopfe stehend
In d e m Pavillon aus grünem
Und aus weissem Porzellan;
Wie ein H a l b m o n d steht die Brücke,
Umgekehrt der Bogen. Freunde,
Schön gekleidet, trinken, plaudern.
O f Youth
Midway in t h e little pool
Stands a pavilion of green
A n d o f white porcelain.
Like the back of a tiger
T h e bridge of jade arches
Across to t h e pavilion.
In the little house friends are seated,
Beautifully gowned, drinking, gossiping;
Some are writing verses.
T h e i r silken sleeves glide
Backwards, their silken caps
H a n g from the back of their necks.
On the s m o o t h surface of the quiet pool
All is mirrored
Wondrously.
All stands upon its head
I n t h e pavilion o f green
A n d of white porcelain.
Like a half-moon stands t h e bridge,
Reversed is its bow. Friends,
Beautifully gowned, are drinking, gossiping.
IV. Von der Schönheit
Junge Mädchen pflücken Blumen,
Pflücken Lotosblumen an d e m Uferrande.
O f Beauty
Youthful maidens are plucking flowers,
Plucking lotus flowers at t h e edge of t h e shore.
141
142
Zwischen Büschen und Blättern sitzen sie,
Sammeln Blüten in den Schoss und rufen
Sich einander Neckereien zu.
Gold'ne Sonne webt um die Gestalten,
Spiegelt sie im blanken Wasser wider.
Sonne spiegelt ihre schlanken Glieder,
Ihre süssen Augen wider,
Und der Zephir hebt mit Schmeichelkosen
Das Gewebe ihrer Ärmel auf, führt den Zauber
Ihrer Wohlgerüche durch die Luft.
O sieh, was tummeln sich für schöne Knaben
Dort an dem Uferrand auf mut'gen Rossen?
Weithin glänzend wie die Sonnenstrahlen;
Schon zwischen dem Geäst der grünen Weiden
Trabt das jungfrische Volk einher!
Das Ross des einen wiehert fröhlich auf
Und scheut und saust dahin,
Über Blumen, Gräser wanken hin die Hufe,
Sie zerstampfen jäh im Sturm die hingesunk'nen Blüten,
Hei! Wie flattern im Taumel seine Mähnen,
Dampfen heiss die Nüstern!
Gold'ne Sonne webt um die Gestalten,
Spiegelt sie im blanken Wasser wider.
Und die schönste von den Jungfrau'n sendet
Lange Blicke ihm der Sehnsucht nach.
Ihre stolze Haltung ist nur Verstellung.
In dem Funkeln ihrer grossen Augen,
In dem Dunkel ihres heissen Blicks
Schwingt klagend noch die Erregung ihres Herzens nach.
Between bushes and leaves are they sitting,
Gathering blossoms in their laps and calling
To each other in jest.
The golden sun plays about their forms,
Reflected in the quiet water.
The sun mirrors their slender limbs,
Their sweet eyes,
And a zephyr with gentlest caress raises the fabric
Of their sleeves, wafts the magic
Of their perfume through the air,
O see, beautiful youths at play
On fiery horses, over there at the edge of the shore,
Glistening from afar like rays of the sun;
Between the green branches of the willows
Fresh youth is making its way!
The steed of one whinnies for joy
And shies and rushes past.
Over flowers, grasses, gallop his hoofs,
Whose stormy stamping crushes the fallen blossoms.
Heigh! How his mane flies in the breeze,
How his nostrils dilate!
The golden sun plays about the forms,
Reflecting them in the quiet water.
And the loveliest of the maidens
Sends the rider glances of yearning.
Her haughty bearing is no more than feigned.
In the sparkle of her wide eyes,
In the darkening of the eager glance,
Ascends the plaint of the passion of her heart.
V. Der Trunkene im Frühling
Wenn nur ein Traum das Leben ist,
Warum denn Müh' und Plag'!?
Ich trinke, bis ich nicht mehr kann,
Den ganzen, lieben Tag!
Und wenn ich nicht mehr trinken kann,
Weil Kehl' und Seele voll,
The Drunken One in Springtime
If life is no more than a dream,
Why bother?
I'll drink, till drink no more I can,
The whole live-long day!
And when no longer I can drink,
When throat and soul are full,
So tauml' ich bis zu meiner Tür
Und schlafe wundervoll!
Was hör' ich beim Erwachen? Horch!
Ein Vogel singt im Baum.
Ich frag' ihn, ob schon Frühling sei,
Mir ist als wie im Traum.
Der Vogel zwitschert: Ja!
Der Lenz ist da, sei kommen über Nacht!
Aus tiefstem Schauen lauscht' ich auf,
Der Vogel singt und lacht!
Ich fülle mir den Becher neu
Und leer' ihn bis zum Grund
Und singe, bis der Mond erglänzt
Am schwarzen Firmament!
Und wenn ich nicht mehr singen kann,
So schlaf' ich wieder ein.
Was geht mich denn der Frühling an!?
Lasst mich betrunken sein!
I'll tumble down before my door—
And sleep and sleep and sleep.
What hear I, awakening? List!
A bird sings in a tree.
I ask him whether Spring has come,
I feel as in a dream.
The birdling twitters. Yes! the Spring
Overnight has come!
In contemplation deep I brood,
While birdling sings and laughs!
Anew I fill my goblet
And drain it to the dregs
And sing until the moon shines bright
In the dark'ning firmament!
And when no longer I can sing
Again to sleep I'll go.
For what matters Spring to me?
Drunk only let me be!
VI. Der Abschied
Die Sonne scheidet hinter den Gebirge.
In alle Täler steigt der Abend nieder
Mit seinen Schatten, die voll Kühlung sind.
O sieh! Wie eine Silberbarke schwebt
Der Mond am blauen Himmelssee herauf.
Ich spüre eines feinen Windes Weh'n
Hinter den dunklen Fichten!
Der Bach singt voller Wohllaut durch das Dunkel.
Die Blumen blassen im Dämmerschein.
Die Erde atmet voll von Ruh' und Schlaf.
Alle Sehnsucht will nun träumen,
Die müden Menschen geh'n heimwärts,
Um im Schlaf vergess'nes Glück
Und Jugend neu zu lernen!
Die Vögel hocken still in ihren Zweigen.
Die Welt schläft ein!
Es wehet kühl im Schatten meiner Fichten.
The Farewell
The sun is sinking 'neath the hills.
Evening descends into the vales
With its cool, quiet shadows.
Behold! As a bark of silver
The moon rises into the blue heaven.
I feel the motion of a gentle wind
Behind the dark pines.
The brook sings its music through the dark.
The flowers grow pale in the twilight.
The earth breathes the quiet of rest and sleep.
All longing goes a-dreaming.
Weary humanity is homeward bound,
To seek anew in sleep
Forgotten fortune, youth.
Birds are perched upon their branches.
The world falls into sleep.
The cool wind is in the shadow of my pines.
143
Ich stehe hier und harre meines Freundes;
Ich harre sein zum letzten Lebewohl.
Ich sehne mich, O Freund, an deiner Seite
Die Schönheit dieses Abends zu geniessen.
Wo bleibst du? Du lässt mich lang allein!
Ich wandle auf und nieder mit meiner Laute
Auf Wegen, die von weichem Grase schwellen.
O Schönheit! O ewigen Liebens-,
Lebens-trunk'ne Welt!
I stand here and await my friend,
For a last farewell.
I long, O friend, at thy side
To drink in the beauty of this evening.
Where are you? You leave me long in solitude!
I wander to and fro with my lute
On paths thick with soft grass.
O Beauty! O World, drunk with love eternal-life!
FROM T H E C R I T I C S : DAS LIED VON DER ERDE
Herbert Peyser, Musical America, February 1 9 4 8
The writer of these lines, who has heard Mr. Walter conduct the Lied von der Erde many
times, was never so deeply moved by a performance of this poignant work as on the present
occasion. There seemed to be a conjunction of elements, spiritual and musical, which
[Orchestral Interlude]
Er stieg vom Pferd und reichte ihm den Trunk
Des Abschieds dar. Er fragte ihn, wohin
Er führe und auch warum es müsste sein.
Er sprach, seine Stimme war umflort. Du, mein Freund,
Mir war auf dieser Welt das Glück nicht hold!
Wohin ich geh'? Ich geh', ich wand're in die Berge.
Ich suche Ruhe für mein einsam Herz.
Ich wandle nach der Heimat, meiner Stätte.
Ich werde niemals in die Ferne schweifen.
Still ist mein Herz und harret seiner Stunde!
Die liebe Erde allüberall blüht auf im Lenz und grünt
Aufs neu! Allüberall und ewig blauen licht die Fernen!
Ewig . .. ewig . ..
[Orchestral Interlude]
He climbed from his horse and gave
His friend a farewell cup; asked him
Whither he was going, and why it needs must be.
He spoke, his voice choking: O my friend,
Fate in this world has not been kind to me!
Whither am I bound? I go, I wander into the mountains
I seek rest for my lonely heart.
I am wand'ring toward my native place, my home,
I shall never roam in foreign lands.
My heart is at rest and waits its hour!
The dear Earth blossoms in the Spring and buds anew
Everywhere and forever the luminous blue of
distant space!
Forever . . . f o r e v e r . . .
resulted in an interpretation so elevated, so piercing, so communicative and yet so balanced
that the large audience sat transfixed and silent, as if it fully sensed the ritualistic nature of
the proceedings. And toward the close of the last song of this extraordinary symphonic cycle
the emotional pressure became all but unbearable. Others have conducted this work for
better or worse, yet when all is said Mr. Walter remains its sole interpreter. His exposition
of it is, in effect, an act of actual worship. The score is truly his very personal heritage, which
is perhaps why no other approaches him in it. . . . The sense of consecration which Mr.
Walter manifestly feels in performing this music of his friend and mentor he communicated
in his instrumentalists and singers. The orchestra played superbly. Both Miss Ferrier and Mr.
Svanholm rose admirably to their tasks. The English mezzo-soprano, in particular, showed
(English version is based on that of A. H. Meyer)
herself a real find. . . . Her voice, as such, is one of unusual quality and texture, singularly
vibrant and substantial. She is aware, however, that the exploitation of a natural vocal gift
for its own sake is not the fundamental duty of a Mahler singer. Rather it is to penetrate and
convey the profoundest intimations of subtly interacting text and music. Whatever her
other artistic accomplishments, Miss Ferrier can henceforth be assured that, as an exponent
of Das Lied von der Erde, she scarcely has her peer today. Mr. Svanholm delivered the tenor
144
songs in resonant tones and with a fine sense of their import.
145
Disc l
Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen
( S o n g s of a Wayfarer)
I. "Wenn mein Schatz Hochzeit macht"
I I . " G i n g heut' Morgen über's Feld"
I I I . "Ich hab' ein glühend Messer"
I V . " D i e zwei blauen Augen"
W I L L I A M S T E I N B E R G , conductor
D I E T R I C H F I S C H E R - D I E S K A U , baritone
Broadcast of November 27, 1964, Philharmonic Hall (now Avery Fisher Hall)
G
ustav Mahler's first masterpiece, begun when he was 23 years old and completed on January 1, 1 8 8 5 , half way through his 25th year, reflects a personal
experience. Like many of his artistic forebears of the Romantic 19th century,
he was stirred to eloquence by an unhappy love affair. T h e black despair voiced
by the hero in the Songs of a Wayfarer is Mahler's own. Early in his career, while conducting
at the relatively small opera house of Kassel, Mahler fell in love with a blond, blue-eyed
singer, Johanne Richter. But his idol decided that marriage was not for them, and they
146
agreed to part.
On January 1, 1 8 8 5 , Mahler wrote his close friend Friedrich Löhr:
again and again in the course of his career. But Mahler used only the opening lines as a point
of departure, and the remainder of the four texts he wrote himself. He did not at first acknowl-
I passed the first minutes of the New Year strangely enough. Last night I sat alone
edge the authorship, fearing that the naiveté of his verse might be ridiculed.
with her, and we were both almost wordless awaiting the New Year. Her thoughts
It is almost symbolic of Mahler's approach to composition that his earliest enduring work
were not with her companion, and when the clock struck, and the tears poured
should be a song cycle. For not only did he often use the human voice in his symphonies, he
from her eyes, the terrible realization came over me that it was not for me to dry
actualy incorporated material from the second and fourth songs of the Lieder eines fahrenden
those tears. She went into the next room and stood silently awhile at the window,
Gesellen into the first and third movements of his First Symphony.
and when she returned softly weeping the indescribable anguish stood between us
like an eternal wall of separation, and there was nothing left for me to do but press
her hand and go. As I went out the door, the bells were tolling and the solemn
hymn sounded from the tower.
Ah, dear Fritz—it was as if the Almighty Stage Director had planned this last
detail. I wept the night through in my dream.
My accomplishments: I have written a song cycle, six songs for the time being,
all of which are dedicated to her. She does not know them. What else can they tell
her besides what she already knows? I will enclose the text of the last song, although
the meager words cannot convey even a small part. —The
songs are conceived as
if a wayfarer [literally "a wandering journeyman"] had suffered a heavy fate and
I. Wenn mein Schatz Hochzeit m a c h t
W h e n M y D e a r Love I s W e d
Wenn mein Schatz Hochzeit macht,
W h e n my dear love is wed,
Fröchliche Hochzeit macht,
Happily is wed,
I lab' ich meinen traurigen Tag!
'Twill be the saddest day for me!
Geh' ich in mein Kämmerlein,
I'll go into my little r o o m .
Dunkles Kämmerlein,
Dark little room,
Weine, wein' um meinen Schatz,
And weep, weep for my love!
I 'm meinen lieben Schatz!
For my dear love!
Blümlein blau! Blümlein blau!
Little blue blossom, little blue blossom,
Verdorre nicht! Verdorre nicht!
Do not wither, do not wither!
Vöglein süss! Vöglein süss!
Sweet little bird, sweet little bird!
Du singst auf grüner Heide.
On the green heath you sing:
Ach! W i e ist die Welt so schön!
O h ! H o w fair is the world!
Zikuth! Zikuth! Zikuth!
Chirrup! Chirrup! Chirrup!
Singet nicht! Blühet nicht!
Do not sing! Do not b l o o m !
were now setting out into the world to wander at random.
Mahler published only four of the original six songs. The text of the first begins with
lines from a folk poem in the Romantic collection Des Knaben Wunderhorn, published by
148
Arnim and Brentano, which made a deep impression on Mahler and to which he turned
Lenz ist ja vorbei!
For spring is past!
Alles Singen ist nun aus!
And all singing is over!
Des Abends, wenn ich schlafen geh',
W h e n I go to bed at night,
D e n k ' ich an mein Leide!
I dwell upon my sorrow,
An mein Leide!
My sorrow.
149
II. Ging heut' Morgen über's Feld
Ging heut' Morgen übers Feld,
Tau noch auf den Gräsern hing.
Sprach zu mir der lust'ge Fink:
"Ei, du! Gelt? Du! Guten Morgen! Ei gelt?
Du! Wird's nicht eine schöne Welt?
Schöne Welt?
Zink! Zink!
Schön und flink!
Wie mir doch die Weit gefällt!"
Auch die Glockenblum' am Feld
Hat mir lustig, guter Ding',
Mit den Glöckchen,
Klinge, kling, klinge, kling,
Ihren Morgengruss geschellt:
"Wird's nicht eine schöne Welt?
Schöne Welt?
Kling! Kling! Kling! Kling!
Schönes Ding!
Wie mir doch die Welt gefällt!" Hei-ah!
Und da fing im Sonnenschein
Gleich die Welt zu funkeln an;
Alles, Alles, Ton und Farbe gewann!
Im Sonnenschein!
Blum' und Vogel, gross und klein!
Guten Tag! Guten Tag!
Ist's nicht eine schöne Welt?
Ei, du! Gelt? Ei, du! Gelt?
Schöne Welt!
Nun fängt auch Glück wohl an?!
Nun fängt auch mein Glück wohl an?!
Nein! Nein! Das ich mein',
Mir nimmer, nimmer blühen kann!
150
This Morn I Walked Across the Field
This morn I walked across the field;
Dew still hung upon the grass.
A gay finch spoke to me:
"Hi, you there, you! Good morning!
Does not our world grow fair?
A fair world?
Chirp, chirp!
Fair and brisk!
How I do like the world!"
And the bluebell in the field,
Gayly, sprightly,
With its little bells,
Dinga-ding, dinga-ding,
Rung out its morning greeting:
"Will it not be a fair world?
A fair world?
Ding, ding, ding, ding!
A fair thing!
How I do like the world!" High-ho!
And there in the sunshine
The world began to sparkle;
All things grew in sound and hue!
In the sunshine!
Flowers and birds, great and small!
Good day! Good day!
Is it not a fair world?
Hi, you there, hi, you there.
World so fair!
Does happiness begin now?
Does my happiness begin now too?
No! No! What I mean
Nevermore can bloom for me!
III. Ich hab' ein glühend Messer
Ich hab' ein glühend Messer,
Ein Messer in meiner Brust,
O weh! O weh! Das schneid't so tief
In jede Freud' und jede Lust,
So tief, so tief!
Es schneid't so weh und tief!
Ach, was ist das für ein böser Gast!
Nimmer hält er Ruh',
Nimmer hält er Rast!
Nicht bei Tag, noch bei Nacht,
Wenn ich schlief!
O weh! O weh! O weh!
Wenn ich in den Himmel seh',
Seh' ich zwei blaue Augen steh'n!
O weh! O weh!
Wenn ich im gelben Felde geh',
Seh' ich von Fern das blonde Haar
Im Winde weh'n!
O weh! O weh!
Wenn ich aus dem Traum auffahr'
Und höre klingen ihr silbern Lachen,
O weh! O weh!
Ich wollt' ich läg' auf der schwarzen Bahr',
Könnt' nimmer, nimmer die Augen aufmachen!
I Have a Burning Knife Blade
I have a burning knife blade,
A knife blade in my breast,
Ah, woe is me! It cuts so deep
In every joy and every bliss,
So deep, so deep!
It cuts so painfully and deep!
Ah, what an evil guest!
It gives no peace,
It gives no rest!
Not by day, not by night,
When I slept!
Ah, woe is me!
When I look up to the sky,
All I see are two blue eyes!
Ah, woe is me!
When I go through the yellow field,
I see her blonde hair afar
Waving in the wind!
