Mini masterpieces: why Mahler’s songs are marvels to rank alongside his symphonies

No orchestral play contiguous is implicit without a Mahler symphony. Three of them featured astatine past year’s BBC Proms, this year there’ll beryllium four. Over a caller play successful London, you could perceive the archetypal with the BBC Symphony Orchestra astatine the Barbican connected a Friday and the pursuing evening bask the epic glories of the eighth with the London Philharmonic astatine the Royal Festival Hall. Conductors from Boulez to Bernstein and Chailly to Rattle each person Mahler symphony cycles successful their recorded catalogues.

And this period the Concertgebouw successful Amsterdam hosts a expansive Mahler festival. Across 10 days each his symphonies volition beryllium performed by world-famous orchestras and conductors, his unfinished 10th among them and besides his “vocal symphony”, Das Lied von der Erde. “A symphony indispensable beryllium similar the world. It indispensable incorporate everything,” the composer famously said.

But what of Mahler the miniaturist, the maestro of that astir intimate and idiosyncratic philharmonic form, the opus for dependable and piano?

Julius Drake with mezzo soprano Feride Buyukdenktas. Photograph: Simon Van Boxtel

While the gigantic symphonies rage successful the large hall, Mahler’s implicit songs volition beryllium heard successful the Concertgebouw’s exquisite sister hall, the Kleine Zaal. I volition beryllium playing them each astatine the piano, with 10 outstanding young singers crossed 5 concerts, including 1 programme devoted to the songs of his bonzer wife, Alma Mahler.

They whitethorn beryllium little all-encompassing than the celebrated symphonies, but Mahler’s songs are miniature masterpieces, ranking alongside the top by Schubert, Schumann, Brahms and Wolf. They are marvels: songs arsenic expressive and finely crafted arsenic the celebrated symphonies are visceral and overwhelming.

Song composers thin to beryllium pianists. Sometimes they are superb virtuosos specified arsenic Brahms, oregon failed virtuosos specified arsenic Schumann, oregon simply not virtuosos astatine all, specified arsenic Schubert, but each fundamentally constitute their songs from the position of their beloved piano. As a pupil astatine the Vienna Conservatoire, Mahler won prizes for his soft playing and it is wide that the instrumentality was an indispensable means for his ain philharmonic expression. All of his 50 oregon truthful songs person beautifully written soft parts.

Many of them, Mahler aboriginal rewrote for dependable and afloat orchestra, and these person go truthful celebrated successful their gloriously colourful and sumptuous orchestrations that sometimes the archetypal mentation with soft is near successful the shade, the overlooked sister.

Master of intimacy … Mahler successful 1903. Photograph: © Bridgeman Images - Lebrecht Images

Unlike Schumann, Schubert oregon Brahms, Mahler wasn’t everlastingly searching for philharmonic inspiration successful volumes of poetry. Indeed, his precise earliest songs were often settings of his ain texts, including the miraculous abbreviated opus cycle, Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (Songs of a Wayfarer). But his top assets for opus inspiration was the postulation of people poesy compiled successful the aboriginal 19th period by Achim von Arnim and Clemens Brentano, Des Knaben Wunderhorn (The Boy’s Magic Horn).

When Mahler erstwhile was 32 and already celebrated arsenic a conductor, helium published his archetypal opus settings – 10 poems from Des Knaben Wunderhornfor dependable and piano. Surprisingly, these included conscionable 1 opus of emotion and longing - the inspiration, past arsenic now, for the astir songs – portion the remainder were a substance of high-spirited “character” ballads and songs that celebrated the quality and joyousness of nature.

Another benignant of substance made its archetypal quality successful this postulation also, 1 that was to animate Mahler passim his life: the poem acceptable in, oregon around, the subject barracks. Zu Strassburg auf der Schanz (At Strasbourg connected the ramparts) is haunting, and the precursor for the melodramatic marches that recovered their mode aboriginal into his 3rd and sixth symphonies.

At the crook of the century, Mahler turned again to Das Knaben Wunderhorn for inspiration for 15 much songs for dependable and piano, but this clip helium besides made versions of them each for dependable and orchestra (which continued to beryllium his signifier from this constituent on).

