GUSTAV MAHLER

Mahler was born July 7, 1860, in Kalischt, Bohemia; and died in Vienna May 18, 1911. He studied at the Vienna Conservatory with R. Fuchs and attended lectures given by Bruckner at the University of Vienna. Mahler held conducting positions at the Prague Opera, 1885-1886; the Royal Opera in Budapest, from 1888-(unknown);  the Hamburg Municipal Opera, 1891-1897;  the Vienna Court Opera, 1897-1907; at the metropolitan Opera in New York, from 1907; with the New York Philharmonic Society, 1909-1911.

Bohemia, at the time of Mahler, was a former province of Czechoslovakia. The country consisted of six administrative units known as regions; one of which was Prague. Bohemia is a plateau surrounded by lofty mountain ranges. Surrounded by countries on three sides, and two other Czech regions on the other, Bohemia abounds in picturesque beauty.

Vienna is the capitol and largest city in Austria. It lies on both banks of the Danube River and on the Danube Canal. Vienna is known for the world renowned University of Vienna where Mahler heard the teachings of Anton Bruckner. It is also the place where composers such as Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Peter Schubert, and Johann Strauss lived and worked.

Vienna is the home to the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, and Vienna Court Opera.

The Vienna Philharmonic is a volunteer orchestra, and consists of players from the Vienna Court Opera Orchestra. The only opportunity the players of the Opera Orchestra have to play orchestral literature is through the Philharmonic organization. With this, they equally share in the proceeds from concerts, and recordings. Leonard Bernstein, conductor of this orchestra for over forty years, said that the Vienna Philharmonic performs "totally out of love . . . this is what makes them the greatest orchestra in the world."

Vienna is the home of Gustav Mahler's Nine Symphonies, the home of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, and where Mahler's music was banned. Leonard Bernstein brought the Symphonies of Mahler home, and to the orchestra for whom they were written, The Vienna Philharmonic. Leonard Bernstein and Gustav Mahler where from the same mold, and shared the same heritage in many ways. They were both Jewish, both had begun as pianists, and they both excelled as composers and conductors at an early age. Mahler peaked as a conductor at the age of forty-seven. Bernstein became the director of the New York Philharmonic in his early forties.

LEONARD BERNSTEIN

Leonard Bernstein was born in 1918, in Lawrence, Massachusetts. He was educated at Harvard University, and trained at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where he studied with Fritz Reiner. In 1940 he studied with Serge Koussevitzky at the Berkshire Music Center at Tanglewood.  Tanglewood is located in Lennox Massachusetts and is the summer home to the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Leonard Bernstein would later return to Tanglewood as a faculty member from 1948-1950, and as head of the conducting department till 1951. In 1957 he was appointed director of the New York Philharmonic. Leonard Bernstein died, shortly after his last appearance with the Boston Symphony in Tanglewood, on October 14, 1990.

Bernstein's career as a conductor spanned numerous decades. To many he was a folk hero, to others he was brash, to some he was egocentric, and to others he brought joy to their musical experience. Leonard Bernstein was a showman and a business man. He was a businessman, in the sense that he knew how to make money for himself and his musicians. The New York Philharmonic and the Vienna Philharmonic orchestras benefited from his keen negotiating skills, thusly bringing them numerous recording contracts. These contracts, in turn, would return to the orchestra members bonuses above their regular earnings.

Bernstein would have each and every performance he conducted, video taped, and/or audio recorded. This left numerous performances readily available for production and distribution. This is also why performances of Mahler's Symphonies are available. Bernstein recorded the complete cycle of Mahler Symphonies twice.

A list of the various recordings of the Symphonies Mahler can be found in My time is yet to come: The Symphonies of Gustav Mahler on Record by Deryk Barker. Also of note, are the numerous recordings of Mahler Symphonies with Bernstein conducting. Many authors, when writing on Gustav Mahler, have listed each symphony independently or in groups  of three. The biographies of Leonard Bernstein also list each symphony of Mahler that he has recorded or performed separately. Therefore, there is an abundance of information available on the Symphonies of Gustav Mahler, and Bernstein's performances and recordings of these symphonies.

In the next few pages this author will attempt to bring together conductor and composer for those who share in this author's admiration for the work of Leonard Bernstein, through the Symphonies of Gustav Mahler.

SYMPHONY No. 1 in D Major

Known as the Titan, Symphony No. 1 was begun in 1884 in Kassel, and finished in 1888 in Leipzig. It was first performed in Budapest in 1889.

Information on Bernstein's performances of Mahler's Symphony No. 1 is not readily available, if any exists at all. However, one major contribution to this piece by Bernstein is noted by Barker, and is found on the final chord where an "extra thwack from the bass drum" adds more impact. This is not found in the score, although Bernstein does sanction it's use as heard on his recordings.

SYMPHONY No. 2 in C Minor

Resurrection is the title given to Symphony No. 2 with it's five movements. Begun in 1888, the first complete performance took place on December 13, 1895, with Mahler on the podium.