Ah, woe is me!
When I start up from my dream
And hear her silver laughter ring,
Ah, woe is me,
I wish I lay on my black bier,
And could never open my eyes again!
IV. Die zwei blauen Augen
Die zwei blauen Augen von meinem Schatz,
Die haben mich in die weite Welt geschickt,
Da musst' ich Abschied nehmen
Vom allerliebsten Platz!
O Augen blau, warum habt ihr mich angeblickt!?
Nun hab' ich ewig Leid und Grämen!
Ich bin ausgegangen in stiller Nacht,
In stiller Nacht wohl über die dunkle Heide;
Hat mir Niemand Ade gesagt.
Ade! Ade! Ade!
The Two Blue Eyes of My Love
The two blue eyes of my love,
They have sent me out into the world.
They made me take sad leave
From that beloved place!
O blue eyes, why did you rest on me?
Now I have eternal sorrow and pain!
I came away in the silent night,
In the silent night over the dark heath;
And none to bid me farewell.
Farewell, farewell, farewell!
151
M e i n Gesell' war L i e b ' und Leide!
M y c o m r a d e w a s love a n d p a i n !
A u f der S t r a s s e steht ein L i n d e n b a u m ,
By the r o a d s t a n d s a l i n d e n tree
D a h a b ' ich z u m ersten M a l i m S c h l a f geruht!
T h e r e for the first t i m e I rested in sleep!
Unter dem Lindenbaum!
D e r hat seine B l ü t e n ü b e r m i c h g e s c h n e i t ,
D a w u s s t ' ich nicht, wie d a s L e b e n tut
W a r alles, alles w i e d e r gut!
A c h , alles w i e d e r g u t !
U n d e r the l i n d e n tree!
FROM
T H E
CRITICS:
LIEDER
EINES
FAHRENDEN
GESELLEN
Alan Rich, New York Herald Tribune, N o v e m b e r 2 7 , 1 9 6 4
I t s n o w e d its b l o s s o m s over m e
A n d I f o r g o t h o w life c a n hurt,
A n d all, a n d all w a s well a g a i n !
A h , yes, all:
Alles! Alles! L i e b ' u n d L e i d ,
Love and pain.
U n d Welt, u n d T r a u m !
And world, and dream!
He moves as he sings: with ease and relaxation, and with the communication of a deep penetration into the music at hand. His voice, which has always been an instrument of remarkable beauty, has now darkened somewhat and gained in focus. Everything about FischerDiecskau—the sounds he makes and the uses he puts them to—is the mark of an artist of
the highest rank. His singing of Mahler's wonderful Wayfarer songs was one of this listener's great concert experiences of recent memory. Intense and powerful, beautifully framed
by immensely sympathetic work from conductor and orchestra, it was artistry at its purest.
. . . Mr. Steinberg, using an orchestra that was slightly reduced in strings, gave the work a
taut and vivid performance. T h e slow introduction might have had more breadth, and the
finale was somewhat lacking in bounce, but to make amends there was a noble, eloquent
probing of the slow movement, one of the composer's finest.
Louis Biancolli, New York World-Telegram, N o v e m b e r 2 7 , 1 9 6 4
Add that there was some Mahler too, and that William Steinberg conducted the
Philharmonic like the master he is, and the result was cause enough for an evening of
thanksgiving. . . . T h e m o o d was quite tragic in both sets of songs, the Wolf couched in
terms of lonely despair, the Mahler echoing, in fierce pain, the aftermath of a vanished love.
O n e felt a personal involvement in each of the moving lyrics. It hurt to realize that death
had taken a young wife from Fischer-Dieskau only last year. T h a t he could sing such threnodies at all was remarkable.
152
153
performing the symphonies in England and Berlin. Never available before, this interview
Discs 11&12
Audio Recollections
I. Bruno Walter February 12, 1950
I I . Leopold Stokowski April 9, 1950
I I I . Sir John Barbirolli
April 24, 1964
IV. William Malloch's "I Remember Mahler" July 7, 1964
was made after recording sessions of Elgar's Symphony N o . 2 with the Hallé Orchestra.
IV. William Malloch's "I Remember Mahler"
Born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on April 2 2 , 1927, William Malloch grew up in Los
Angeles, receiving his B . S . in music at the University of California, Los Angeles, and his
M.A. from the University of California, Berkeley. In
1963, he became a musical
commentator for the FM radio station K P F K in Los Angeles, where he later served as Music
Director, and it was there, on July 7, 1964, that he first broadcast his now-famous program
I. Bruno Walter
of interviews, "I Remember Mahler." He died on January 9, 1996.
O n e of the few 20th-century conductors who knew Mahler well, Bruno Walter reminisces
Malloch was deeply interested in Mahler's music, and his interviews with performers
about his friend and mentor with James Fassett, in an interview originally aired in 1950 as
who had played under Mahler, and who were then living in Southern California, constitute
an intermission feature for a broadcast of Mahler's Symphony N o . 1.
an invaluable first-hand account of the composer-conductor's activities and personality. T h e
only such oral history ever assembled around the topic of Mahler, the program marks a
II. Leopold Stokowski
milestone in broadcast musicology.
Warren Storey Smith, Music Editor for the Boston Post, bestows the Bruckner Society of
Malloch's interviewees came from varied backgrounds. Conductor and composer Alfred
America's Mahler Medallion on Leopold Stokowski in recognition of his contributions to the
Sendrey ( 1 8 8 4 - 1 9 7 6 ) studied in Budapest and conducted in Europe and America before
cause of Mahler. Announced by James Fassett, this intermission feature originally aired
settling in the United States in 1940. Anothet conductor, Richard Lert ( 1 8 8 5 - 1 9 8 0 ) ,
during the New York Philharmonic's broadcast of the Eighth Symphony under Stokowski.
studied in Vienna and worked in Germany, then emigrated to the United States in 1934.
Voice authority Victor Fuchs (dates unknown) was present in Vienna at the time of
154
III. Sir John Barbirolli
Mahler's departure from the C o u r t Opera. T h e composer's daughter Anna M a h l e r ( 1 9 0 4 -
Producer Ronald Kinloch Anderson interviews Sir John at Kingsway Hall, London. The
1988) recalls several personal details about her father. C o m p o s e r M a x Steiner ( 1 8 8 8 - 1 9 7 1 )
conductor discusses the genesis of his interest in Mahler's music and his experiences
studied with Mahler in Vienna and later became known for his Hollywood film scores,
155
including those for Gone with the Wind, King Kong, and Casablanca. K l a u s Pringsheim
( 1 8 8 3 - 1 9 7 2 ) — c o n d u c t o r , composer, and author (as well as T h o m a s Mann's brother-inlaw)—studied conducting and composition with Mahler in Vienna.
T h e remaining interviewees were musicians who played with orchestras that eventually
merged to form today's New York Philharmonic. Herbert Borodkin (dates unknown), a
violist, performed with the New York Symphony Orchestra from 1904 to 1909. Benjamin
K o h o n ( 1 8 8 9 - 1 9 8 4 ) was engaged at the N e w York Philharmonic as solo bassoon in 1908; he
left in 1912 to play in the Philadelphia Orchestra and three years later accepted a similar
position with the orchestra of Diaghilev's Ballets Russes. By 1919, he had returned to New
York to play with the New/National Symphony Orchestra and then with the Philharmonic,
retiring from the Orchestra in 1943. Born in Prague, Frank Kuchynka ( 1 8 7 9 - 1 9 7 1 ) played
double bass in the Pittsburgh Orchestra (1906-8), then with the New York Symphony
Orchestra ( 1 9 0 8 - 1 3 ) . From 1913 to 1938 he was principal double bass in the Minneapolis
Symphony Orchestra and later held the same position in the San Francisco Symphony
Orchestra (1939-44) and the Los Angeles Philharmonic ( 1 9 4 4 - 4 6 ) . Violinist Herman
M a r t o n n e (dates unknown) played with the New York Symphony Orchestra (1905-9); the
N e w York Philharmonic ( 1 9 0 9 - 1 1 ) ; and the New/National Symphony Orchestra (1919-21).
By his own account, N a t h a n L i e b e n b a u m (dates unknown) played cello under Mahler in
New York, though the Philharmonic has no record of his having been a permanent member
of the Orchestra. Alois Reiser ( 1 8 8 7 - 1 9 7 7 ) , born in Prague, studied composition with
Dvořák at the Prague Conservatory. He joined the Pittsburgh S y m p h o n y in the early 1900s
and played with the N e w York Symphony Orchestra ( 1 9 0 8 - 1 0 ) , then returned to Prague,
156
where he finished his opera Gobi. By 1918, he had settled in the United States.
The Artists
Carlos Alexander
b.
Utica,
New
York,
A
October 15,
1915; d.
Stuttgart,
Germany,
September 4,
1991
fter his initial training in Mexico and Switzerland, Carlos Alexander studied
conducting, composition, and voice in Berlin. On his return to the United
States, he pursued further studies in N e w York with the great Wagnerian
baritone Friedrich Schorr. Alexander had assumed leading roles with opera
companies in Mexico, Havana, St. Louis, and Philadelphia before making his N e w York
debut at Town Hall in 1 9 4 1 . By the late 1940s he had settled in Utah, where he produced
and conducted a substantial number of works. His one engagement with the N e w York
Philharmonic took place in 1 9 5 0 , when he appeared as a soloist in Mahler's Eighth
Symphony under Stokowski. Returning to G e r m a n y in
1 9 5 5 , Alexander sang with
companies in Münster, Krefeld, Hanover, C o l o g n e , and Stuttgart. Outside Germany, he
sang at the M a g g i o Musicale in Florence and at the Vienna State Opera. In 1 9 6 3 , the
Bayreuth Festival invited him for the first time to sing Beckmesser in Die Meistersinger. His
repertoire encompassed works by such diverse composers as Wagner, Verdi, Mozart, Strauss,
Prokofiev, Busoni, and Schoenberg, and he took part in several premieres, including Carl
Orff's Prometheus ( 1 9 6 8 ) , for which he created the title role. In addition to his work on the
160
operatic stage, he served as a teacher at the Mozarteum in Salzburg.
Sir John Barbirolli
b.
London,
December 2,
1899;
d.
London, July 29,
1970
T
hough of Italian-French parentage and christened Giovanni Battista Barbirolli
Sir John Barbirolli was the very model of a modern English musician
throughout his international career. Like Arturo Toscanini, Barbirolli began as
a cellist, making his recital debut at age 11. In 1916 he became the youngest
member of the Queen's Hall Orchestra. He conducted a volunteer orchestra while in the
army during World War I and later formed his own string orchestra. Invitations to conduct
major British orchestras followed, beginning with the British National Opera in the late
1920s. He was guest conductor at Covent Garden from 1929 to 1933 and conducted at
Sadler's Wells in 1934. He came to the attention of concertgoers in 1927 when he
substituted for Sir Thomas Beecham at a London Symphony Orchestra performance.
During the early 1930s, he was in charge of both the Scottish Orchestra and the Leeds
Symphony Orchestra.
Barbirolli's impressive career in Great Britain prompted an invitation from the New York
Philharmonic to share conducting duties for the 1936-37 season with Artur Rodzinski,
following Toscanini's departure. Barbirolli made his American debut with the Philharmonic
162
on November 5, 1936, in a program of works by Berlioz, Arnold Bax, Mozart, and Brahms
connoisseurs, but his reserved English demeanor contrasted with Toscanini's flamboyant
virtuosity, and the wider N e w York public was slow to embrace it. Furthermore, the
circumstances of his engagement as Music Director—Wilhelm
Furtwängler had been
offered the post, then withdrew after protests against his associations with the Nazi regime
in G e r m a n y — c a u s e d Barbirolli to begin his tenure under the cloud of being "second
choice." He introduced Philharmonic audiences to much new music by British and
American composers, including the world premieres of Britten's Violin C o n c e r t o and
Sinfonia da Requiem. His core repertoire, however, was the late-Romantic symphonists of
northern Europe, notably Vaughan Williams, Elgar, and Sibelius. He was also a leading
interpreter of the music of Frederick Delius. Barbirolli was over 50 when the British critic
Sir Neville C a r d u s persuaded him to explore the music of Mahler; he became closely
associated with the Viennese composer and claimed credit for the Mahler revival in Great
Britain.
In April
1943, passing the Philharmonic baton to Rodzinski,
Barbirolli became
permanent conductor of the H a l l é Orchestra in Manchester England, with which he was
closely associated for the rest of his life. T h e H a l l é was a venerable orchestra that had fallen
on hard times during World War II; Barbirolli hired dozens of new players a n d rebuilt it into
Sir John Barbirolli with the Philharmonic's concertmaster John Corigliano.
an ensemble of international reputation. He was knighted in 1949. Succeeding Leopold
Stokowski, he served as Music Director of the H o u s t o n S y m p h o n y from 1960 to 1967. His
164
His 10-week stint in 1936-37 led to his appointment as Principal C o n d u c t o r for the
international prestige secure, Barbirolli was warmly welcomed back to the Philharmonic
following season, a post he held through the 1940-41, season. D u r i n g the centennial seasons
podium on return engagements in
( 1 9 4 2 - 4 3 ) , he shared the p o d i u m with Toscanini and other distinguished guest conductors.
Philharmonic was on April 8,
Barbirolli's
Vaughan Williams, and Dvořák.
colorful
and
poetic
interpretations
earned
the
respect
of
musicians and
1959 and
1962. His final performance with the
1968, when he conducted works by Alan Rawsthorne,
165
Kathleen Battle
b. Portsmouth, Ohio, August 13, 1948
K
athleen B a t t l e received her b a c h e l o r ' s a n d master's degrees f r o m t h e C o l l e g e
Conservatory of Music, University of C i n c i n n a t i . In 1 9 7 2 , she made her
professional d e b u t at the S p o l e t t o Festival in B r a h m s ' s Ein deutsches Requiem,
u n d e r the b a t o n of T h o m a s S c h i p p e r s . l i v e years later she appeared for the
first t i m e w i t h t h e M e t r o p o l i t a n O p e r a i n W a g n e r ' s T a n n h ä u s e r , she s a n g m a n y o f the
leading roles at t h e M e t r o p o l i t a n , with a repertoire r a n g i n g f r o m t h e w o r k s of H a n d e l to
t h o s e o f R i c h a r d Strauss. M u c h i n d e m a n d , she has s u n g a t the m a j o r o p e r a h o u s e s i n
L o n d o n , V i e n n a , Paris, S a n F r a n c i s c o , C h i c a g o , a n d elsewhere. F o r her d e b u t p e r f o r m a n c e
at C o v e n t G a r d e n , in w h i c h she sang Z e r b i n e t t a in Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos, she was
awarded the L a u r e n c e O l i v i e r Award for B e s t P e r f o r m a n c e o f a N e w O p e r a P r o d u c t i o n . A s
a c o n c e r t artist, she has appeared with n u m e r o u s o r c h e s t r a s in the U n i t e d States a n d abroad.
S h e f i r s t sang with the N e w York P h i l h a r m o n i c i n 1 9 7 6 a n d t o o k part i n t h e c e l e b r a t i o n o f
the
Orchestra's
10,000th
c o n c e r t as
the s o p r a n o
soloist
in
Mahler's
"Resurrection"
S y m p h o n y . In 1 9 9 2 , she presented t h e world p r e m i e r e of Honey and Rue, a s o n g c y c l e with
m u s i c b y A n d r é Previn a n d lyrics b y N o b e l P r i z e - w i n n i n g a u t h o r T o n i M o r r i s o n . S h e has
166
m a d e m a n y recordings a n d videos.
Louise Bernhardt
b. Melrose, Massachusetts, c. 1910; d. Ojai, California, July 9, 1971
H
aving p u r s u e d her musical studies entirely in America, Louise Bernhardt
c o u n t e d Paul Althouse a n d C o e n r a a d Bos a m o n g her m e n t o r s . H e r operatic
career began at the American O p e r a C o m p a n y in N e w York. She won the
N a u m b e r g Prize in 1930, which led to her first N e w York recital and to
engagements across the United States. After appearances as a guest artist with the San Carlo
O p e r a C o m p a n y in N e w York, she joined the Chicago Civic O p e r a , where her roles included
C a r m e n , Dalila, a n d Amneris. H e r early career included appearances n o t only on the stage
b u t also on film and radio, a m e d i u m she especially favored for its intimacy. In 1947, she
presented a remarkably varied recital at T o w n Hall in N e w York, w i n n i n g plaudits from the
critics; The New York Times called her "the possessor of an o p u l e n t voice of pronounced
beauty of timbre" a n d characrerized her tones as "rich, velvety, a n d v o l u m i n o u s . " Having
sung in Das Lied von der Erde with the Cleveland Orchestra u n d e r George Szell and
performed the Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen at T o w n Hall in N e w York, she asked to be
considered for a solo part in Mahler's Eighth S y m p h o n y with the N e w York Philharmonic
u n d e r Stokowski. After a successful audition, she m a d e her only appearance with the
168
Orchestra in April 1 9 5 0 , in the performance preserved on this collection.
Pierre Boulez
b.
E
Montbrison,
Loire,
March
26,
1925
qually distinguished as composer, conductor, and thinker about music, Pierre
Boulez was Music Director of the New York Philharmonic from 1971 to 1977.
His early training in music and mathematics took place at Saint-Έtienne and
Lyons. He joined the composition class of Olivier Messiaen at the Paris
Conservatoire, graduating with honors in 1945. The following year, Boulez was appointed
Music Director of the theater company of Jean-Louis Barrault and Madeleine Renaud, a post
he held for a decade. With the help of the Barraults, Boulez founded the Concerts du Petit
Marigny in 1953, which became the Domaine Musical series in Paris, concerts known for
their avant-garde format and content.
Boulez first came to prominence as a composer in 1955, with a performance of his Le
Marteau sans maître at the International Festival Society for Contemporary Music at Baden
Baden, Germany. Ever since then, he has been recognized as one of the leading composers of
the later 20th century. Boulez took up the baton to conduct his own works and those of
composers who had most influenced him, chiefly the Second Viennese School. He was
engaged by many of the worlds leading orchestras, establishing close relationships with the
170
Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, Concertgebouw Orchestra, London Symphony
Orchestra, Chicago Symphony, and Cleveland Orchestra. He was Principal Guest Conductor
In the fall of 1976, Pierre Boulez p r o g r a m m e d the Philharmonic's first comprehensive
in Cleveland from 1969 to 1972 and, following the death of the orchestra's longtime Music
Mahler Festival. W i t h the assistance of Erich Leinsdorf and James Levine, Boulez led the
Director George Szell, its Music Advisor from 1970 to 1972.
