Mahler Foundation

A listening guide of Des Knaben Wunderhorn - Urlicht with Lew Smoley from ClassicalPodcasts.com .

The final movement culminates in a resolution. The music, also reused in the First Symphony (in the Scherzo “Funeral March in Callot’s manner”), is subdued and gentle, lyrical and often reminiscent of a chorale in its harmonies. Its title, “Die zwei blauen Augen von meinem Schatz” (“The Two Blue Eyes of my Beloved”), deals with how the image of those eyes has caused the Wayfarer so much grief that he can no longer stand to be in the environment. He describes lying down under a linden tree, allowing the flowers to fall on him. He wishes to return to his life before his travels. He asks that the whole affair had never occurred: “Everything: love and grief, and world, and dreams!” --- A listening guide of Lieder Eines Fahrenden Gesellen – Die Zwei Blauen Augen with Lew Smoley

Gustav Mahler score Klavierquartett, piano quartet, Movement 1: in A . --- A listening guide of Klavierquartett with Lew Smoley.

Kindertotenlieder (Songs on the Death of Children) is a song cycle for voice and orchestra by Gustav Mahler. The words of the songs are poems by Friedrich Ruckert (1788-1866) . The original Kindertotenlieder were a group of 428 poems written by Rückert in 1833-1834 in an outpouring of grief following the illness (scarlet fever) and death of two of his children. Karen Painter describes the poems thus: “Rückert’s 428 poems on the death of children became singular, almost manic documents of the psychological endeavor to cope with such loss. In ever new variations Rückert’s poems attempt a poetic resuscitation of the children that is punctuated by anguished outbursts. But above all the poems show a quiet acquiescence to fate and to a peaceful world of solace.” These poems were not intended for publication, and they appeared in print only in 1871, five years after the poet’s death. --- A listening guide of Kindertotenlieder – Intro with Lew Smoley.

A listening guide of Kindertotenlieder – Nun will die Sonn’ so hell aufgeh’n with Lew Smoley.

A listening guide of Kindertotenlieder – Nun seh’ ich wohl, warum so dunkle Flammen with Lew Smoley.

A listening guide of Kindertotenlieder – Wenn dein Mütterlein with Lew Smoley.

A listening guide of Kindertotenlieder – Oft denk’ ich, sie sind nur ausgegangen with Lew Smoley.

A listening guide of Kindertotenlieder – In diesem Wetter, In diesem Braus with Lew Smoley.

Das Lied von der Erde (The Song of the Earth) is a composition for two voices and orchestra by Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) . Composed between Year 1908 and Year 1909 following the most painful period in Mahler’s life ( Year 1907 ). The songs address themes such as Living, Parting and Salvation. Mahler had already included movements for voice and orchestra in his Symphony No. 2, No. 3, No. 4 and No. 8. Das Lied von der Erde is the first work giving a complete integration of song cycle and symphony. The form was afterwards imitated by other composers, notably by Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975) and Alexander von Zemlinsky (1871-1942) . It has been termed a ‘song-symphony’. A hybrid of the two forms that had occupied most of Mahler’s creative life. --- A listening guide of Das Lied von der Erde – Intro with Lew Smoley.

The final movement is nearly as long as the previous five movements combined. Its text is drawn from two different poems, both involving the theme of leave-taking. Mahler himself added the last lines. This final song is also notable for its text-painting, using a mandolin to represent the singer’s lute, imitating bird calls with woodwinds, and repeatedly switching between the major and minor modes to articulate sharp contrasts in the text. --- A listening guide of Das Lied von der Erde – Der Abschied with Lew Smoley.

The second scherzo of the work is provided by the fifth movement. Like the first, it opens with a horn theme. In this movement Mahler uses an extensive variety of key signatures, which can change as often as every few measures. The middle section features a solo violin and solo flute, which represent the bird the singer describes. --- A listening guide of Das Lied von der Erde – Der Trunkene im Frühling with Lew Smoley.

The music of this movement is mostly soft and legato, meditating on the image of some 'young girls picking lotus flowers at the riverbank'. Later in the movement there is a louder, more articulated section in the brass as the young men ride by on their horses. There is a long orchestral postlude to the sung passage, as the most beautiful of the young maidens looks longingly after the most handsome of the young men. --- A listening guide of Das Lied von der Erde – Von der Schönheit with Lew Smoley.