In 1948, at the age of twenty-nine, Bernstein conducted Mahler's Resurrection Symphony with his first orchestra, the New York City Symphony. The Symphony was first recorded by Bernstein in the 1960's. Critics noted Bernstein's recording could not be surpassed. However, they were mistaken. In 1973, he re-recorded Symphony No. 2 and the critics were again astonished with his interpretation. The Scottish Daily Press said that it "was so compelling that even atheists must have had their beliefs shaken."

Performances of Symphony No. 2 were also given by Bernstein in Memory of Dimitri Mitropoulas, who died two years after relinquishing his post as music director of the New York Philharmonic to Bernstein. On November 24, 1963 in a memorial concert for President John F. Kennedy, the concert was broadcast live over CBS.

Bernstein was so outraged at the death of the president, during the performance, his singing was so loud that he shook the soloist. Those in the sound booth remarked that the soloist came in a third higher at the time of her entrance. Luckily, this section of the performance was pre-empted by the announcement that Jack Ruby had just shot Lee Harvey Oswald.

One of the many reasons for Bernstein's success as a conductor was his unorthodox rehearsal methods. It is noted, that at a rehearsal of Symphony No. 2 at Tanglewood in the 1940's - "As a way of persuading the choir to sing a truly soft pianissimo at the beginning of the final of the Resurrection Symphony, he laid down on the podium and refused to get up until they achieved the hushed effect he wanted."

SYMPHONY No. 3 in D Minor

Symphony No. 3 begun in the summer of 1893, and was finished in 1896. The first performance of Symphony No. 3 was held in 1902, and was conducted by Mahler. Bernstein championed the symphonies of Mahler.

He was known for his Mahler performances. His love for the music of Mahler was so great that he programmed Symphony No. 3 at his final concert as Music Director with the New York Philharmonic. It was Mahler's Third Symphony that was being performed by Mitropolous when he suffered his fatal heart attack on the podium in Milan. Because of this, Bernstein presented an unannounced performance of Symphony No. 2 in Mitropolous's memory.

SYMPHONY No. 4 in G Major

Symphony No. 4 is the shortest of Mahler's Symphonies was written somewhere between 1899 and 1901 With a duration of less than an hour, it is a close tie to Symphony No. 1 in terms of its length.

It had been years since a Symphony of Mahler had been performed in Vienna. Bernstein was put out by the orchestra and made the following observations:

They didn't know Mahler. They were prejudiced against it. They thought it was long and needlessly complicated and over-emotional. In rehearsals they resisted and resisted to the point where I finally did lose my temper because in God's name this was their composer as much as Mozart was, or Beethoven, who came from much further away.

These comments were made following performances of Mahler's Third, and Fifth Symphonies, and prior to the Fourth Symphonies performance, in that order, during a three week period.

The Vienna Philharmonics reading of Symphony No. 4 was hailed as "heavenly chamber music. The orchestra had come to terms with Mahler. "They suddenly realized," Bernstein said later, "that they had become the vessel for something holy: Mahler's music was as sacred a bunch of notes as Brahm's symphonies." The music of Mahler was home where it belonged, in Vienna, played by the orchestra for whom it was written.

SYMPHONY No. 5 in C-Sharp Minor

Symphony No. 5 was composed in 1902. It was first performed in Cologne, 1904, with Mahler at the podium.

In the fall of 1967, Bernstein conducted a performance of Aaron Copland's Inscape. To Copland's dismay, Bernstein's love of Mahler clouded his interpretation of Inscape. Copland had this to say with regards to Bernstein's Inscape performance . . . "Lenny's been conducting too much Mahler. Inscape has gotten too slow . . ." This was just weeks after a fine performance, of which it is recorded, "When Aaron heard that big crashing first chord," remembers Copland's friend Philip Ramey, "his eyes gleamed with pleasure and excitement..." Mahler had taken all of Bernstein, all his work was filled with Mahlerisms.

Again the music of Mahler played an important role in United States history making. The Adagietto from Symphony No. 5 was used during the funeral of Robert Kennedy at St. Patrick's Cathedral, June 8, 1968. This movement was played as the Kennedy children brought the Communion articles to the altar. At the death of Koussevitzky, Bernstein, following the Adagietto, during the 1977 Tanglewood season, asked the audience to stand for a moment in silence to remember the former conductor of the Boston Symphony.

His relationship with the music of Mahler was so powerful that Benrstein's score to Mahler's Fifth Symphony was placed in his coffin along side his body following his Death in 1990.

SYMPHONY No. 6 in A Minor

Composed during the summer of 1903 and 1904, Symphony No. 6 had its' first performance in 1906 with Mahler conducting.

Bernstein's approach to this symphony, according to Barker, is exceptional, many would say excessively, with too quick a tempi in the outer movements - you would have to run to keep up with Bernstein's march. Following this, the conclusion of his recording of the Mahler cycle in May 1967, is a series of three concerts followed with the New York Philharmonic.  Symphony Six was featured during these three concerts, and was warmly received by critics.

SYMPHONY No. 7 in E Minor

Composed during the summers of 1904 and 1905, Symphony No. 7 was first performed in 1908, with Mahler as conductor.