Philharmonic in a nine-concert festival at Carnegie Hall. All nine symphonies were
His N e w York Philharmonic debut took place on March 13, 1969, when he conducted
Debussy's Jeux and La Mer, as well as the Berg Violin C o n c e r t o and Varèse's Intégrales. His
performance of Le Sacre du printemps with the N e w York Philharmonic in that initial
festival was widely acclaimed a n d played to 98-percent capacity houses.
In 1986, Boulez returned to the Philharmonic for a 14-event series composed of
engagement p r o m p t e d the Philharmonic to engage him as its Music Director, beginning in
subscription
the 1971-72 season. In that post, and as Principal C o n d u c t o r of the B B C Symphony
InterContemporain (making their United States d e b u t in a cross-country tour), a concert by
Orchestra (concurrently, from 1971 to 1974), he broadened his repertoire to provide
the N e w York Philharmonic Ensembles, a Conversation with Boulez at S y m p h o n y Space, and
audiences with mixed programs of older classics and more recent music.
several o p e n rehearsals. T h e series opened at C o l u m b i a University's gymnasium with the New
and
non-subscription
concerts,
performances
by
Boulez's
Ensemble
U n d e r Boulez, the N e w York Philharmonic introduced new and innovative concert
York premiere of Répons. His most recent appearance with the Philharmonic took place on
formats, such as Prospective Encounters, which were built a r o u n d programs of contemporary
the occasion of the Orchestra's 150th anniversary in 1992, when he shared the p o d i u m with
m u s i c - i n c l u d i n g works by Carter, Reich, Del Tredici, Webern, Bolcom, C r u m b , Babbitt,
Zubin M e h t a and Kurt Masur, conducting La Mer. In the same year Boulez was m a d e an
Varèse, Wuorinen, Schoenberg, Berio, and others. Both before and after the musical program,
Honorary M e m b e r of the Orchestra, an h o n o r shared by such figures as Wagner, Liszt,
the audience was invited to participate in "encounters" with conductors, performers,
Stravinsky, and Bernstein.
composers, and guest artists from other fields. A m o n g Pierre Boulez's most popular
Boulez is the author of numerous essays and several books on music, including Notes of an
innovations, especially with younger audiences, were Rug Concerts: T h e orchestra seats in the
Apprenticeship (Knopf, 1968), and Orientations (Harvard University Press, 1986). In 1974, the
auditorium were replaced with carpeting and cushions for a more informal atmosphere in
President of France, Georges Pompidou, invited him to found and direct a music-research
which to experience symphonic music.
facility at the Centre Georges Pompidou. This prestigious Institut de Recherche et de
Each year of his leadership included highly successful tours. Boulez himself led the
172
performed, as well as the Adagio from the unfinished Tenth a n d several song cycles. T h e
Coordination
Acoustique/Musique
(IRCAM)
is
home
base
for
the
Ensemble
Orchestra on two tours of the United States, as well as a European tour and a tour of
InterContemporain, which Boulez (who continues as its president) conducts regularly in France
Australia, New Zealand, and Japan. T h e European tour included b o t h Mahler's N i n t h and
and abroad. In 1995, Boulez was named Principal Guest Conductor of the Chicago Symphony
the Adagio from his unfinished Tenth Symphony.
Orchestra. He is also the co-founder of Cité de la Musique, a newly created music center in Paris.
173
Eugene Conley
b. Lynn, Massachusetts, March 12, 1908; d. Denton, Texas, December 19, 1981
S
hortly after finishing high school, Eugene Conley took part in various musicial
organizations, joining the Boston Male Choir and the Boston Light Opera
C o m p a n y , with w h o m he made his debut in Reginald de Koven's Robin Hood.
Conley's early vocal training was with Harriet Barrows and Ettore Verna. He moved
to N e w York and, in 1 9 3 9 , could be heard across the nation on a regular broadcast series,
" N B C Presents Eugene Conley." His radio work also included guest appearances with the
N B C Orchestra under Toscanini. In 1940, he made his debut in serious opera as the Duke
in Rigoletto at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. There followed engagements at the San
Carlo Opera C o m p a n y in N e w York and the Chicago Opera Company. In 1 9 4 9 , he sang
for the first time at La Scala, winning admiration for his secure upper register in I Puritani,
the house called him back to sing Arrigo in Verdi's I Vespri Siciliani. He appeared with the
N e w York Philharmonic under Stokowski in 1949 and 1950. Invitations from Europe
brought him to the M a g g i o Musicale in Florence, the O p é r a - C o m i q u e in Paris, and Covent
Garden. Conley m a d e his Metropolitan Opera debut in 1950, assuming the title role in
Gounod's Faust. A frequent guest on The Voice of Firestone television broadcasts, Conley was
174
a widely recognized musical presence in America.
Kathleen Ferrier
b. Higher Walton, England, April 22, 1912; d. London, October 8, 1953
K
athleen Ferrier's early training was as a pianist, but she soon pursued a career
as a singer, studying with J. E. Hutchinson and Roy Henderson. She sang
with the L o n d o n Bach C h o i r and in 1 9 4 6 m a d e her operaric debut in the
premiere of Benjamin Britten's The Rape of Lucretia at G l y n d e b o u r n e . In
1 9 4 7 , she began her collaborations with B r u n o Walter, who a c c o m p a n i e d her at the piano
and engaged her as a soloist on a number of occasions, m o s t notably in performances of
the music of G u s t a v Mahler. She m a d e memorable recordings of Das Lied von der Erde (a
work she sang at the very first E d i n b u r g h Festival), the Kindertotenlieder, and three of the
Rückert Lieder, all with the Vienna Philharmonic under Walter, who wrote that her "soul
knew and resounded the very soul of Mahler's work." She appeared in the United States
for the first time in 1 9 4 8 , singing Das Lied von der Erde with the N e w York Philharmonic
(in the performance preserved on this set)—her only performance with the Orchestra
Better known as a concert artist than as an opera singer, she nevertheless won praise for
her portrayal of O r p h e u s in Cluck's Orfeo ed Euridice. Both Benjamin Britten and Arthur
Bliss c o m p o s e d m u s i c for her, and her early death from cancer came as a blow to the
176
musical world.
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
b.
D
Berlin,
May 28,
1925
ietrich Fischer-Dieskau is considered by m a n y to be his generation's most
distinguished interpreter o f t h e G e r m a n lied. H e d o m i n a t e d t h e f i e l d
d u r i n g the age of t h e l o n g - p l a y i n g record, w i t h performances on vinyl
( m a n y n o w reissued on C D ) of 4 8 0 S c h u b e r t songs, as well as m o s t of the
songs for male voice of Beethoven, S c h u m a n n , B r a h m s , Wolf, a n d Strauss; m a n y Bach
cantatas; songs a n d s y m p h o n i e s of Mahler; a n d operas by Mozart, Verdi, a n d Wagner. He
has also recorded works by his c o n t e m p o r a r i e s , i n c l u d i n g S c h o e n b e r g , W e b e r n , and
Britten. Trained at Berlin's H o c h s c h u l e für M u s i k , he was drafted i n t o t h e G e r m a n army
at age 18. T a k e n prisoner by the A m e r i c a n army, he m a d e a singing t o u r of p.o.w. camps
in Italy. A l t h o u g h he began singing professionally in 1 9 4 7 , a n d m a d e his d e b u t the
following year at the State O p e r a in Berlin, he did n o t sing in t h e U n i t e d States until his
N e w York d e b u t i n 1 9 5 5 . H e f i r s t appeared w i t h t h e N e w York P h i l h a r m o n i c o n
November 26,
1 9 6 4 , p e r f o r m i n g t h e Harfenspieler Lieder of W o l f a n d t h e Lieder eines
fahrenden Gesellen of Mahler. His m o s t recent p e r f o r m a n c e w i t h t h e P h i l h a r m o n i c tool
place on S e p t e m b e r 7,
178
Wunderhorn.
1980, w h e n he sang selections from Mahler's Des Knaben
Maureen Forrester
b. Montreal, July 25, 1930
T
he C a n a d i a n contralto Maureen Forrester has distinguished herself as a sensitive
interpreter of Mahler's music, and as a character actress in operas as diverse as
Peter Grimes, Dialogues des Carmélites, Hänsel und Gretel, Pique Dame, Elektra,
and La Fille du régiment. After her N e w York recital debut, at Town Hall in
1956, engagements with leading American orchestras came quickly, and in 1957 she
performed Verdi's Requiem at a Promenade C o n c e r t in L o n d o n , c o n d u c t e d by Sit Malcolm
Sargent. She m a d e her operatic d e b u t in T o r o n t o in 1 9 6 1 , as Gluck's O r p h e u s . H e r long
delayed European operatic d e b u t took place at Milan's La Scala in J u n e 1990, w h e n she
appeared in Pique Dame with Mirella Freni and Placido D o m i n g o . At her N e w York
Philharmonic d e b u t on February 14, 1957, she performed in Mahler's S y m p h o n y No. 2
("Resurrection") and sang selections from Des Knaben Wunderhorn. She appeared often with
the Orchestra through the m i d - 1 9 6 0 s . H e r most recent appearance with the Philharmonic
was in the Orchestra's 10,000th concert, on March 3 0 , 1 9 9 1 , w h e n she was a soloist in
Beethoven's N i n t h Symphony. H o n o r e d with the C o m p a n i o n of the O r d e r of Canada and
membership in the C a n a d i a n Hall of Fame, she has p r o m o t e d the cause of music in her native
country, serving a five-year term as C h a i r of the C a n a d a C o u n c i l and also becoming a
180
m e m b e r of the board of the T o r o n t o S y m p h o n y Orchestra.
Uta Graf
b.
d.
Karlsruhe,
Greenwich,
Germany, January 5,
Connecticut,
February
15,
1915;
1995
A
m o n g Uta Graf's early teachers was A n n a Bahr-Mildenburg, the soprano who
had sung under Mahler in many of his operatic productions and had maintained
a close personal relationship with him. In 1 9 4 0 , G r a f m a d e her debut in
Düsseldorf as Gretel in Humperdinck's Hänsel und Gretel. During the 1940s,
she performed at a number of G e r m a n opera houses, including those in Aachen, Cologne,
and Stuttgart. In 1948, she gave her first performance in C a n a d a at the Toronto Promenade
Concerts and made her United States debut as Sophie in a production of Der Rosenkavalier
given in San Antonio. This was followed by a number of engagements in North and South
America. Along with her operatic work, she gave numerous recitals, appearing in N e w York's
Town Hall on several occasions. Leopold Stokowski, who held her singing in high esteem
often used her as a soloist, notably in his famous performance of Mahler's Eighth Symphony
in 1950 (her only engagement with the N e w York Philharmonic). In the early 1950s she
returned to Europe, joining the Netherlands O p e r a and making guest appearances at Covent
Garden, the Vienna State Opera, the Munich State Opera, and elsewhere. After returning to
the United States in 1958, she continued to give recitals and taught at the New England
182
Conservatory of Music, the Manhattan School of Music, and Queens College in N e w York.
Rafael Kubelik
b. Býchory, near Kolin, June 29, 1914; d. Lucerne, Switzerland, August 11, 1996
S
on of the renowned violinist J a n Kubelik, Rafael Kubelik studied violin, piano, and
composition with his father, then at the Prague Conservatory before making his
debut as a conductor with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra in 1934. Two years
later he was appointed conductor of that orchestra, and he continued in that post
until 1 9 4 8 , except for two years as director of the Brno Opera, from 1939 to 1 9 4 1 . When
Czechoslovakia became C o m m u n i s t in 1 9 4 8 , Kubelik took advantage of an engagement to
conduct the Glyndebourne Opera in Don Giovanni at the Edinburgh Festival to flee his
home country and relocate, first to L o n d o n and eventually to Switzerland. He became a
Swiss national in 1 9 7 3 . He assumed duties as Musical Director of the C h i c a g o Symphony
Orchestra from 1950 to 1953 and of T h e Royal Opera, Covent Garden, from 1 9 5 5 to 1958
D u r i n g his tenure in Chicago, he presented the first performances of R o y Harris's Seventh
S y m p h o n y in 1 9 5 2 and Ernst Bloch's Suite hébraïque in 1 9 5 3 , and also programmed new
works by C o p l a n d , Foss, and Harris; at Covent Garden, he gave the first London
performance of Janáček's Jenůfa. As Principal C o n d u c t o r of the Bavarian Radio Symphony
Orchestra ( 1 9 6 1 - 7 9 ) , he championed the works of Gustav Mahler, recording an acclaimed
184
set of the complete symphonies, as well as the Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen with Dietrich
Fischer-Dieskau. In addition, he was the First to hold the position of Music Director at the
Metropolitan O p e r a , New York, although he occupied that post for only one year, 1973,
before resigning it to concentrate on his Bavarian duties. He had a long association with
Berlioz's Les Troyens in its complete form, having led a performance of it in Brno as early as
1940 and making his major artistic statement at the Metropolitan Opera with it during his
season as Music Director.
He also was a strong advocate of certain highly individual
composers of the modern era, including Mahler, Janáček, and Britten; he once described
their works as "a musical language dramatic and eloquent enough to wake in the listener an
ambition to become better.''
Kubelik toured widely as a guest conductor, leading all the major American orchestras.
In March 1983 he led the first United States concert performances of Janáček's opera From
the House of the Dead with the N e w York Philharmonic. He m a d e his debut with the New
York Philharmonic on February 13, 1958, in a program that included Bach's Suite N o . 4 in
D major and Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra. At the end of his career, he had led the
Philharmonic in over 100 concert performances; in his last appearance, on April 2, 1985, he
conducted an all-Bach program, including the Cantata N o . 50, the Suite N o . 3 in D major,
the Two-Violin C o n c e r t o in D minor, and the Magnificat in D.
Kubelik was a prolific recording artist, beginning in 1937 with two sections of Smetana's
Má Vlast cycle with the Czech Philharmonic on HMV-Victor, and concluding shortly before
his death with a complete Má Vlast, his fifth with the same otchestra.
A composer as well as a conductor, he wrote five operas, seven choral works (including
three requiems), a choral symphony and an orchestral symphony, concertos for violin and
186
cello, and numerous other orchestral and chamber works, many of which were recorded.
187
Martha Lipton
b. New York, April 6, 1916
A
fter initial training in voice with her mother, Martha Lipton studied with
Melanie G u t t m a n - R i c e a n d later earned a scholarship to study at T h e
Juilliard School in N e w York, where her teachers included Paul Reimers. In
1 9 3 8 , she won an award that led to her first recital in N e w York. Having,
already s u n g over the airwaves, she m a d e her stage debut in 1941
as Pauline in
Tchaikovsky's Pique Dame, presented by the N e w O p e r a C o m p a n y , N e w York. T h e year
1 9 4 4 saw her debuts at both the N e w York C i t y O p e r a ( N a n c y in Flotow's Martha) and
the Metropolitan O p e r a (Siebel in G o u n o d ' s Faust); during her long tenure at the
Metropolitan, she would sing over 35 roles in hundreds of performances. In 1 9 5 4 , she
traveled abroad to sing Lucretia with Benjamin Britten's English O p e r a C o m p a n y . She
performed with the N e w York Philharmonic on numerous occasions between 1 9 4 9 and
1 9 6 1 ; her last performance with the Orchestra was as soloist in Mahler's Third
S y m p h o n y for a memorial tribute to D i m i t r i M i t r o p o u l o s , conducted by Leonard
Bernstein. She took part in the world premiere of D o u g l a s Moore's The Wings of the Dove
at the N e w York C i t y O p e r a in 1 9 6 1 . For m a n y years she taught at Indiana University
188
School o f M u s i c .
George London
b. Montreal, May 30, 1919; d. Armonk, New York, March 24, 1985
G
eorge L o n d o n studied singing first in Los Angeles, then in N e w York. In 1 9 4 1 ,
he appeared as Grenvil in La Traviata at the Hollywood Bowl and, in 1946
was the baritone soloist in the premiere of Hindemith's "When Lilacs Last in
the Dooryard Bloom'd," under Robert Shaw. As a member of the Bel Canto
Trio, whose other members were Frances Yeend and Mario Lanza, L o n d o n toured much of
North America in 1947. Two years later he m a d e his European operatic debut, singing
Amonasro at the Vienna State Opera to great acclaim, which was followed by appearances
at Glyndebourne and Bayreuth, where he was particularly esteemed for his portrayal of
Amfortas. On the roster of the Metropolitan Opera from 1951 to 1966, he appeared in
hundreds of performances there. In M o s c o w he earned the distinction in 1960 of being the
first American to sing the role of Boris G o d u n o v (in Russian) at the Bolshoi Theater. He
m a d e his N e w York Philharmonic debut in 1950 as a soloist in Mahler's Eighth Symphony
under Stokowski; for his last performance with the Orchestra, in April 1 9 6 3 , he sang in
Hindemith's "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd," conducted by the composer. His
final years were devoted to administrative work at the Kennedy Center and at the Opera
190
Society of Washington, D . C . , where he was Executive Director.
Zubin Mehta
b. Bombay, April 29, 1936
T
he son of Mehli M e h t a , founder of the B o m b a y S y m p h o n y (and currently
Music Director of the American Youth S y m p h o n y in Los Angeles), Z u b i n
M e h t a grew up in a musical e n v i r o n m e n t ; he decided on a musical career at age
18 and w e n t to Vienna to attend t h e Academy of Music, where he studied
c o n d u c t i n g with H a n s Swarowsky and played d o u b l e bass in the orchestra. In 1 9 5 8 , he won
the first international c o n d u c t o r s ' competition held by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic
Orchestra; t h e prize was a year's a p p o i n t m e n t as that orchestra's assistant conductor. By
1 9 6 1 , he had c o n d u c t e d the Vienna P h i l h a r m o n i c and the Berlin P h i l h a r m o n i c , a n d was
taking his first post as a Music Director with the Montreal S y m p h o n y , where he remained
until 1967. Concurrently, he served as Music Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic
from 1962 until 1978. He m a d e his o p e r a - c o n d u c t i n g d e b u t with Tosca in Montreal in 1964
and c o n d u c t e d Aida at N e w York's Metropolitan O p e r a the following year.