The third movement is the most obviously pentatonic and faux-Asian. The form is ternary, the third part being a greatly abbreviated revision of the first. It is also the shortest of the six movements, and can be considered a first scherzo. First this movement was called ‘Der Pavillon aus Porzellan’ (‘The pavilion made of porcelain’). --- A listening guide of Das Lied von der Erde – Von der Jugend with Lew Smoley.

This movement is a much softer, less turbulent movement. Marked ‘somewhat dragging and exhausted’, it begins with a repetitive shuffling in the strings, followed by solo wind instruments. The orchestration in this movement is sparse and chamber music-like, with long and independent contrapuntal lines. The lyrics, which are based on the first part of a Tang Dynasty era poem by Qian Qi, lament the dying of flowers and the passing of beauty, as well as expressing an exhausted longing for sleep. --- A listening guide of Das Lied von der Erde – Der Einsame im Herbst with Lew Smoley.

The first movement continually returns to the refrain, Dunkel ist das Leben, ist der Tod (literally, 'Dark is life, is death'), which is pitched a semitone higher on each successive appearance. Like many drinking poems by Li Bai, the original poem 'Bei Ge Xing' (a pathetic song) mixes drunken exaltation with a deep sadness. The singer's part is notoriously demanding, since the tenor has to struggle at the top of his range against the power of the full orchestra. This gives the voice its shrill, piercing quality, and is consistent with Mahler's practice of pushing instruments, including vocal cords, to their limits. --- A listening guide of Das Lied von der Erde – Das Trinklied vom Jammer der Erde with Lew Smoley.

A listening guide of Lieder Und Gesänge Aus Dem Jugendzeit – Intro with Lew Smoley from ClassicalPodcasts.com .

The final song, “Selbstgefühl” (My mood), starts with a dynamic of forte. To maintain a high level of playfulness, the tubist must observe the strict dynamic indications. Mahler indicated that the octave in the left hand of the piano part can be omitted throughout the song if the additional low notes create too thick of a texture in this register. The piano extends the melodic line throughout this final song, playing the same melody in the right hand and completing the soloist’s musical thought, as seen in measures 25 and 56-57. --- A listening guide of Lieder Und Gesänge Aus Dem Jugendzeit – Selbstgefühl with Lew Smoley.

Balancing the soft low texture with piano remains one of the main challenges for tubists in the penultimate song in this collection, “Nicht wiedersehen!” (Never to meet again). It is scored very low on the piano and would be easy to lose the melody inside of the harmony of the accompaniment. Mahler instructs the pianist to use the pedals freely, however perhaps the dampening pedal should be the most important. The effect of the sustain pedal will be too much for this song, especially when the pitches between the piano and tuba overlap. The first three notes of this song are the most challenging notes on a Germany Rotary bass tuba in F, especially at a soft dynamic, like piano. The performer may modify articulations to assist in increasing the line’s accuracy and clarity. The first note after a breath should have a stronger articulation, as sometimes noted by a tenuto marking above or below the specified note. “Never to meet again”. --- A listening guide of Lieder Und Gesänge Aus Dem Jugendzeit – Nicht Wiedersehen! with Lew Smoley.

“Scheiden und Meiden” (Partings) explores the metric juxtaposition of two versus three used in “Ablösung im Sommer.” “Trumpetlike” is the first expression in the music as F major arpeggios rise from the tuba and piano. Despite the repeated ascending passages, the first dynamic is piano so the tubist should strive to be precise to start with soft dynamics. In this song, the pianist must take care to follow dynamics, which do not always coincide with those of the tubist. The rhythmic motor of the repeated ostinato in the piano provides the driving force for this first part of the song. As the text notes, “There rode three horsemen,” the piano rhythm mimics a riding motive made famous by Richard Wagner. As the song enters a new time signature (switching from triple to duple), it slows just slightly; however, the eighth note should stay relatively constant through this meter change. Wide triplets are notated in measures 23 and 24, providing an opportunity for both the pianist and the tubist to slow down and expand this duple section musically before the horse-like melody comes back in the piano and forces us to stay in strict time. --- A listening guide of Lieder Und Gesänge Aus Dem Jugendzeit – Scheiden Und Meiden with Lew Smoley.