The songs helium was penning for dependable and soft were inextricably linked to the symphonies that were besides germinating successful his mind. One of the aboriginal songs from Songs of a Wayfarer, for instance, was incorporated into his firstsymphony. In his second, 3rd and 4th symphonies, singers articulation the orchestra and songs that helium had already acceptable from Des Knaben Wunderhorn for dependable and soft were incorporated into the bigger orchestral works. Urlicht (Primal Light) and Des Antonius von Padua Fischpredigt (St Anthony preaches to the fish) some diagnostic successful the 2nd symphony, and Es sungen drei Engel (Three Angels sang) and Ablösung im Sommer (The changing of the summertime guard) successful the third. The divine Das himmlische Leben (The heavenly life) is orchestrated arsenic the past question of the 4th symphony. These archetypal 4 symphonies person since go known arsenic the “Wunderhorn Symphonies”.

In February of 1901 Mahler suffered a haemorrhage that required exigency attraction and a play of recuperation. He spent those weeks astatine a villa adjacent Maiernigg, connected the Wörthersee, and it seems apt that it was present that helium archetypal work the poesy of Friedrich Rückert. The German poet’s verses were to animate immoderate of Mahler’s top music, including the celebrated Ruckert-Lieder.

The exquisite delicacy of the vocal and soft penning successful Ich atmet’ einen linden Duft (I breathed a gentle fragrance) and Liebst du um Schönheit (If you emotion for beauty) and the searing strength of Um Mitternacht (At Midnight) are overwhelming. In Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen (I americium mislaid to the world) Mahler takes america to a spot of utter bid wherever life’s symptom tin nary longer interaction us, a imaginativeness of different satellite that has seldom been matched.

By now, Mahler was the begetter of 2 daughters, and the poems that Rückert wrote aft the decease of his ain children from scarlet fever profoundly moved him. Of the hundreds of poems written by Rückert to exorcise his grief, Mahler chose 5 for his opus rhythm for dependable and piano, Kindertotenlieder (Songs connected the decease of children). The extent of the symptom and nonaccomplishment that they explicit is devastating. Later orchestrated, for maine they are his top accomplishment successful song.

Mahler’s last songs were incorporated successful Das Lied von der Erde (Song of the Earth), which helium called his “vocal symphony”. Mahler ever intended this work, written betwixt 1908 and 1909 astatine a clip of aggravated idiosyncratic crisis, to beryllium for 2 voices and afloat orchestra. He wouldn’t telephone the enactment his ninth Symphony retired of superstition – Beethoven, Schubert, and much precocious Bruckner and Dvořák had not lived agelong capable to constitute their respective 10th symphonies and Mahler, who had conscionable completed his eighth, was painfully alert that his wellness was failing. Later, aft helium had completed Das Lied von der Erde, helium started enactment connected his ninth symphony and reassured Alma that it was successful information his 10th, and that the information was past.

‘I person felt Mahler the pianist by my side’ …Julius Drake. Photograph: Simon van Boxtel

Not so, sadly. When helium died successful 1911 of bosom failure, helium near his incomplete 10th symphony.

The poems that inspired Mahler to constitute Das Lied von der Erde were from Die chinesische Flöte, versions by Hans Bethge of past Chinese poetry. They captivated him with their simple, timeless quality. Only precocious it was discovered that Mahler besides wrote a mentation for 2 voices and soft but successful this 1 lawsuit we don’t cognize whether the soft mentation came earlier oregon aft the orchestrated version. My ain feeling, having played and studied the enactment astatine the piano, is that helium wrote the orchestral mentation archetypal – the soft mentation doesn’t person the aforesaid finesse oregon pianistic accomplishment of his different songs. Nevertheless, it is an tremendous privilege to person Mahler’s ain mentation for soft and voices of this seminal masterpiece, considered by galore his top work.

I person spent 40 years studying and playing these songs and, dissimilar maine alas, they ne'er age. They scope wide, from comic songs to superior metaphysical meditations, from touching and heartfelt emotion songs to sublime reflections connected life’s meaning, and from elemental folksong-like miniatures to full opus cycles. Along the way, I person felt Mahler the pianist by my side, encouraging maine to find the endless colours and subtlety successful his soft writing, and to springiness these fantastic songs life.

The Mahler festival 2025 takes spot successful and astir the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, from 8 to 18 May. Many events volition beryllium broadcast worldwide connected the radio. Details here.