T h e Israel P h i l h a r m o n i c Orchestra appointed M e h t a Music Advisor in 1969, Music
Director in 1977, and Music Director for life in 1 9 8 1 . Since 1986, he has held the post of
Music Advisor a n d C h i e f C o n d u c t o r of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, the summer
192
festival in Florence, Italy. In 1998, M e h t a assumed the duties of Bavarian General Music
D i r e c t o r in M u n i c h , c o n d u c t i n g opera as well as the s y m p h o n i c repertoire.
a n d Del Tredici were a m o n g the composers whose c o m p o s i t i o n s M e h t a premiered with the
M e h t a m a d e his A m e r i c a n d e b u t o n July 2 6 , 1960, i n Lewisohn S t a d i u m , c o n d u c t i n g
an
orchestra
made
up
largely of N e w York
Tchaikovsky's S y m p h o n y N o . 5,
Philharmonic
players
in
a c o n c e r t of
Till Eulenspiegel, a n d several arias s u n g by Rise Stevens.
In 1 9 7 8 , he b e c a m e t h e P h i l h a r m o n i c ' s M u s i c Director. D u r i n g his 13 years in N e w York,
he conducted more than
1000 c o n c e r t s , h o l d i n g the position longer t h a n a n y M u s i c
D i r e c t o r in t h e Orchestra's m o d e r n history. O n e of t h e m a n y highlights of his t e n u r e t o o k
place in 1 9 8 8 , w h e n t h e O r c h e s t r a u n d e r t o o k a 10-day t o u r of t h e Soviet U n i o n . T h i s
c u l m i n a t e d in a historic j o i n t c o n c e r t in Moscow's G o r k y Park w i t h t h e State S y m p h o n y
O r c h e s t r a of t h e Soviet M i n i s t r y of C u l t u r e . In M a y 1 9 9 1 , he c o n c l u d e d his t e n u r e in
N e w York w i t h t h r e e p e r f o r m a n c e s celebrating t h e 100th anniversary of C a r n e g i e Hall, in
which
he
conducted
("Resurrection"),
Avery Fisher Hall.
the
followed
closing
by a
movements
series
of
He r e t u r n e d twice in
of
performances
Mahler's
Symphony
of Schoenberg's
No.
2
Currelieder in
1992 as guest c o n d u c t o r of t h e N e w York
P h i l h a r m o n i c ; these a p p e a r a n c e s i n c l u d e d t h e world p r e m i e r e of Olivier Messiaen's last
orchestral w o r k , Έclairs sur I'Au-Dela.
For t h e Orchestra's
150th anniversary c o n c e r t in
1 9 9 2 , M e h t a shared rhe p o d i u m w i t h Pierre Boulez a n d Kurt Masur, c o n d u c t i n g o n e of
his signature w o r k s , Strauss's
Till Eulenspiegel, a w o r k he had offered at his American
d e b u t 30 years before.
T h r o u g h o u t his career, M e h t a has displayed a strong c o m m i t m e n t to c o n t e m p o r a r y
music, offering works by composers as diverse as Ravi S h a n k a r a n d Samuel Barber. D u r i n g
his t e n u r e as Music Director, 52 pieces were presented for the first time, 30 of them
194
c o n d u c t e d by M e h t a himself. Reich, S c h u m a n , M e n o t t i , D r u c k m a n , Zwilich, Corigliano.
P h i l h a r m o n i c . A sensitive orchestral accompanist, he c o n d u c t e d major artists in their
P h i l h a r m o n i c d e b u t s , such as Luciano Pavarotti, Placido D o m i n g o , C a t h e r i n e Malfitano,
and Kiri Te Kanawa, and b r o u g h t younger artists like M i d o r i , W y n t o n Marsalis, and Evgeny
Kissin to t h e P h i l h a r m o n i c stage. In all, m o r e t h a n 4 0 0 artists m a d e their P h i l h a r m o n i c
d e b u t s d u r i n g t h e M e h t a years. M e m b e r s of t h e O r c h e s t r a also achieved a new p r o m i n e n c e
u n d e r M e h t a ; over 30 m a d e their solo d e b u t s while he was Music Director, m a n y in works
c o m m i s s i o n e d specially for t h e m .
Mehta's i m p a c t on the O r c h e s t r a was n o t limited to regular subscription performances
at Avery Fisher Hall. He i n t r o d u c e d the N e w York P h i l h a r m o n i c Ensembles, t h e longr u n n i n g series p r o g r a m m e d by and featuring musicians from the O r c h e s t r a . In Mehta's time
these concerts involved m o r e t h a n 90 percent of the Orchestra's m e m b e r s h i p . Beginning in
April 1 9 8 0 , the Philharmonic's n e i g h b o r h o o d o u t r e a c h was expanded to include concerts in
H a r l e m at the Abyssinian Baptist C h u r c h a n d the Apollo T h e a t r e . H i s recordings with the
Orchestra ranged from Verdi's R e q u i e m (featuring C a b a l l é a n d D o m i n g o ) to J o h n Knowles
Painé's S y m p h o n y N o . 2 to t h e 1978 film score of W o o d y Allen's film Manhattan. T h e
Orchestra's w o r l d w i d e outreach also c o n t i n u e d u n d e r M e h t a with four tours to E u r o p e ,
including the 1988 t o u r of t h e Soviet U n i o n ; two to Asia, w h i c h featured a t r i u m p h a l r e t u r n
to his native India; four to Latin America; a n d six within the U n i t e d States a n d C a n a d a . In
1991 M e h t a was m a d e an H o n o r a r y M e m b e r of the P h i l h a r m o n i c , an h o n o r formerly
bestowed on Richard Wagner, Franz Liszt, Antonín Dvořák, Aaron C o p l a n d , a n d Leonard
Bernsrein, a m o n g others. He last appeared with the O r c h e s t r a in January 1998, c o n d u c t i n g
Mahler's T h i r d S y m p h o n y , with Florence Q u i v a r as soloist.
195
Yvonne Minton
b.
F
Sydney,
December 4,
1938
ollowing studies with Marjorie Walker in Australia, Yvonne Minton pursued
further training in L o n d o n under J o a n Cross. She won the Kathleen Ferrier Prize
and the 's Hertogenbosch Competition in 1 9 6 1 , and created the role of Maggic
Dempster in Nicholas Maw's One Man Show in 1 9 6 4 . At her Covent Garden
debut the following year, she sang Lola in Cavalleria Rusticana. She performed at Covern
Garden for many years, assuming the role of T h e a for the world premiere of Michael
Tippett's The Knot Garden in 1970. Much sought by other companies and festivals, she sang
at the C o l o g n e Opera, the Bayreuth Festival, La Scala, the Edinburgh Festival, the Australian
Opera, and elsewhere. Her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in 1973 was as Sophie in Der
Rosenkavalier, a role she also sang in 1976 at her first performance with the Paris Opera
where in 1979 she portrayed the Countess in the premiere of the three-act version of Berg's
Lulu. At her debut with the New York Philharmonic in 1 9 7 1 , she sang the Lieder eines
fahrenden Gesellen under Boulez. Her last appearance with the Orchestra took place in 1976
when she was the soloist in Mahler's Third Symphony, again under Boulez, in the
performance preserved on this set. In 1980, she was m a d e a C o m m a n d e r of the Order of the
196
British Empire.
Dimitri Mitropoulos
b. Athens, March I,
A
1896;
d. Milan, November 2, 1960
s a student of piano and theory at the O d e i o n Conservatory in Athens,
Dimitri M i t r o p o u l o s earned a gold medal for piano playing in 1 9 1 8 ; two
years later, his opera based on M a u r i c e Maeterlinck's Soeur Beatrice was
p r o d u c e d at the conservatory. Although M i t r o p o u l o s remained a c o m p o s e r
and a superb pianist throughout his career, it was as a c o n d u c t o r that he m a d e his mark
on musical history. He studied c o m p o s i t i o n with Paul Gilson in Brussels in 1 9 2 0 - 2 1 ,
then attended Busoni's piano master class at the Hochschule für M u s i k in Berlin until
1 9 2 4 . He also worked as a vocal coach at the Berlin State O p e r a , and on his return to
Athens in 1 9 2 4 he began immediately raising the standards of the conservatory orchestra
as its conductor; after 1 9 3 0 , he also taught c o m p o s i t i o n there. Also in 1 9 3 0 , he was
engaged to c o n d u c t the Berlin Philharmonic, and after that he m a d e concert tours, as
conductor and pianist, of Europe and the Soviet U n i o n . Serge Koussevitzky engaged him
as guest c o n d u c t o r with the B o s t o n S y m p h o n y Orchestra, with which he m a d e his
United States debut in Providence, R h o d e Island, on J a n u a r y 2 1 , 1 9 3 6 . He took up
residence in the United States and b e c a m e a naturalized American citizen in 1 9 4 6 .
198
In 1 9 3 7 , M i t r o p o u l o s succeeded E u g e n e O r m a n d y as conductor of the Minneapolis
S y m p h o n y Orchestra, which he developed into an ensemble of national reputation, and
provided an advantage to the audience, "whose eyes are not distracted and whose ears can
with which he m a d e the world-premiere recording of Mahler's First S y m p h o n y . In 1940
therefore focus on what they hear without competition or conflict." A sensitive and
he received the medal of the American Mahler Society for his work in behalf of that
unpretentious collaborator, M i t r o p o u l o s m a d e instrumental and vocal soloists shine with
composer's m u s i c . In 1 9 4 7 , he c o n d u c t e d the N e w York Philharmonic in the United
him. Admired and loved by his orchestra m e m b e r s , M i t r o p o u l o s — a l w a y s the risk-
States premiere of Mahler's Sixth Symphony.
taker—led his musicians into the new m e d i a of television and film and to different
M i t r o p o u l o s m a d e his N e w York Philharmonic debut on D e c e m b e r 19,
conducting a program
of works
by Beethoven.
Between
that date and
1940,
his final
performance in 1 9 6 0 , the year of his death, he led the Philharmonic in nearly 6 5 0
performances a r o u n d the world. As Musical Director he led the post-war Orchestra into
a new period of touring activity never before experienced by the Philharmonic. In 1 9 5 1 ,
venues, such as the Roxy movie theater, where the Orchestra performed four shows a day.
As a pianist, he c o n d u c t e d and played the solo part in Prokofiev's Piano C o n c e r t o N o . 3.
M i t r o p o u l o s m a d e a belated Metropolitan O p e r a debut with Strauss's Salome in 1954
and returned each season thereafter until his death, c o n d u c t i n g the world premiere of
Barber's Vanessa in 1 9 5 8 .
the Philharmonic b e c a m e the first American orchestra to be invited to the Edinburgh
D u r i n g the 1 9 5 7 - 5 8 season, M i t r o p o u l o s and L e o n a r d Bernstein jointly served as
Festival, where it gave 14 concerts under the direction of M i t r o p o u l o s and B r u n o Walter.
Principal C o n d u c t o r s of the N e w York Philharmonic. Mitropoulos's last performances
In addition to c o n d u c t i n g in nearly 40 different American cities, the Orchestra under
with the Orchestra were in J a n u a r y 1 9 6 0 , during the Mahler festival honoring the
M i t r o p o u l o s toured S o u t h America and, 25 years after Toscanini's grand tour of Europe,
composer's centennial and his leadership of the Philharmonic; M i t r o p o u l o s c o n d u c t e d
the N e w York Philharmonic returned to the continent with M i t r o p o u l o s at the helm.
Webern's Passacaglia and Mahler's N i n t h S y m p h o n y . Later that year, M i t r o p o u l o s
A passionate c h a m p i o n of c o n t e m p o r a r y c o m p o s e r s , M i t r o p o u l o s conducted nearly
50 world premieres with the Philharmonic and introduced American audiences for the
suffered a fatal heart attack during a rehearsal of Mahler's T h i r d S y m p h o n y at La Scala
in Milan.
first time to major works by Schoenberg, Shostakovich, and Prokofiev. H i s dedication to
the American c o m p o s i n g c o m m u n i t y was evident in his p r o g r a m m i n g of works by
M o r t o n G o u l d , D a v i d D i a m o n d , G u n t h e r Schuller, and Lukas Foss, a m o n g others.
Presenting vocal works and especially complete operas in concert b e c a m e a highly
anticipated event at the Philharmonic. M i t r o p o u l o s believed that concert versions of
200
opera such as Elektra,
Wozzeck,
Orfeo ed Euridice, L'Heure espagnole, and L'Arlecchino
201
Irmgard Seefned
b.
Köngetried,
G
Bavaria,
October 9,
1919; d.
Vienna,
November 24,
1988
uided by her father, Irmgard Seefried began singing at an early age. She
studied at the A u g s b u r g Conservatory with Albert Meyer and, after
graduation, joined the State Theater in Aachen, where she m a d e her debut
in 1 9 4 0 as the Priestess in Aida. She sang Eva in Die Meistersinger at the
Vienna State O p e r a for her debut there in 1 9 4 3 and, the following year, was chosen by
Strauss to sing the role of the C o m p o s e r in Ariadne auf Naxos for the celebration of his
80th birthday. T h e r e followed engagements at Salzburg, La Scala, C o v e n t G a r d e n , the
opera houses in M u n i c h , and elsewhere. At her Metropolitan O p e r a debut in 1 9 5 3 she
sang S u s a n n a in Le nozze di Figaro. Also esteemed for her work as a concert artist, she
first performed with
the
N e w York
Philharmonic during
the
Orchestra's
visit
to
E d i n b u r g h on A u g u s t 2 2 , 1 9 5 1 , when she sang in Mahler's Fourth S y m p h o n y under
Bruno Walter; it was with the s a m e work, led by G e o r g Solti, that she m a d e her last
appearance with the Orchestra in J a n u a r y
1 9 6 2 (a performance featured on this
collection). While m u c h praised for her singing of the A u s t r o - G e r m a n classics, she
performed c o n t e m p o r a r y m u s i c as well; both Frank Martin and Hans-Werner Henze
202
wrote music specifically for her.
Georg Solti
b. Budapest, October 21, 1912; d. Antibes, France, September 5, 1997
I
n a profession known for outsize personalities, Solti s t o o d out for his energy and
enthusiasm, his insistence on discipline in rehearsal a n d performance, and his
willingness to tackle a large project, be it a c o m p l e t e Mahler cycle on disc or the first
stereophonic recording (in
1 9 5 8 - 6 6 ) of Wagner's c o m p l e t e Ring operas. A m o n g
Solti's teachers at the Liszt A c a d e m y of M u s i c in B u d a p e s t were Ernst von D o h n a n y i and Béla Bartók in p i a n o , a n d Zoltán Kodály in c o m p o s i t i o n . He turned pages
at the world premiere of Bartók's S o n a t a for T w o Pianos a n d Percussion. Working as a
pianist and vocal coach, he assisted Toscanini in the Salzburg Festivals in 1 9 3 6 and
1 9 3 7 , then m a d e his c o n d u c t i n g debut with Le nozze di Figaro in B u d a p e s t in 1 9 3 8 .
Nazi influence in H u n g a r y forced Solti to m o v e to Switzerland in 1 9 3 9 ; there his piano
skills earned him the t o p prize at the G e n e v a C o m p e t i t i o n in 1 9 4 2 . ( H e m a d e his
United States p i a n o d e b u t nearly 45 years later, entertaining a C h i c a g o S y m p h o n y
audience in San Francisco with an i m p r o m p t u c h a m b e r - m u s i c concert when the
orchestra's e q u i p m e n t truck was late in arriving.) S o o n after c o n d u c t i n g Fidelio in
M u n i c h in 1 9 4 6 , he was a p p o i n t e d M u s i c Director of the Bavarian State O p e r a , a post
204
he held until
1 9 5 2 , when he b e c a m e the General M u s i c Director of the city of
Frankfurt,
conducting
both
orchestral
concerts
and
the
opera.
There
followed
e n g a g e m e n t s in m a n y European cities as well as in S o u t h America.
Solti m a d e his United States debut c o n d u c t i n g Strauss's Elektra with the San
Francisco opera on S e p t e m b e r 2 5 ,
G e o r g Solti m a d e his N e w York Philharmonic debut on M a r c h 14, 1 9 5 7 , when he
c o n d u c t e d Bartók's D a n c e Suite, Mozart's Piano C o n c e r t o N o . 23 in A major (with
Clifford C u r z o n as soloist), and Brahms's S y m p h o n y N o . 1. Although the N e w York
1 9 5 3 ; in his Metropolitan O p e r a debut, on
Philharmonic extended m a n y s u b s e q u e n t invitations to Solti, scheduling conflicts m a d e
D e c e m b e r 17, 1 9 6 0 , he c o n d u c t e d Tännhauser. He was M u s i c Director of the Dallas
him an infrequent visitor to the Orchestra after that, with appearances in 1 9 6 2 and
S y m p h o n y Orchestra in 1 9 6 0 - 6 1 . H i s first appearance at C o v e n t G a r d e n , c o n d u c t i n g
1 9 7 6 . He led the Philharmonic for the last time in a pension-fund benefit concert on
Der Rosenkavalier in 1 9 5 9 , led to his a p p o i n t m e n t as the company's M u s i c Director in
M a y 2, 1 9 9 2 , in a p r o g r a m consisting of the Prelude a n d " L i e b e s t o d " from Tristan und
1 9 6 1 , a post he held for a decade. Also a r o u n d this time, Solti was offered the position
Isolde, Lizst's Les Préludes, a n d Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique.
of M u s i c Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic; he withdrew, citing differences with
the orchestra's m a n a g e m e n t over the n a m i n g of an assistant conductor, and Z u b i n
Mehta took the p o s t instead. In 1 9 7 1 , as his tenure at C o v e n t G a r d e n c a m e to a close,
Solti was n a m e d a K n i g h t of the British E m p i r e , and on taking British nationality the
following year, he b e c a m e known as Sir G e o r g . He served as Music Director of the
Orchestre de Paris from 1 9 7 2 until Daniel B a r e n b o i m succeeded him in 1 9 7 5 , and as
Music Advisor to the Paris O p e r a from 1 9 7 1 to 1 9 7 3 . H i s most i m p o r t a n t affiliation in
Britain was the L o n d o n Philharmonic Orchestra, where he was Principal C o n d u c t o r
and Artistic Director from 1 9 7 9 to 1 9 8 3 , and C o n d u c t o r Emeritus thereafter.