Bernstein scheduled Mahler's 7th (which had not been heard in New York since 1948), during the spring of 1962 along with Bruckner's Ninth, and the St. Matthew Passion. All this was scheduled in the spring of '62, really during March and April, a truly ambitious program. Bernstein recorded Symphony No. 7 with the London Symphony Orchestra, along with No. 8. Symphony No. 8 had to be re-recorded because of the poor quality of the chorus that evoked the following remark: "we had a chorus (The Leeds Festival Chorus) of . . . ladies in hats who couldn't sing at all except in tea-time voices."

SYMPHONY No. 8 in E-Flat Major

Mahler sketched his Symphony No. 8 between June 21 and August 18, 1906, then completed the score the following summer

During the year 1960, the centennial year of Mahler's birth, Bernstein scheduled performances of six of his symphonies. Following a five‑year sabbatical from the New York Philharmonic, Bernstein returned to perform Symphonies No. 7, 8 and 9. One critic wrote: "The sold out houses were knowledgeable, attentive, and, at the last, roof-raising with cheers. Bernstein's years of devotion to Mahler have produced a totality in the art of communication of which the entire country should be proud."

Following a performance of the Eighth the following was written: " Let it be said . . . that the performance of the Eighth was one of the towering moments of my life in the concert hall. Rarely have I witnessed a more blazing affirmation of faith on the part of an interpreter. Mr. Bernstein has a consuming love and understanding of Mahler, and on the this occasion he placed his entire being at the service of the man and his music . . ."

In the fall of 1967, Bernstein's recording of the Mahler Eighth Symphony with the London Symphony Orchestra (note: this is the second recording with a select chorus) topped the classical best-seller list for months, and won a Grammy. Eric Salzman, a noted critic said, of Bernstein's Mahler cycle, "even the vulgar elements of Mahler's work did not sound vulgar: they emerge as a part of life." In 1975 at a performance in Vienna with the Vienna Philharmonic (the first since 1960) a critic wrote: "It was an incomparable event. The recreation of music could never be more demanding, more exciting, more thrilling or more beautiful."

Read more about Mahler 8:

http://hubpages.com/hub/Gustav-Mahler-Symphony-No-8

SYMPHONY No. 9 in D Major

Symphony No. 9 begun in 1909, and was completed in 1910. The premier of this Symphony took place in Vienna with Bruno Walter conducting.

Leonard Bernstein was known for his performances of Mahler's Ninth Symphony. Scuyler Chapin wrote of Bernstein's Mahler Nine that "one feels he has become Mahler."  For Bernstein the final measures are "the closest we have ever come, in any work of art, to experiencing the very act of dying, or giving it all up" . . . and finally it was "terrifying, paralyzing, as the strands of sound disintegrate. We hold on to them, hovering between hope and submission. And one by one, these spidery strands connecting us to life melt away, vanish from our fingers even as we hold them . . ." Of all the Symphonies of Mahler, the Ninth was broadcast, recorded, performed, and had documentaries made of rehearsals and performances by Leonard Bernstein than any of the other symphonies of Mahler.

SYMPHONY No. 10 in F-Sharp Minor (Unfinished)

On December 19, 1960, Deryck Cooke's performance version of the two movements from Mahler's 10th were broadcast on the BBC. Mrs. Alma Mahler was disturbed by this, she requested that the BBC withdraw any further broadcasts of this unfinished work. They did as requested, no questions asked. Bernstein performed the first, and only the first movement twice, once in Tel Aviv with the Israel Philharmonic and later in Vienna with the Vienna Philharmonic. Bernstein chose to do the Vienna performance of the First movement of Mahler's unfinished Tenth Symphony to bring completeness to his experience with the music of Mahler and his understanding of Mahler the creator.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Barker, Deryk. (1990). "My Time Is Yet To Come," The Symphonies of Gustav Mahler on Record, 2nd ed. Victoria, British Columbia: CFUV-FM Monthly Magazine via Internet.

Diether, Jack. (1974). The Existential Symphonies of Mahler. Jacket notes from the LP recording Mahler Symphony No. 2 (Resurrection), CBS (M2 32681).

Burton, Humphrey. (1994). Leonard Bernstein. New York: Doubleday.

Burton, Humphrey. (1986) The Love of Three Orchestras: Leonard Bernstein,
BBC video. New York, London: Unitel.

Gartenberg, Egon. (1978). Mahler: The Man and His Music. New York: Schirmer Books.

Grout, Donald J., & Palisca, Claude V. (1988). A History of Western Music, 4^th ed. New York: Norton.

Kennedy, Michael. (1990). Mahler. New York: Schirmer.

Machlis, Joseph. (1977). The Enjoyment of Music, 4th ed. New York: Norton.

Secrest, Meryle. (1994). Leonard Bernstein a life. New York: Knopf, Inc.

Steinberg, Michael. (1981). Mahler's "Symphony of a Thousand. Jacket notes from the LP Symphony of a Thousand (No. 8), Phillips (6769 069).

Randel, Don Michael. (1978). Harvard Concise Dictionary of Music. Cambridge, MA: Harvard.

______. (1972) Funk & Wagnalls Encyclopedia, Volumes 3, 4, and 24. New York: Funk & Wagnalls, Inc.


Thomas R. Vozzella © 2009