Solti first c o n d u c t e d the C h i c a g o S y m p h o n y Orchestra in 1 9 5 4 , at the Ravinia
Festival. After being n a m e d the Orchestra's M u s i c Director in 1 9 6 9 , he e m b a r k e d on an
a m b i t i o u s p r o g r a m of touring a n d recording that m a d e that ensemble one of the most
celebrated in the world. He retired in 1 9 9 1 , yielding the p o d i u m to Daniel Barenboim
For his m a n y recordings, Solti won 32 G r a m m y awards, the m o s t by any artist in any
206
musical category.
207
William Steinberg
b. Cologne, August 1, 1899; d. New York, May 16, 1978
B
orn H a n s Wilhelm Steinberg in a cultured household of C o l o g n e , Germany,
William Steinberg was c o m p o s i n g and conducting his own setting of poems
from Ovid's Metamorphoses by the time he was 13. After studying conducting
with H e r m a n n Abendroth at the C o l o g n e Conservatory, he served as assistant
to O t t o Klemperer at the C o l o g n e Opera, succeeding him as Principal C o n d u c t o r in 1 9 2 4 .
He held a similar post in Prague from 1925, then became Music Director of the city of
Frankfurt in 1929. In that city he conducted the premieres of Schoenberg's Von heute auf
morgen and Transatlantic by G e o r g e Antheil, as well as an early performance of Mahagonny
by Kurt Weill. He also conducted at the Berlin State Opera, but lost all these prominent
posts with the rise of anti-Semitism and the Nazi regime. For a time he led concerts for the
Jewish Culture League in Frankfurt and Berlin. He emigrated to Palestine in 1936, where,
with Bronislaw H u b e r m a n , he co-founded the Palestine S y m p h o n y Orchestra (which later
became the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra), and became its first conductor. Arturo
Toscanini, who had conducted that orchestra's debut concert, hired Steinberg in 1938 as
assistant conductor of the N B C S y m p h o n y Orchestra. In the United States, Steinberg
208
found many guest-conducting opportunities with
orchestras
and
with
the
San Francisco
O p e r a . He became an American citizen in 1944, a d o p t i n g the English form of his first
name.
He was named Music Director of the Buffalo Philharmonic in 1 9 4 5 . He took the reins
of the Pittsburgh S y m p h o n y Orchestra in 1 9 5 2 , and Pittsburgh became the base for an
active career of guest conducting that also included posts with other orchestras, including
Music Director of the L o n d o n Philharmonic Orchestra from 1958 to 1 9 6 0 . He became the
N e w York Philharmonic's first Principal G u e s t C o n d u c t o r in
1966, a position that
extended till 1968. From 1969 to 1972 he was Music Director of the Boston S y m p h o n y
Orchestra, succeeding Erich Leinsdorf. In September 1976 he was named M u s i c Director
Emeritus of the Pittsburgh S y m p h o n y Orchestra.
T h e program of Steinberg's N e w York Philharmonic debut, on July 3 0 , 1 9 4 1 , consisted
of Weber's Overture to Euryanthe, Robert Russell Bennett's Symphony in D for the Dodgers,
Dvořák 's Scherzo Capriccioso, and Tchaikovsky's S y m p h o n y N o . 5. For his last concert with
the Orchestra, on May 1, 1978, he offered the Brahms Violin C o n c e r t o , Mozart's Le nozze
di Figaro Overture, and the Gershwin-Bennett Suite from Porgy and Bess. Steinberg showed
a particular devotion to the big late-Romantic symphonists, such as Bruckner, Mahler, and
Elgar, although he performed many of their works with cuts until the late 1960s, when he
abandoned the practice in favor of performing the complete work. K n o w n for the modesty
and e c o n o m y of his conducting gestures, he took a frankly R o m a n t i c
approach
to
symphonic works, though not without a touch of reserve, and he cultivated elegance and
understatement even in the most harrowing m o m e n t s of Mahler or Strauss, or in Verdi's
Requiem. Observers said that his performance of this last work
Toscanini in its e c o n o m y and emotional honesty.
210
recalled his mentor
211
Leopold Stokowski
b.
London, April 18,
1882; d.
Nether Wallop,
Hampshire,
September 13,
1977
B
orn Antoni Stanislaw Boleslawowich in L o n d o n , the conductor known as
Leopold Anthony Stokowski showed exceptional musical talent at an early age,
and at 13 became the youngest student to enter the Royal College of Music.
There he studied with the prominent composers Hubert Parry and Charles
Villiers Stanford and earned a diploma in organ in 1900. Three years later, while serving as
organist and choirmaster at St. James's Church in Piccadilly, he obtained his B. M u s . Degree
at Queen's College, Oxford University. His association with the United States began with an
appointment as organist at St. Bartholomew's Church, on M a d i s o n Avenue in N e w York,
although he continued to spend his summers studying and performing in Europe. He made
his conducting debut in Paris in 1 9 0 8 , substituting on short notice for another conductor;
representatives of the Cincinnati S y m p h o n y Orchestra were present at that concert and
recommended him to be Music Director of their orchestra. Stokowski's performances in
Cincinnati, in turn, brought him to the attention of the Philadelphia Orchestra, which
engaged him in 1912 as Music Director, a post he would hold for 25 years. He wasted no
time introducing important new compositions to the Philadelphia audience; having
212
attended the world-premiere performance of Mahler's Eighth S y m p h o n y under the
composer's direction in 1 9 1 0 , Stokowski introduced the work to America in 1 9 1 6 . In the
same year, he gave the United States premiere of Das Lied von der Erde. Stokowski became
Stokowski placed his popularity at the service of contemporary composers. In 1971 it was
estimated that he had conducted about 7 0 0 0 concerts during his career, and had introduced
an American citizen in 1915.
Stokowski built the Philadelphia Orchestra and gave it a unique sonic design that is still
over 2 0 0 0 new works. Most of these were by American composers, including Copland's Dance
referred to as the "Philadelphia sound." This, plus his engaging personality and sense of
Symphony, Antheil's Fourth Symphony, Ives's Fourth Symphony, and compositions by Griffes,
showmanship, brought him unprecedented popularity for a symphonic conductor. For a
Cowell, Varèse, and Hovhaness. There were also world premieres of Rachmaninoff's Third
large segment of the public, his erect figure, the arcing gestures of his hands (he used no
Symphony, Fourth Piano Concerto, and Rhapsody on a T h e m e of Paganini, and the United
baton after 1 9 2 9 ) , and his leonine mane were the embodiment of "longhair music." He fully
States premieres of Stravinsky's Le Sacre du printemps (as both a concert piece and a ballet),
exploited
Berg's Wozzeck, and several Schoenberg works, including the Currelieder.
new media as they came along, making commercial recordings with the
Philadelphia Orchestra as early as 1 9 1 7 , and appearing in several films, most memorably
Stokowski's enthusiasm for the new also led him to transcribe or revise the scores of well-
opposite Mickey M o u s e in Walt Disney's animated extravaganza Fantasia of 1 9 4 1 . His
known classics, a practice that sparked much controversy. For all their extravagance, his
experimentation with orchestra seating,
many transcriptions of music by J. S. Bach could at least be understood as an attempt to
microphone placement, and other recording
techniques advanced the science of acoustics and electronics.
After passing the baton of the Philadelphia Orchestra to Eugene O r m a n d y in 1938,
214
Rachmaninoff's Second Symphony.
express the spirituality and grandeur of Bach's ideas in terms that a modern symphonic
audience would appreciate.
Stokowski was sought as a guest conductor by numerous orchestras. D u r i n g the 1 9 4 9 - 5 0
Stokowski made his N e w York Philharmonic debut on November 27, 1930, when he
season, he shared the position of Principal Conductor of the N e w York Philharmonic with
conducted Brahms's Fourth Symphony and three orchestral transcriptions of works by Bach,
Dimitri Mitropoulos. At the end of the season, he led the Orchestra in its first performance
including the Toccata and Fugue in D minor. He was a frequent visitor to the Philharmonic
of Mahler's Eighth Symphony, preserved on this set. For five years he served as Principal
over the years, having performed with the Orchestra on nearly 2 0 0 occasions. He took part
Conductor of the Houston S y m p h o n y Orchestra ( 1 9 5 5 - 1 9 6 0 ) . He also founded several
in the Young People's Concerts and, in the 1940s, took the Orchestra on tour. In his last
orchestras: the All-American Youth Orchestra in 1940, the N e w York Symphony Orchestra
appearance with the Philharmonic, on February 8, 1969, he presided over a program of
in 1944, the Hollywood Bowl Symphony Orchestra in 1944, and the American Symphony
music by Bach and two modern take-offs on Bach: Lukas Foss's Phorion, and Rock Variations
Orchestra in 1 9 6 2 . C o n d u c t i n g concerts into his 94th year, he m a d e recordings up to the
and Fantasy on a Brandenburg Concerto, written and performed by the N e w York R o c k and
end of his life. He died the day before he had been scheduled to make his first recording of
Roll Ensemble.
215
Set Svanholm
b. Västerås, Sweden, September 2, 1904;
d. Saltsjö-Duvnös, near Stockholm, October 4, 1964
O
riginally an organist, Set S v a n h o l m later took vocal instruction from John
Forsell at the S t o c k h o l m Conservatory. H i s operatic debut took place in
1 9 3 0 , when he sang S i l v i o — a baritone role—in Pagliacci at the Royal
Theater in S t o c k h o l m . In 1 9 3 7 , he sang his first role as a tenor, R a d a m è s
in Aida. For several years he was a m e m b e r of the Berlin State O p e r a , and in 1 9 3 8 he
won plaudits at the Salzburg Festival for his portrayals of Walther in Die Meistersinger
and of Tannhäuser. In the world premiere of G u n n a r de Frumerie's opera Singoalla,
presented in S t o c k h o l m in 1 9 4 0 , he created the part of Erland. For m a n y years he
appeared as a guest at major opera houses throughout the w o r l d — a t Bayreuth, La Scala,
C o v e n t G a r d e n , the Teatro C o l ό n , the Vienna State O p e r a , a n d elsewhere. F r o m 1 9 4 6 to
1 9 5 6 he was a regular m e m b e r of the M e t r o p o l i t a n O p e r a , where his leading roles
included S i e g m u n d , Parsifal, Siegfried, Florestan, a n d Otello. With the N e w York
P h i l h a r m o n i c he sang the tenor part in Das Lied von der Erde under Walter in J a n u a r y
1 9 4 8 (included on the present set) a n d in February 1 9 5 3 , his first a n d last appearances
with the Orchestra. F r o m 1 9 5 6 to 1 9 6 3 he served as Director of the Royal T h e a t e r in
216
Srockholm.
Klaus Tennstedt
b. Merseberg, Germany, June 6, 1926;
d. Heikendorf, near Kiel, Germany, January 11, 1998
K
laus
Tennstedt
Conservatory.
studied
In
1948,
piano,
violin,
and
theory
at
the
Leipzig
he b e c a m e concertmaster at the Municipal
T h e a t e r of H a l l e , a n d when a finger injury spoiled his career as a violinist,
he stayed on in H a l l e as a vocal coach, the traditional s t e p p i n g s t o n e to
the conductor's p o d i u m . He m a d e his c o n d u c t i n g d e b u t there in
1 9 5 3 with Der
Günstling by R u d o l f Wagner-Regeny, and in 1 9 5 8 he was a p p o i n t e d M u s i c Director of
the D r e s d e n State O p e r a . In 1 9 6 2 , he b e c a m e General M u s i c Director of the State
Orchestra a n d T h e a t e r in Schwerin. D u r i n g the 1 9 6 0 s , Tennstedt c o n d u c t e d leading
East
German
orchestras,
including
the
Dresden
Philharmonic,
the
Dresden
Staatskapelle, the Leipzig G e w a n d h a u s , a n d the Berlin R a d i o S y m p h o n y Orchestra,
also a p p e a r i n g with these orchestras on tour in the Soviet U n i o n , Czechoslovakia, and
other eastern E u r o p e a n countries.
He left G e r m a n y in 1971 for Sweden, where he was engaged at the Stora Theater in
G ö t e b e r g and led the Swedish R a d i o S y m p h o n y in S t o c k h o l m . T h e following year he
settled near the northern G e r m a n city of Kiel, where he served as General M u s i c Director
218
of the Kiel O p e r a . He also c o n d u c t e d many of the leading orchestras in G e r m a n y and
was the first G e r m a n c o n d u c t o r to be invited to conduct the Israel
Philharmonic
Orchestra, an invitation that was renewed many times. After his United States debut in
1 9 7 4 with the Boston Symphony, he conducted nearly every major American orchestra
and b e c a m e a regular visitor to the T a n g l e w o o d Festival, where his interpretations of
Beethoven's symphonies and concertos were especially admired. H i s belated United
States opera debut c a m e in D e c e m b e r 1 9 8 3 , with Fidelio at the Metropolitan O p e r a in
New York, part of that company's lOOth-anniversary celebration. In 1 9 7 9 , Tennstedt was
performance of this work with the L o n d o n Philharmonic at London's Royal Festival Hall
was released on video. Tennstedt's interpretations of Mahler have been a d m i r e d for their
sense of the works' larger structure, for their transparency of orchestral s o u n d , and for
the sense of emotional c o m m i t m e n t they convey. At the time of Tennstedt's death,
Daniel Webster wrote in the Philadelphia Inquirer: "Musicians s o m e t i m e s j o k e d that Mr.
Tennstedt knew no short pieces, but the tall, gangling c o n d u c t o r was at his best in
constructing the great edifices of Bruckner and Mahler."
n a m e d C h i e f C o n d u c t o r o f the N o r t h G e r m a n R a d i o S y m p h o n y Orchestra i n H a m b u r g ,
and also C h i e f G u e s t C o n d u c t o r of the M i n n e s o t a Orchestra.
Tennstedt led the N e w York Philharmonic for the first time on February 2 4 , 1 9 7 7 , in
a p r o g r a m that included Beethoven's Violin C o n c e r t o and Prokofiev's Fifth Symphony.
He was an a l m o s t annual visitor to the Philharmonic through 1 9 8 8 , when failing health
from throat cancer began to curtail his activities. Mahler's Fifth, Sixth, and Ninth
S y m p h o n i e s were a m o n g the works he performed with the Orchestra. At his last
Philharmonic appearance, on April 9, 1 9 9 2 , he c o n d u c t e d Bruckner's Eighth Symphony.
Tennstedt m a d e
Orchestra.
The
his
London
following year
debut
he
in
made
1976,
his
leading
first
the
appearance
London
with
Symphony
the
London
Philharmonic Orchestra; he b e c a m e its Principal G u e s t C o n d u c t o r in 1 9 8 0 . In 1 9 8 3 , he
succeeded Sir G e o r g Solti as Principal C o n d u c t o r and M u s i c Director of the L o n d o n
Philharmonic. Between
1 9 7 7 and
1 9 8 6 , this orchestra and Tennstedt recorded the
complete cycle of Mahler's s y m p h o n i e s , establishing the c o n d u c t o r as one of the major
proponents of Mahler's music in the second half of the 20th century. T h e S y m p h o n y
221
220
N o . 8 from this series won a Gramophone magazine award in
1 9 8 7 , and a
1991
Bruno Walter
b.
Berlin,
September 15,
W
1876; d.
Beverly Hills,
California,
February
17,
1962
hile studying the piano at the Stern Conservatory in Berlin, Bruno
Walter (born Schlesinger) was inspired, after hearing a concert led by
H a n s von Bülow, to pursue a career as a conductor. In 1894, he made
his conducting debut in C o l o g n e and shortly thereafter became an
assistant to Gustav Mahler at the H a m b u r g Opera; the two became friends, and the
experience changed Walter's life. Engagements at the opera houses in Breslau, Pressburg,
Riga, and Berlin followed. From 1901 to 1 9 1 2 , Walter conducted at the Vienna C o u r t
Opera, working closely with Mahler for six years; there he gave several premieres, including
the first Viennese performance of Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande. Active as a composer early
in his career, he wrote chamber and symphonic works during his years in Vienna, while as
an author, he published several essays on music, offering commentaries on Mahler's Third
and Fourth Symphonies. After Mahler's death, Walter gave the premiere performances of
Das Lied von der Erde (Munich, 1911) and Mahler's Ninth Symphony (Vienna, 1912).
While serving as Director of the Singakademie, a position once held by Brahms, he also gave
the Viennese premiere of Mahler's Eighth Symphony ( 1 9 1 2 ) .
222
In 1 9 1 3 , he became Royal Bavarian General Music Directot, succeeding Felix Mottl, and
for a decade led countless operatic performances in Munich's three theaters, presenting
ptemieres of operas by Braunfels, Klenau, Korngold, Pfitzner, Schreker, and others. During
Walter's debut at the Metropolitan O p e r a took place in 1 9 4 1 , when he gave a
this period, he also gave regular subscription concerts with the Musical Academy and made
memorable performance of Fidelio with Kirsten Flagstad, R e n é M a i s o n , and Alexander
guest appearances outside Germany.
Kipnis. He conducted there irregularly until 1 9 5 7 . Beginning in 1 9 4 1 , he made the first
In 1923, he came to New York for his American debut with Walter Damrosch's
of his many recordings with the N e w York Philharmonic, the ensemble with which he
Symphony Society, and the following year he performed Mahler's First S y m p h o n y with the
most often performed until the m i d - 1 9 5 0 s . In 1 9 4 5 , he led the first performance of
same orchestra (which merged with the N e w York Philharmonic in 1 9 2 8 ) . Beginning in the
Mahler's Ninth given by the N e w York Philharmonic and, in 1 9 4 7 , m a d e the world-
1920s, he became a frequent guest at the Concertgebouw. As Music Director of the
premiere recording of Mahler's Fifth with the Orchestra. His other recordings of Mahler's
Municipal Opera in Berlin ( 1 9 2 5 - 2 9 ) , he turned the fledgling company into an organization
works with the Philharmonic—the First, Second, and Fourth Symphonies as well as Das
that could compete with the Berlin State Opera. For many seasons, he also gave a regular
Lied von der Erde (with Mildred
series of Bruno Walter Concerts with the Berlin Philharmonic. From 1929 to 1933, he held
widespread acceptance. T h o u g h offered the position of M u s i c Director of the N e w York
the position of Gewandhauskapellmeister in Leipzig, his last position in Germany. When
Philharmonic on more than one occasion, Walter, citing his advanced years and weakened
Walter found himself exiled from Germany, the N e w York Philharmonic, like other
health, would only accept the title and responsibilities of Musical Advisor, a position he
organizations, reached out to offer him work as a guest conductor.
held from 1 9 4 7 to 1 9 4 9 ; he continued to advise the Orchestra on artistic matters,
His debut with the recently merged Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York took
place on January 14, 1932, in a program of Handel, Haydn, and Brahms. From that year till
224
to the United States in 1939, becoming an American citizen in 1946.
Millet and Ernst Haefliger)—contributed to their
however, into the 1950s.
Along with the works of Mahler and the standard repertoire, Walter's concerts with the
his final concert with the Orchestra in 1960, he took pains to perform Mahler's works in New
Orchestra
York, despite hostility from many critics. In 1933 he returned to Austria, where from 1936 to
Matthew Passion, sung in
1938 he was Artistic Director of the Vienna State Opera. His biography of Mahler, reprinted
composers (among them Barber, Dello J o i o , Mason, and Moore). In his last years, he made
many times, was first published in 1936; it remains an invaluable first-hand account of the
numerous recordings with the C o l u m b i a S y m p h o n y Orchestra. T h r o u g h o u t his long career,
composer. Before Germany's annexation of Austria, Walter and the Vienna Philharmonic
Walter was widely regarded as one of the most authoritative interpreters of Mahler's works;
made the first recordings of Das Lied von der Erde and Mahler's Ninth Symphony. After a brief
for his final Philharmonic performance, on April 15, 1960, Walter conducted Das Lied von
period spent in France, where he accepted the government's offer of citizenship, Walter m o v e d
der Erde, with Maureen Forrester and Richard Lewis as his soloists.
included Beethoven and Brahms cycles; annual performances of Bach's St.
English ( 1 9 4 3 - 4 6 ) ; and a number of works by American
225
Camilla Williams
b.
Danville,
Virginia,
October
18,
1922
C
amilla Williams studied music at Virginia State College and, not long after
graduation, began intensive vocal instruction under Marian Szekeley-Freschl.
In 1943 and 1944, she won the Marion Anderson Award, which allowed her
to pursue her studies. Also in 1944 she signed a contract with RCA-Victor and
began performing on the radio. Her operatic debut took place in 1946, when she sang the
title role in Madama Butterfly at the N e w York City Opera. T h e first black soprano to join
the City Opera, she remained with the troupe until 1954, winning admiration for her
singing in such roles as M i m i , Aida, and N e d d a . Leopold Stokowski, who selected her as a
soloist for his performances of Mahler's Eighth Symphony in 1950, complimented her
afterward on her "understanding and intensity of feeling." On the first complete recording
of Porgy and Bess ( 1 9 5 1 ) , she sang the leading female role. Guest appearances from the 1950s
to the 1970s took her to Vienna, Berlin, London, Africa, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Australia,
Poland, France, and elsewhere. In 1 9 6 0 she sang before President Eisenhower and Japan's
Crown Prince Akihito in Washington, D . C . As an educator, she has taught in N e w York at
Brooklyn College and Bronx College, and in 1977 she became the first black professor at the
226
Indiana School of Music in Bloomington.
Frances Yeend
b.
F
Vancouver,
Washington, January 28,
1918
rances Yeend spent her early years in Portland, O r e g o n , and received her
education at Washington State C o l l e g e in Pullman. By the 1 9 4 0 s she had come
to N e w York, where she sang in operetta and was heard over the radio. With
M a r i o Lanza and G e o r g e L o n d o n , she toured much of N o r t h America in 1 9 4 7 .
the three singers performing together as the Bel C a n t o Trio. In the American premiere of
Britten's Peter Grimes ( 1 9 4 6 ) , under Leonard Bernstein, she sang the part of Ellen
Orford. F r o m 1 9 4 8 to 1 9 5 9 she was on the roster of the N e w York C i t y Opera, earning
praise for her portrayals of Violetta, the C o u n t e s s in Le nozze di Figaro, Marguerite, and
Eva in Die Meistersinger. Her engagements abroad included appearances at the Vienna
State O p e r a , C o v e n t G a r d e n , the Bavarian State Theater in M u n i c h , and other major
venues. S o u g h t after as a concert artist, she sang in Mahler's Eighth S y m p h o n y under
O r m a n d y at the H o l l y w o o d Bowl in 1 9 4 8 and under Stokowski at C a r n e g i e Hall in
1 9 5 0 , her first appearance with the N e w York Philharmonic. For her last appearance with
the Orchestra, in March 1 9 5 8 , she sang C h r y s o t h e m i s in a concert version of Strauss's
Elektra under M i t r o p o u l o s , a role she also a s s u m e d for her debut at the Metropolitan
228
O p e r a in 1 9 6 1 .
Members of the
New York Philharmonic
The following is a comprehensive list of the full-time members of
the Orchestra when these broadcasts took place. The names were compiled
by Richard Wandel from the concert programs.
CoNCERTMASTERS
230
Corigliano, John: Jan. 1948;
Apr. 1950; Apr. 1955; Mar.
1958; Jan. 1959; Jan. 1962;
Dec. 1962; Nov. 1964
Dicterow, Glenn: Feb. 1981;
Mar. 1982
Friend, Rodney: Oct. 1976
Gordon, Kenneth: Oct. 1976#;
Jun. 1980#; Aug. 1980#;
Feb. 1981#; Mar. 1982#
Gullino, Frank: Dec. 1962#;
Nov. 1964#; Oct. 1976#
Harth, Sidney: Jun. 1980;
Aug. 1980
Rex, Charles: Feb. 1981#;
Mar. 1982#
Rosenker, Michael: Jan. 1948#;
Apr. 1950#; Apr. 1955#;
Mar. 1958#; Jan. 1959#;
Jan. 1962#
VIOLINS
Allen, W. Sanford: Dec. 1962;
Nov. 1964
Andreasson, Bjoern: Apr.
1950; Apr. 1955; Mar. 1958;
Jan. 1959; Jan. 1962; Dec.
1962; Nov. 1964; Oct. 1976;
Jun. 1980; Aug. 1980;
Feb. 1981; Mar. 1982
Banat, Gabriel: Oct. 1976;
Jun. 1980; Aug. 1980; Feb.
1981; Mar. 1982
*Principal
Barbini, William: Oct. 1976;
Jun. 1980; Aug. 1980;
Feb. 1981; Mar. 1982
Barozzi, Socrate: Jan. 1948;
Apr. 1950; Apr. 1955;
Mar. 1958; Jan. 1959
Belfer, Adolph: Jan. 1948
Bergen, Eugene: Dec. 1962;
Nov. 1964; Oct. 1976;
Jun. 1980; Aug. 1980;
Feb. 1981; Mar. 1982
Bernstein, Joseph: Apr. 1955;
Mar. 1958; Jan. 1959;
Jan. 1962; Dec. 1962;
Nov. 1964
Boder, Emanuel: Jun. 1980;
Aug. 1980; Feb. 1981;
Mar. 1982
# Associate or Assistant Principal
Borodkin, Morris: Jan. 1948;
Apr. 1950; Apr. 1955; Mar.
1958; Jan. 1959; Jan. 1962;
Dec. 1962; Nov. 1964
Braun, Matitiahu: Oct. 1976;
Feb. 1981; Mar. 1982
Breuning, Alfred: Jan. 1959;
Jan. 1962
Busch, Leopold: Jan. 1948;
Apr. 1950; Apr. 1955; Mar.
1958; Jan. 1959; Jan. 1962;
Dec. 1962
Carlini, Luigi: Mar. 1958;
Jan. 1959; Jan. 1962; Dec.
1962; Nov. 1964; Oct. 1976
Ceci, Jesse: Jan. 1962
D'Amico, Leonard A.:
Jan. 1948; Apr. 1950
Dayan, Mordecai: Jan. 1948;
Apr. 1950; Apr. 1955; Mar.
1958; Jan. 1959; Jan. 1962;
Dec. 1962; Nov. 1964
Dembinsky, William: Jan.
1948; Apr. 1950; Apr. 1955;
Mar. 1958; Jan. 1959; Jan.
1962; Dec. 1962; Nov. 1964
Di Cecco, Enrico: Jan. 1962;
Dec. 1962; Nov. 1964; Oct.
1976; Jun. 1980; Aug. 1980;
Feb. 1981; Mar. 1982
Dubensky, Arcady: Jan. 1948;
Apr. 1950; Apr. 1955
Dubow, Marilyn: Oct. 1976;
Jun. 1980; Aug. 1980; Feb.
1981; Mar. 1982
Eshelman, Martin: Mar. 1958;
Jan. 1959; Jan. 1962; Dec.
1962; Nov. 1964; Oct. 1976;
Jun. 1980; Aug. 1980; Feb.
1981; Mar. 1982
Finclair, Barry: Oct. 1976
Fishberg, Joachim: Jan. 1948;
Apr. 1950; Apr. 1955; Mar.
1958; Jan. 1959; Jan. 1962;
Dec. 1962; Nov. 1964
Fishzohn, Louis: Jan. 1948;
Apr. 1950; Apr. 1955; Mar.
1958; Jan. 1959; Jan. 1962;
Dec. 1962; Nov. 1964
Gerardi, Antonio: Jan. 1948;
Apr. 1950; Apr. 1955
Gewirtz, Joseph: Jan. 1948;
Apr. 1950; Apr. 1955
Gilbert, Michael: Oct. 1976;
Jun. 1980; Aug. 1980;
Feb. 1981; Mar. 1982
Ginsberg, Marc: Oct. 1976*;
Jun. 1980*; Aug. 1980*;
Feb. 1981*; Mar. 1982*
Goldstein, Nathan: Nov. 1964;
Oct. 1976; Jun. 1980; Aug.
1980; Feb. 1981; Mar. 1982
Gordon, Kenneth: Jan. 1962;
Dec. 1962; Nov. 1964
Gullino, Frank: Jan. 1948;
Apr. 1950; Apr. 1955; Mar.
* Principal
1958; Jan. 1959; Jan. 1962
Heinz, Rudolph: Jan. 1948;
Apr. 1950; Apr. 1955
Henkle, Ralph: Jan. 1948;
Apr. 1950
Hoffman, Stanley: Jan. 1962;
Dec. 1962
Kim, Joseph: Jun. 1980;
Aug. 1980; Feb. 1981
Kim, Myung-Hi: Jun. 1980;
Aug. 1980; Feb. 1981;
Mar. 1982
Kreiselman, Morris: Jan. 1948;
Apr. 1950; Apr. 1955; Mar.
1958; Jan. 1959; Jan. 1962;
Dec. 1962; Nov. 1964
Kruglikov, Marina: Jun.
1980; Aug. 1980; Feb. 1981;
Mar. 1982
Lachert, Hanna: Oct. 1976;
Jun. 1980; Aug. 1980; Feb.
1981; Mar. 1982
Ladetto, Renato: Apr. 1955
Lora, Alfred: Jan. 1948; Apr.
1950; Apr. 1955; Mar. 1958;
Jan. 1959
Mansfield, Newton: Jan. 1962;
Dec. 1962; Nov. 1964; Oct.
1976; Jun. 1980; Aug. 1980;
Feb. 1981; Mar. 1982
Margolies, Jacques: Nov. 1964;
Oct. 1976; Jun. 1980; Aug.
1980; Feb. 1981; Mar. 1982
# Associate or Assistant Principal
231
232
Menga, Robert: Dec. 1962;
Nov. 1964
Micci, Alfio: Apr. 1950; Apr.
1955; Mar. 1958; Jan. 1959;
Jan. 1962; Dec. 1962;
Nov. 1964; Oct. 1976
Neveux, Armand: Jan. 1948;
Apr. 1950; Apr. 1955; Mar.
1958; Jan. 1959; Jan. 1962;
Dec. 1962; Nov. 1964
Nowinski, William: Jan. 1948;
Apr. 1950; Apr. 1955; Mar.
1958; Jan. 1959; Jan. 1962;
Dec. 1962; Nov. 1964; Oct.
1976; Jun. 1980; Aug. 1980;
Feb. 1981; Mar. 1982
Pasquale, Robert de: Mar.
1958; Jan. 1959; Jan. 1962;
Dec 1962
Piantini, Carlos: Mar. 1958;
Jan. 1959; Jan. 1962; Dec.
1962; Nov. 1964
Podnos, Theodor: Oct. 1976;
Jun. 1980; Aug. 1980; Feb.
1981; Mar. 1982
Pogany, Imre: Jan. 1948*;
Apr. 1950*; Apr. 1955*;
Mar. 1958
Rabin, George: Jan. 1948;
Apr. 1950; Apr. 1955; Mar.
1958; Jan. 1959; Jan. 1962;
Dec. 1962
Ravina, Oscar: Oct. 1976;
Jun. 1980; Aug. 1980; Feb.
Settanni, Eugene: Jan. 1948;
1981; Mar. 1982
Apr. 1950
Renzulli, Carlo: Mar. 1958;
Sherman, Louis: Jan. 1948;
Jan. 1959; Jan. 1962; Dec.
Apr. 1950; Apr. 1955;
1962; Nov. 1964; Oct. 1976;
Mar. 1958; Jan. 1959
Jun. 1980; Aug. 1980; Feb.
Shmuckler, Mark: Oct. 1976;
1981; Mar. 1982
Jun. 1980; Aug. 1980;
Robbins, Bernard: Mar. 1958;
Feb. 1981; Mar. 1982
Jan. 1959; Nov. 1964; Oct.
Simon, Richard: Oct. 1976;
1976; Jun. 1980; Aug. 1980;
Jun. 1980; Aug. 1980;
Feb. 1981; Mar. 1982
Mar. 1982
Rosensweig, David: Jan. 1948;
Stefano, Michael de: Jan.
Apr. 1950; Apr. 1955; Mar.
1948; Apr. 1950; Apr. 1955;
1958; Jan. 1959; Jan. 1962
Mar. 1958; Jan. 1959; Jan.
Rudin, Leon: Jan. 1948; Apr.
1962; Dec 1962; Nov. 1964
1950; Apr. 1955; Mar. 1958;
Stirn, Andrew F.: Jan. 1948;
Jan. 1959; Jan. 1962; Dec.
Apr. 1950
1962; Nov. 1964; Oct. 1976
Strassner, Isidor: Jan. 1948;
Rybb, Leopold: Apr. 1955;
Apr. 1950; Apr. 1955;
Mar. 1958*; Jan. 1959*;
Mar. 1958; Jan. 1959
Jan. 1962*; Dec. 1962*;
Takebe, Yoko: Jun. 1980;
Nov. 1964
Aug. 1980; Feb. 1981;
Sambuco, Gino: Oct. 1976;
Mar. 1982
Jun. 1980; Aug. 1980; Feb.
Temerson, Leon: Jan. 1948;
1981; Mar. 1982
Apr. 1950; Apr. 1955; Mar.
Schenk, Robert C.: Jan. 1948
1958; Jan. 1959; Jan. 1962;
Schiller, Allan: Nov. 1964;
Dec. 1962; Nov. 1964
Oct. 1976; Jun. 1980; Aug.
Vogelgesang, Frederick:
1980; Feb. 1981; Mar. 1982
Apr. 1955
Schuller, Arthur: Jan. 1948;
Webb, Carol: Jun. 1980;
Apr. 1950; Apr. 1955; Mar.
Aug. 1980; Feb. 1981;
1958; Jan. 1959; Jan. 1962;
Mar. 1982
Dec 1962; Nov. 1964
Weiner, Max: Jan. 1948; Apr.
* Principal
# Associate or Assistant Principal
1950; Apr. 1955; Mar. 1958;
Jan. 1959; Jan. 1962; Dec
1962; Nov. 1964; Oct. 1976;
Jun. 1980; Aug. 1980;
Feb. 1981; Mar. 1982
Weizner, Oscar: Dec. 1962;
Nov. 1964; Oct. 1976;
Jun. 1980#; Aug. 1980#;
Feb. 1981#;Mar. 1982#
Whyte, Donald: Oct. 1976;
Jun. 1980; Aug. 1980; Feb.
1981; Mar. 1982
VIOLAS
Bardos, Bela: Jan. 1948
Becker, Eugene: Mar. 1958;
Jan. 1959; Jan. 1962; Dec.
1962; Nov. 1964; Oct. 1976;
Jun. 1980; Aug. 1980;
Feb. 1981; Mar. 1982#
Berman, William: Apr. 1955
Breslaw, Irene: Oct. 1976;
Jun. 1980; Aug. 1980;
Feb. 1981; Mar. 1982
Carboni, William: Jan. 1962;
Dec. 1962; Nov. 1964; Oct.
1976; Jun. 1980; Aug. 1980;
Feb. 1981; Mar. 1982
Davis, Leonard: Apr. 1950;
Apr. 1955; Mar. 1958; Jan.
1959; Jan. 1962; Dec 1962;
Nov. 1964; Oct. 1976#;
Jun. 1980#; Aug. 1980#;
Feb. 1981#; Mar. 1982#
Fick, Joseph: Jan. 1948;
Apr. 1950
Gray, William: Jan. 1948;
Apr. 1950
Greitzer, Sol: Apr. 1955;
Mar. 1958; Jan. 1959;
Jan. 1962; Dec. 1962;
Nov. 1964; Oct. 1976*;
Jun. 1980*; Aug. 1980*;
Feb. 1981*; Mar. 1982*
Hannay, Dawn: Jun. 1980;
Aug. 1980; Feb. 1981;
Mar. 1982
Imparato, Giovanni: Jan.
1948; Apr. 1950
Kates, David: Jan. 1948;
Apr. 1950; Apr. 1955; Mar.
1958; Jan. 1959; Jan. 1962;
Dec. 1962; Nov. 1964
Layefsky, Godfrey: Apr. 1955
Lehr, Barry: Oct. 1976; Jun.
1980; Aug. 1980; Feb. 1981;
Mar. 1982
Lifschey, Elias: Apr. 1955;
Mar. 1958; Jan. 1959
Lincer, William: Jan. 1948*;
Apr. 1950*; Apr. 1955
Mar. 1958*; Jan. 1959*;
!
Jan. 1962*; Dec. 1962*;
Nov. 1964*
Lipschitz, Samuel: Jan. 1948;
* Principal
Apr. 1950; Apr. 1955
Mendelson, Ralph: Apr.
1955; Mar. 1958; Jan. 1959;
Jan. 1962; Dec 1962;
Nov. 1964; Oct. 1976
Morgulis, George: Jan. 1948;
Apr. 1950
Newland, Larry: Jan. 1962;
Dec. 1962; Nov. 1964; Oct.
1976; Jun. 1980; Aug. 1980
Nigrine, Henry: Mar. 1958;
Jan. 1959; Jan. 1962; Dec
1962; Nov. 1964; Oct. 1976;
Jun. 1980; Aug. 1980;
Feb. 1981; Mar. 1982
Posner, Selig: Mar. 1958;
Jan. 1959; Jan. 1962;
Dec. 1962; Nov. 1964
Rence, Dorian: Oct. 1976;
Jun. 1980; Aug. 1980;
Feb. 1981; Mar. 1982
Sabinsky, Raymond: Jan.
1948; Apr. 1950; Apr. 1955;
Mar. 1958; Jan. 1959;
Jan. 1962; Dec. 1962; Nov.
1964; Oct. 1976; Jun. 1980;
Aug. 1980; Feb. 1981;
Mar. 1982
Tartas, Morris: Jan. 1948
Vieland, Joseph: Jan. 1948;
Apr. 1950; Apr. 1955;
Mar. 1958; Jan. 1959
Weinrebe, Robert: Apr. 1950;
# Associate or Assistant Principal
233
Apr. 1955; Mar. 1958; Jan.
1959; Jan. 1962; Dec. 1962;
Nov. 1964; Oct. 1976; Jun.
1980; Aug. 1980; Feb. 1981;
Mar. 1982
Zaratzian, Harry: Apr. 1950
CELLOS
234
Altmann, Bernardo: Apr.
1955; Mar. 1958; Jan. 1959;
Jan. 1962; Dec. 1962; Nov.
1964; Oct. 1976; Jun. 1980;
Aug. 1980; Feb. 1981;
Mar. 1982
Appleman, Gerald K.: Oct.
1976; Jun. 1980; Aug. 1980;
Feb. 1981; Mar. 1982
Bass, Abrascha: Jan. 1948;
Apr. 1950
Benedetti, Evangeline: Oct.
1976; Jun. 1980; Aug. 1980;
Feb. 1981; Mar. 1982
Bernsohn, Lorin: Jan. 1959;
Jan. 1962; Dec. 1962; Nov.
1964; Oct. 1976; Jun. 1980;
Aug. 1980; Feb. 1981;
Mar. 1982
Caiati, Mario: Jan. 1948; Apr.
1950; Apr. 1955; Mar. 1958
Clement, Paul: Nov. 1964;
Oct. 1976; Jun. 1980; Aug.
1980; Feb. 1981; Mar. 1982
Coleman, Avron: Jan. 1959;
Jan. 1962; Dec. 1962;
Nov. 1964
Dinger, Naoum: Jan. 1948;
Apr. 1950; Apr. 1955; Mar.
1958; Jan. 1959; Jan. 1962;
Dec. 1962
Donaruma, Nancy: Jun. 1980;
Aug. 1980; Feb. 1981;
Mar. 1982
Feder, William L.: Jan. 1948
Feher, George: Apr. 1950;
Apr. 1955; Mar. 1958; Jan.
1959; Jan. 1962; Dec. 1962;
Nov. 1964
Foison, Eileen: Mar. 1982
Forstat, Milton: Jan. 1948;
Apr. 1950; Apr. 1955;
Mar. 1958
Guidi, Alberico: Jan. 1948
Hirsu, Valentin: Oct. 1976;
Jun. 1980; Aug. 1980;
Feb. 1981; Mar. 1982
Joachim, Heinrich: Apr. 1950;
Apr. 1955; Mar. 1958
Lavin, Avram A.: Nov. 1964;
Oct. 1976; Jun. 1980; Aug.
1980; Feb. 1981; Mar. 1982
Lemos, Jurgen de: Nov. 1964
Liberti, Thomas: Oct. 1976;
Jun. 1980; Aug. 1980; Feb.
1981; Mar. 1982
Malkin, Josef: Jan. 1948
* Principal
Markevitch, Dimitry: Jan.
1959; Jan. 1962; Dec. 1962
Munroe, Lome: Nov. 1964*;
Oct. 1976*; Jun. 1980*;
Aug. 1980*; Feb. 1981*;
Mar. 1982*
Ormandy, Martin: Jan. 1948;
Apr. 1950; Apr. 1955; Mar.
1958; Jan. 1959; Jan. 1962;
Dec. 1962; Nov. 1964
Richman, Ashen Mar. 1958;
Jan. 1959; Jan. 1962; Dec.
1962; Nov. 1964; Oct. 1976;
Jun. 1980; Aug. 1980; Feb.
1981; Mar. 1982
Rose, Leonard: Jan. 1948*;
Apr. 1950*
Sims, Rudolph: Jan. 1948;
Apr. 1950; Apr. 1955; Mar.
1958; Jan. 1959; Jan. 1962;
Dec. 1962; Nov. 1964
Sophos, Anthony: Apr. 1950;
Apr. 1955
Stern, Carl: Jan. 1948; Apr.
1950; Apr. 1955; Mar. 1958;
Jan. 1959; Jan. 1962;
Dec. 1962*
Stutch, Nathan: Jan. 1948,
Apr. 1950; Apr. 1955; Mar.
1958; Jan. 1959; Jan. 1962;
Dec. 1962; Nov. 1964;
Oct. 1976#;Jun. 1980#;
Aug. 1980#; Feb. 1981#;
Mar. 1982#
Terry, Zela: Jun. 1980;
Aug. 1980; Feb. 1981
Varga, Laszlo: Apr. 1955*;
Mar. 1958*; Jan. 1959*;
Jan. 1962*
BASSES
Blossom, William: Oct. 1976;
Jun. 1980; Aug. 1980;
Feb. 1981; Mar. 1982
Botti, Walter: Apr. 1955; Mar.
1958; Jan. 1959; Jan. 1962;
Dec. 1962; Nov. 1964; Oct.
1976; Jun. 1980; Aug. 1980;
Feb. 1981; Mar. 1982
Brennand, Robert: Jan. 1948;
Apr. 1950; Apr. 1955*;
Mar. 1958*; Jan. 1959*;
Jan. 1962*; Dec. 1962*;
Nov. 1964*
Butler, Randall: Oct. 1976;
Jun. 1980; Aug. 1980;
Feb. 1981; Mar. 1982
Candido, James V.: Oct.
1976; Jun. 1980; Aug. 1980;
Feb. 1981; Mar. 1982
Chartoff, William: Jan. 1948;
Apr. 1950; Apr. 1955;
Mar. 1958; Jan. 1959
De Angelis, Joseph: Jan. 1948;
Apr. 1950
Deak,Jon: Jun. 1980#;
Aug. 1980#;Feb. 1981#;
Mar. 1982#
Fortier, Anselme: Jan. 1948*;
Apr. 1950*
Gladstone, Robert: Mar. 1958;
Jan. 1959; Jan. 1962;
Dec. 1962; Nov. 1964
Norton, Lew: Oct. 1976;
Jun. 1980; Aug. 1980;
Feb. 1981; Mar. 1982
O'Brien, Orin: Oct. 1976;
Jun. 1980; Aug. 1980;
Feb. 1981; Mar. 1982
Polisi, Mario: Jan. 1948; Apr.
1950; Apr. 1955; Mar. 1958;
Jan. 1959; Jan. 1962;
Dec. 1962; Nov. 1964
Raviola, Carlo: Jan. 1948;
Apr. 1950; Apr. 1955; Mar.
1958; Jan. 1959; Jan. 1962;
Dec. 1962; Nov. 1964
Rhein, William: Jan. 1962;
Dec. 1962; Nov. 1964
Rybb, Daniel: Jan. 1948;
Apr. 1950; Apr. 1955
Saxon, Michele: Oct. 1976;
Jun. 1980; Aug. 1980;
Feb. 1981; Mar. 1982
Schaeffer, John: Apr. 1955;
Mar. 1958; Jan. 1959;
Jan. 1962; Dec. 1962;
Nov. 1964; Oct. 1976*;
Jun. 1980*; Aug. 1980*;
Feb. 1981*; Mar. 1982*
Schlossberg, Benjamin: Jan.
1948; Apr. 1950; Apr. 1955;
Mar. 1958; Jan. 1959; Jan.
1962; Dec. 1962; Nov. 1964
Zimmermann, Frederick: Jan.
1948; Apr. 1950; Apr. 1955;
Mar. 1958; Jan. 1959; Jan.
1962; Dec. 1962; Nov. 1964
FLUTES
Baker, Julius: Oct. 1976*;
Jun. 1980*; Aug. 1980*;
Feb. 1981*; Mar. 1982*
Brook, Paige: Apr. 1955; Mar.
1958; Jan. 1959; Jan. 1962;
Dec. 1962; Nov. 1964;
Oct. 1976#;Jun. 1980#;
Aug. 1980#;Feb. 1981#;
Mar. 1982#
Ghignarti, Amedeo: Jan. 1948;
Apr. 1950; Apr. 1955
Heim, Frederick W.: Jan.
1948; Apr. 1950; Apr. 1955
Morris, Robert: Mar. 1958;
Jan. 1959; Jan. 1962;
Dec. 1962; Nov. 1964
Sieben, Renée: Oct. 1976;
Jun. 1980; Aug. 1980;
Feb. 1981; Mar. 1982
Wummer, John: Jan. 1948*;
# Associate or Assistant Principal
* Principal
# Associate or Assistant Principal
235
Apr. 1950*; Apr. 1955*;
Mar. 1958*; Jan. 1959*;
Jan. 1962*; Dec. 1962*;
Nov. 1964*
PICCOLOS
Gaskins, Benjamin: Jan. 1948;
Apr. 1950
Heim, F. William: Mar. 1958;
Jan. 1959; Jan. 1962; Dec.
1962; Nov. 1964; Oct. 1976
Kaufman, Mindy: Jun. 1980;
Aug. 1980; Feb. 1981;
Mar. 1982
OBOES
236
Brenner, Engelbert: Jan. 1948;
Apr. 1950; Apr. 1955;
Mar. 1958; Jan. 1959
Goltzer, Albert: Apr. 1955;
Mar. 1958; Jan. 1959;
Jan. 1962; Dec. 1962;
Nov. 1964; Oct. 1976#;
Jun. 1980#;Aug. 1980#;
Feb. 1981#; Mar. 1982#
Gomberg, Harold: Jan. 1948*;
Apr. 1950*; Apr. 1955*;
Mar. 1958*; Jan. 1959*;
Jan. 1962*; Dec. 1962*;
Nov. 1964*; Oct. 1976*
Prior, Ferdinand: Jan. 1948;
*
Apr. 1950
Robinson, Joseph: Jun. 1980*;
Aug. 1980*; Feb. 1981*;
Mar. 1982*
Roth, Jerome: Jan. 1962; Dec.
1962; Nov. 1964; Oct. 1976;
Jun. 1980; Aug. 1980; Feb.
1981; Mar. 1982
ENGLISH HORNS
Brenner, Engelbert: Jan. 1962;
Dec. 1962; Nov. 1964
Nazzi, Michel: Jan. 1948; Apr.
1950; Apr. 1955; Mar. 1958;
Jan. 1959
Stacy, Thomas: Oct. 1976;
Jun. 1980; Aug. 1980;
Feb. 1981; Mar. 1982
CLARINETS
Bellison, Simeon: Jan. 1948*
Burgio, Michael: Jan. 1962;
Dec. 1962; Nov. 1964; Oct.
1976; Jun. 1980; Aug. 1980;
Feb. 1981; Mar. 1982
Cerminara, Napoleon: Apr.
1950; Apr. 1955; Mar. 1958;
Jan. 1959
Conrad, Otto: Jan. 1948
Drucker, Stanley: Apr. 1950;
Apr. 1955; Mar. 1958;
Principal
Jan. 1959; Jan. 1962*;
Dec. 1962*; Nov. 1964*;
Oct. 1976*; Jun. 1980*;
Aug. 1980*; Feb. 1981*;
Mar. 1982*
McGinnis, Robert: Apr.
1950*; Apr. 1955*;
Mar. 1958*; Jan. 1959*
Simenauer, Peter: Jan. 1962;
Dec. 1962; Nov. 1964;
Oct. 1976#; Jun. 1980#;
Aug. 1980#;Feb. 1981#;
Mar. 1982#
Williams, Alexander: Jan. 1948
BASS CLARINETS
Freeman, Stephen: Oct. 1976;
Jun. 1980; Aug. 1980;
Feb. 1981; Mar. 1982
Schaller, Leonard: Jan. 1948;
Apr. 1950; Apr. 1955; Mar.
1958; Jan. 1959; Jan. 1962;
Dec. 1962; Nov. 1964
BASSOONS
Goltzer, Harold: Jan. 1959*;
Jan. 1962; Dec. 1962;
Nov. 1964; Oct. 1976#;
Jun. 1980#; Aug. 1980#;
Feb. 1981#; Mar. 1982#
Hindell, Leonard: Oct. 1976;
# Associate or Assistant Principal
Jun. 1980; Aug. 1980;
Feb. 1981; Mar. 1982
Kovar, Simon: Jan. 1948
LeClair, Judith: Mar. 1982*
Polisi, William: Jan. 1948*;
Apr. 1950*; Apr. 1955*;
Mar. 1958*
Ruggieri, Frank: Apr. 1950;
Apr. 1955; Mar. 1958; Jan.
1959; Jan. 1962; Dec. 1962;
Nov. 1964
Sensale, Roberto: Jan. 1948;
Apr. 1950; Apr. 1955
Zegler, Manuel: Jan. 1948;
Apr. 1950; Apr. 1955;
Mar. 1958; Jan. 1959*;
Jan. 1962*; Dec. 1962*;
Nov. 1964*; Oct. 1976*;
Jun. 1980*; Aug. 1980*;
Feb. 1981*
CONTRABASSOON
Bial, Bert: Mar. 1958;
Jan. 1959; Jan. 1962; Dec.
1962; Nov. 1964; Oct. 1976;
Jun. 1980; Aug. 1980;
Feb. 1981; Mar. 1982
HORNS
Ashby, Jerome: Jun. 1980#;
Aug. 1980#;Feb. 1981#;
Mar. 1982#
Carabella, J o h n : Jan. 1962;
Dec. 1962; Nov. 1964; Oct.
1976; Jun. 1980; Aug. 1980;
Feb. 1981; Mar. 1982
Cerminaro, J o h n : Oct. 1976*
Chambers, James: Jan. 1948*;
Apr. 1950*; Apr. 1955*;
Mar. 1958*; Jan. 1959*;
Jan. 1962*; Dec. 1962*;
Nov. 1964*
De Intinis, Ranier: Apr. 1955;
Mar. 1958; Jan. 1959;
Jan. 1962; Dec. 1962;
Nov. 1964; Oct. 1976;
Jun. 1980; Aug. 1980;
Feb. 1981; Mar. 1982
Facenda, Aubrey: Oct. 1976;
Jun. 1980; Aug. 1980;
Feb. 1981; Mar. 1982
Fischer, Marcus: Jan. 1948;
Apr. 1950; Apr. 1955;
Mar. 1958; Jan. 1959
Johnson, A. Robert: Dec.
1962; Nov. 1964
Kuyper, L. William: Oct.
1976; Jun. 1980; Aug. 1980;
Feb. 1981; Mar. 1982
Myers, Philip: Jun. 1980*;
Aug. 1980*; Feb. 1981*;
Mar. 1982*
Namen, William: Jan. 1948;
Apr. 1950; Apr. 1955; Mar.
* Principal
1958; Jan. 1959; Jan. 1962;
Dec. 1962; Nov. 1964
Ricci, Louis: Jan. 1948; Apr.
1950; Apr. 1955; Mar. 1958;
Jan. 1959; Jan. 1962
Schulze, Robert H.: Jan. 1948
Singer, Joseph: Jan. 1948;
Apr. 1950; Apr. 1955; Mar.
1958; Jan. 1959; Jan. 1962;
Dec. 1962; Nov. 1964
Smith, Martin: Oct. 1976#
Taylor, Ross W: Apr. 1950
TRUMPETS
Boltuch, Morris: Jan. 1948
Fornarotto, Carmine: Nov.
1964; Oct. 1976; Jun. 1980;
Aug. 1980; Feb. 1981;
Mar. 1982
Penzarella, Vincent: Jun. 1980;
Aug. 1980; Feb. 1981;
Mar. 1982
Prager, Nathan: Jan. 1948;
Apr. 1950; Apr. 1955; Mar.
1958; Jan. 1959; Jan. 1962;
D e c 1962
Schwarz, Gerard: Oct. 1976*
Shnek, Zachary: Jun. 1980;
Aug. 1980
Smith, James: Jan. 1948; Apr.
1950; Apr. 1955; Mar. 1958;
Jan. 1959; Jan. 1962; Dec.
# Associate or Assistant Principal
237
1962; Nov. 1964; Oct. 1976
Smith, Philip: Jun. 1980*;
Aug. 1980*; Feb. 1981*;
Mar. 1982*
Vacchiano, William:
Jan. 1948*; Apr. 1950*;
Apr. 1955*; Mar. 1958*;
Jan. 1959*; Jan. 1962*;
Dec. 1962*; Nov. 1964*
Ware, J o h n : Apr. 1950; Apr.
1955; Mar. 1958; Jan. 1959;
Jan. 1962; Dec. 1962;
Nov. 1964; Oct. 1976*;
Feb. 1981*; Mar. 1982*
TROMBONES
238
Cohen, Gilbert: Nov. 1964;
Oct. 1976; Jun. 1980; Aug.
1980; Feb. 1981; Mar. 1982
Erwin, Edward: Jan. 1959;
Jan. 1962; Dec. 1962;
Nov. 1964; Oct. 1976#;
Jun. 1980#;Aug. 1980#;
Feb. 1981#;Mar. 1982#
Harwood, Donald: Oct. 1976;
Jun. 1980; Aug. 1980; Feb.
1981; Mar. 1982
Herman, J r . , Edward:
Apr. 1955; Mar. 1958*;
Jan. 1959*; Jan. 1962*;
Dec. 1962*; Nov. 1964*;
Oct. 1976*; Jun. 1980*;
*
Aug. 1980*; Feb. 1981*;
Mar. 1982*
Ostrander, Allen: Jan. 1948;
Apr. 1950; Apr. 1955; Mar.
1958; Jan. 1959; Jan. 1962;
Dec. 1962; Nov. 1964
Pulis, Gordon: Jan. 1948*;
Apr. 1950*; Apr. 1955*
Van Haney, Edward: Jan.
1948; Apr. 1950; Apr. 1955;
Mar. 1958; Jan. 1959;
Jan. 1962; Dec. 1962
TUBAS
Bell, William: Jan. 1948*;
Apr. 1950*; Apr. 1955*;
Mar. 1958*; Jan. 1959*
Deck, Warren: Jun. 1980*;
Aug. 1980*; Feb. 1981*;
Mar. 1982*
Novotny, Joseph: Jan. 1962*;
Dec. 1962*; Nov. 1964*;
Oct. 1976*
TIMPANI
Goodman, Saul: Jan. 1948*;
Apr. 1950*; Apr. 1955*;
Mar. 1958*; Jan. 1959*;
Jan. 1962*; Dec. 1962*;
Nov. 1964*
Principal
Kohloff, Roland: Oct. 1976*;
Jun. 1980*; Aug. 1980*;
Feb. 1981*; Mar. 1982*
Lang, Morris: Oct. 1976#;
Jun. 1980#;Aug. 1980#;
Feb. 1981#;Mar. 1982#
PERCUSSION
Bailey, Elden: Apr. 1950;
Apr. 1955; Mar. 1958;
Jan. 1959; Jan. 1962;
D e c 1962; Nov. 1964;
Oct. 1976; Jun. 1980;
Aug. 1980; Feb. 1981;
Mar. 1982
Borodkin, Samuel: Jan. 1948*
Lang, Morris: Mar. 1958; Jan.
1959; Jan. 1962; Dec. 1962;
Nov. 1964
Layfield, Arthur A: Jan. 1948;
Apr. 1950; Apr. 1955
Rosenberger, Walter:
Jan. 1948; Apr. 1950*;
Apr. 1955*; Mar. 1958*;
Jan. 1959*; Jan. 1962*;
Dec. 1962*; Nov. 1964*;
Oct. 1976*; Jun. 1980*;
Aug. 1980*; Feb. 1981*;
Mar. 1982*
# Associate or Assistant Principal
HARPS
Cella, Theodore: Jan. 1948*;
Apr. 1950*; Apr. 1955*
Hanson, Margaret: Apr. 1950
Negri, Ruth: Mar. 1982
Ostrowska, Miss D.: Jan. 1948
Rosen, Myor: Jan. 1962*;
Dec. 1962*; Nov. 1964;
Oct. 1976*; Jun. 1980*;
Aug. 1980*; Feb. 1981*;
Mar. 1982*
Stavrache, Christine:
Mar. 1958*; Jan. 1959*
KEYBOARDS
Jacobs, Paul: Oct. 1976;
Jun. 1980; Aug. 1980;
Feb. 1981; Mar. 1982
Nies-Berger, Edouard:
Jan. 1948; Apr. 1950
Prince-Joseph, Bruce:
Mar. 1958
Raver, Leonard: Jun. 1980;
Aug. 1980; Feb. 1981;
Mar. 1982
LIBRARIANS
De Celle, Robert: Oct. 1976#;
Jun. 1980#; Aug. 1980#;
Feb. 1981#; Mar. 1982#
Goettich, Hans: Jan. 1948;
Apr. 1950
Keresey, Howard: Jan. 1948*;
Apr. 1950*; Apr. 1955*;
Mar. 1958*; Jan. 1959*;
Jan. 1962*; Dec. 1962*;
Nov. 1964*
Robbins, Louis: Oct. 1976*;
Jun. 1980*; Aug. 1980*;
Feb. 1981*; Mar. 1982*
Van Praag, Nathan: Jan. 1948;
Apr. 1950
Zizza, Joseph: Apr. 1955;
Mar. 1958; Jan. 1959; Jan.
1962; Dec. 1962; Nov. 1964
ORCHESTRA PERSONNEL
MANAGERS
Chambers, James: Oct. 1976;
Jun. 1980; Aug. 1980;
Feb. 1981; Mar. 1982
De Angelis, Joseph: Apr. 1955;
Mar. 1958; Jan. 1959; Jan.
1962; Dec. 1962; Nov. 1964
Van Praag, Maurice: Jan. 1948;
Apr. 1950
239
* Principal
# Associate or Assistant Principal
Mahler Recordings by
the New York Philharmonic
compiled by JAMES NORTH
R
ecordings by American orchestras have played a key role in preserving
Mahler's legacy. The Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra under Dimitri
Mitropoulos issued the world-premiere recording of Mahler's First
Symphony (1940), while the New York Philharmonic under Bruno Walter
gave us the first complete accounts of the Fourth and Fifth (1945, 1947). The immense
Third Symphony had its first stereo release in 1961, presented by the New York
May 1 0 , 1 9 4 5
Carnegie Hall
Symphony No. 4 in G
(First complete recording)
Bruno Walter, conductor
Desi Halban, soprano
78s: Columbia set M-589
(6 records)
LP: Columbia ML-4031
(monaural)
C D : Sony S M K 64450
February 1 0 , 1 9 4 7
Carnegie Hall
Symphony No. 5 in
C-sharp minor
(First complete recording)
Bruno Walter, conductor
78s: Columbia set M-718
(8 records)
LP: Columbia SL-171
(2 monaural LPs)
C D : Sony S M K 64451
Philharmonic under Leonard Bernstein—preceded only by Charles Adler's LP with the
Vienna Philharmonia (1952). Having made the premiere recording of Das Lied with the
Vienna Philharmonic (1936), Walter revisited the New York Philharmonic in his final
years to leave his only stereo reading of Mahler's symphonic song cycle (1960). A word
about the Eighth: This set includes the first authorized release of any New York
Philharmonic recording of the "Symphony of a Thousand," Leopold Stokowski's from
240
1950, the earliest complete recording of the work.
January 2 5 , 1 9 5 4
Carnegie Hall
Symphony No. 1 in D
Bruno Walter, conductor
LP: Columbia ML-4958
(monaural)
C D : Sony S M K 63328
February 2 1 , 1958
Carnegie Hall
Symphony No. 2 in C minor
( Resurrection )
Bruno Walter, conductor
Emilia Cundari, soprano
Maureen Forrester, alto
Westminster Choir
(John Finley Williamson,
director)
LP: Columbia M2S-601
(2 LPs)
C D : Sony M 2 K 42032
(2 CDs)
February 8, 1960
St. George Hotel, Brooklyn, NY
Rückert Lieder:
"Ich atmet' einen linden Duft"
"Ich bin der Welt abhanden
gekommen"
"Um Mitternacht"
Des Knaben Wunderhorn:
"Das irdische Leben"
Leonard Bernstein, conductor
Jennie Tourel, mezzo-soprano
LP: Columbia MS-6197
C D : Sony S M 2 K 47576
(2 CDs)
January 2, 1960
Carnegie Hall
Symphony No. 5 in
C-sharp minor
Dimitri Mitropoulos, conductor
LP: New York Philharmonic
NYP 81 1/2 (2 monaural LPs)
February 1 6 , 1 9 6 0
St. George Hotel, Brooklyn, NY
Kindertotenlieder
Leonard Bernstein, conductor
Jennie Tourel, mezzo-soprano
LP: Columbia MS-6197
C D : Sony S M 2 K 47576
(2 CDs)
u
n
February 1, 1960
St. George Hotel, Brooklyn, NY
Symphony No. 4 in G
Leonard Bernstein, conductor
Reri Grist, soprano
LP: Columbia MS-6152
C D : Sony S M K 47579
April 18, 2 5 , 1960
Manhattan Center
Das Lied von der Erde
Bruno Walter, conductor
Mildred Miller, mezzo-soprano
Ernst Haefliger, tenor
LP: Columbia M2S-617
(2 LPs)
C D : Sony S M K 64455
241
March 3 , 1 9 6 1
Manhattan Center
Symphony N o . 3 in D minor
Leonard Bernstein, conductor
Martha Lipton, mezzo-soprano
Women's Chorus of the Schola
Cantorum
(Hugh Ross, director)
Boys' Choir of the
Transfiguration
(Stuart Gardiner, director)
LP: Columbia M2S-675
(2 LPs)
C D : Sony S M 2 K 47576
(2 CDs)
242
September 23, 1962
Philharmonic Hall
Symphony No. 8 in B-flat:
Part One, Veni, Creator
Spiritus"
Leonard Bernstein, conductor
Adele Addison, Lucine Amara,
sopranos
Lili Chookasian, Jennie Tourel,
mezzo-sopranos
Richard Tucker, tenor
Ezio Flagello, baritone
George London, bass-baritone
Schola Cantorum
(Hugh Ross, director)
Juilliard Chorus
(Abraham Kaplan, director)
Columbus Boychoir
(Donald Bryant, director)
LP: Columbia L2S-1008
(2 LPs)
C D : Sony S M 2 K 63159
(2 CDs)
January 7, 1963
Philharmonic Hall
Symphony N o . 5 in
C-sharp minor
Leonard Bernstein, conductor
LP: Columbia M2S-698
(2 LPs)
C D : Sony S M K 63084
September 2 9 , 3 0 , 1 9 6 3
Manhattan Center
Symphony No. 2 in C minor
("Resurrection")
Leonard Bernstein, conductor
Lee Venora, soprano
Jennie Tourel, mezzo-soprano
The Collegiate Chorale
(Abraham Kaplan, director)
LP: Columbia M2S-695
(2 LPs)
C D : Sony S M 2 K 63159
(2 CDs)
December 1 4 , 1 5 , 1 9 6 5
Philharmonic Hall
Symphony No. 7 in E minor
Leonard Bernstein, conductor
LP: Columbia M2S-739
(2 LPs)
C D : Sony S M K 60564
December 16, 1965
Philharmonic Hall
Symphony No. 9 in D
Leonard Bernstein, conductor
LP: Columbia GMS-765
(14 LPs)
C D : Sony S M K 60597
October 4, 2 2 , 1966
Philharmonic Hall
Symphony No. 1 in D
Leonard Bernstein, conductor
LP: Columbia GMS-765
(14 LPs)
C D : Sony S M K 60732
May 2, 6, 1967
Philharmonic Hall
Symphony N o . 6 in A minor
("Tragic")
Leonard Bernstein, conductor
LP: Columbia GMS-765
(14 LPs)
C D : Sony S M K 60208
June 8, 1968
St. Patrick's Cathedral
Symphony No. 5 in C-sharp
minor: Mvt. 4 (Adagietto)
Leonard Bernstein, conductor
LP: Columbia D2S-792
(2 LPs)
C D : Sony S M 2 K 63159
(2 CDs)
October 17, 1967, and
February 1 8 , 1 9 6 9
Philharmonic Hall
Des Knaben Wunderhorn
Leonard Bernstein, conductor
Christa Ludwig, mezzo-soprano
Walter Berry, bass
LP: Columbia KS-7395
C D : Sony S M K 47590
April 8, 1975
Columbia 30th Street Studio
Symphony No. 10 in F-sharp
minor: Mvt. 1 (Adagio)
Leonard Bernstein, conductor
LP: Columbia M-33532
C D : Sony S M K 60732
November 10, 2 5 , 1980
Avery Fisher Hall
Symphony No. 1 in D
Zubin Mehta, conductor
LP: C B S IM-37273
C D : S O N Y S B K 53259
November, December 1985
Avery Fisher Hall
Symphony No. 7 in E minor
Leonard Bernstein, conductor
LP: Deutsche Grammophon
419 211-1 (2 LPs)
C D : Deutsche Grammophon
419 211-2 (2 CDs)
March 1987
Avery Fisher Hall
Symphony No. 2 in C minor
("Resurrection")
Leonard Bernstein, conductor
Barbara Hendricks, soprano
Christa Ludwig, mezzo-soprano
Westminster Choir
(Joseph Flummerfelt, director)
LP: Deutsche Grammophon
423 395-1 (2 LPs)
C D : Deutsche Grammophon
423 395-2 (2 CDs)
November 1987
Avery Fisher Hall
Symphony No. 3 in D minor
Leonard Bernstein, conductor
Christa Ludwig, mezzo-soprano
New York Choral Artists
(Joseph Flummerfelt, director)
Brooklyn Boys Chorus
(James McCarthy, director)
LP: Deutsche Grammophon
427 328-1 (2 LPs)
C D : Deutsche Grammophon
427 328-2 (2 CDs)
September 1989
Manhattan Center
Symphony No. 5 in
C-sharp minor
Zubin Mehta, conductor
C D : Teldec 2292-46152-2
April 23, 2 5 , 1 9 9 2
Avery Fisher Hall
Lieder eines fahrenden
Gesellen
Kurt Masur, conductor
Hakan Hagegård, baritone
C D : Teldec 9031-74868-2
April 23, 2 5 , 1992
Avery Fisher Hall
Symphony No. 1 in D
Kurt Masur, conductor
C D : Teldec 9031-74868-2
April 4 , 1 9 9 4
Avery Fisher Hall
Symphony No. 9 in D
Kurt Masur, conductor
C D : Teldec 90882-2
243
Engineers' Note
years ( 1 9 6 3 - 6 7 ) ; the broadcast master tape was utilized. Starting with the 1 9 7 5 - 7 6 concert
season,
the
Exxon
Corporation
u n d e r w r o t e weekly,
tape-delayed
broadcasts of the
Orchestra. (Steven C o l b y was producer a n d engineer of S y m p h o n y N o . 3. A n d r e w Kazdin
T
hese live recordings span 34 years of technology. We have sought to preserve as
was audio producer and Louise de la Fuente audio engineer for Symphonies Nos. 2, 5, and 7.)
m u c h of t h e original s o u n d as possible, resorting to noise reduction only when
T h i s a r r a n g e m e n t c o n t i n u e d until 1 9 8 8 . F r o m 1975 until 1 9 7 9 , the P h i l h a r m o n i c con-
necessary. Unfortunately, the performances from 1948 to 1962 were n o t pre-
certs were recorded directly to two-track, 7 1/2 ips, q u a r t e r - i n c h tapes w i t h o u t noise reduc-
served by the C B S
N e w York
tion. From that time forward, concerts were first recorded o n t o four-track, 7 1/2 ips Dolby
P h i l h a r m o n i c broadcasts from 1 9 3 0 to 1 9 6 3 . For Das Lied von der Erde, we used Voice of
"A" encoded half-inch tapes (although all four channels were not always used to record
America lacquers c o n t a i n i n g m o v e m e n t s 1, 4, and 6, and a set of privately recorded off-the-
music). Every tape played over t h e air was a m i x e d - d o w n two-track, second-generation
air lacquers for the remaining movements.
copy (a copy of a copy) m a d e from the original master. T h e P h i l h a r m o n i c Archives has
n e t w o r k , which
exclusively carried
the
T h e sound on our source for Symphony No. 8—recorded on tape directly off the C B S line
retained the original masters. On this set y o u will hear new digital transfers m a d e directly
by Stephen T e m m e r — i s remarkable for its clarity and three-dimensionality even by today's
from those original tapes, w i t h o u t t h e compression a n d inferior s o u n d c o m m o n l y heard
standards. T h e aircheck of Symphony N o . 6 was re-equalized to smooth out the harsh sound
over the air.
of the broadcast; a heterodyne tone in the last movement was present in every source we found,
and eliminating it completely would have resulted in an unacceptable loss of room tone.
S y m p h o n i e s N o s . 1, 4, 9, a n d 10 derive from line checks recorded by the Voice of
America. T h e sources all had i n t e r m i t t e n t static, which C E D A R was able to correct. T h e
Most of the Exxon broadcasts were musically edited from at least two subscription concerts.
S y m p h o n y N o . 7 on this set is such a performance, while Nos. 2, 3, and 5 are each taken from
only one concert and therefore remain exactly as performed on their respective concert dates
in Avery Fisher Hall. •
b r o a d b a n d line interference in Nos. 4, 9, a n d 10 was processed t h r o u g h N O - N O I S E by
244
Joseph Patrych to lessen its presence, a n d an alternative source for N o . 1 allowed us to
Audio engineer Seth B.
remove the more objectionable noises that remained. The S y m p h o n y N o . 9 broadcast was a
labels. In 1995 he was nominated for a Grammy for his work on the MCA/GRP reissue of the
tape-delayed presentation of the previous day's performance, and all the sources we heard
early recordings of Duke Ellington,
suffered from slight azimuth distortion, which appears to be the result of defective playback.
for his engineering on BMG's reissue of the complete recordings of Jascha Heifetz. He has recent-
T h e Songs of a Wayfarer recording originated from t h e N e w York Philharmonic Network
Winner has remastered recordings for BMG, Sony.
1926-31- Jon M.
EMI,
and other
Samuels won a Grammy Award in 1995
ly finished a nine-CD set for BMG of the complete recordings of William Kapell.
245
NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC
KURT MASUR, MUSIC DIRECTOR
Paul B. Guenther, Chairman
D e b o r a h Borda, E x e c u t i v e Director
T H E M A H L E R BROADCASTS
New York Philharmonic
1948-1982
Orchestra Committee:
Producer: Sedgwick Clark
N e w t o n Mansfield, violin
Executive Producer: Barbara Haws
Judith Nelson, viola
(Archivist/Historian)
Fiona S i m o n , violin
Project Supervisor: Lois C o h n ( D i r e c t o r o f
Philip S m i t h , trumpet
M a r k e t i n g & Public Relations)
Sherry Sylar, o b o e
D i s c - t o - T a p e Transfer and Digital
Lawrence Tarlow, librarian
Remastering:
D o n a l d W h y t e , violin
S e t h B . W i n n e r S o u n d Studios, I n c .
Sharon Yamada, violin
J o n M . Samuels
Design: C a r o l e Erger-Fass; Blake Taylor
New York Philharmonic
Production C o o r d i n a t o r : D e a n Vallas
Avery Fisher H a l l
Editorial C o o r d i n a t o r : Erik Ryding
10 L i n c o l n C e n t e r Plaza
N e w York, New York 1 0 0 2 3 - 6 9 9 0
(212) 8 7 5 - 5 0 0 0
www.ncwyorkphilharmonic.org
246
Copyright
©
©
1998,
The
Philharmonic-Symphony
Society
of
New
York,
Inc.