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Gustav Mahler and His Relationship to the Problem

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Gustav Mahler and His Relationship to the Problem GUSTAV MAHLER AND HIS RELATIONSHIP TO THE PROBLEM OF NINETEENTH-CENTURY PROGRAM MUSIC by DEBORAH LYNN SMITH B.Mu.s., The University of Western Ontario, 1974 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS i n THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES Department of Music We accept this thesis as conforming to the required standard THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA April 1980 Q Deborah Lynn Smith, 1980 In presenting this thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of British Columbia, I agree that the Library shall make it freely available for reference and study. I further agree that permission for extensive copying of this thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by the Head of my Department or by his representatives. It is understood that copying or publication of this thesis for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. Department of, Music The University of British Columbia 2075 Wesbrook Place Vancouver, Canada V6T 1W5 natP April 25, 1980 E-6 BP 75-51 I E ABSTRACT The preoccupation, by romantic composers, with literature and philosophy, and their belief in the merging of the arts, led to the development of the program symphony and the tone poem in the nineteenth century. Gustav Mahler, whose major compositions span the years 1880-1911, could not avoid being affected by the ensuing controversy over the aesthetic value of program music. Mahler's views on many musical matters, including program music, exist in the form of letters, concert notes,' and memoranda. They provide a clear and accurate picture of his thoughts and attitudes. A selection of these documents has been included in this study in order to demonstrate a number of significant aspects in his approach to musical composition. It is shown that he did not waver in his acceptance of the validity of extra-musical inspiration, whether subjective (as in emotions and feelings) or objective (as in the sounds of nature), .;or in his belief that all symphonies, beginning with and including those by Beethoven, contained an inner program. The use of a written program, however, was a source of uncertainty for him. He constantly questioned its ability to convey adequately the meaning of a work; whether its existence, as an aid to audiences unfamiliar with the music, was justified. Mahler did not wish to be i i known as a composer of program-music; he hoped that audiences would judge his music on its intrinsic merits. In his first three.symphonies , Mahler approached the problem of the written program in different ways. The. genesis of each work is traced in this study in the light both of Mahler's documented comments on its meaning and of its various programs. Furthermore, this data is collaborated with the evidence of contemporary reviews of performances at which a program or partial program was provided. The Third Symphony, which demonstrates the most intimate connection between a program and the actual music, is studied in more detail, and the relationship of the writings of Friedrich Nietzsche with this symphony is examined. This comparison reveals subtle yet fascinating parallels between the Third Symphony and Nietzsche's Die frbhliche Wissenschaft, which Mahler at one stage used as a title for his symphony. The underlying philosophy of the two works is similar. Mahler's concern with the matter of programs reached a high point from 1895 to 1896, when he was writing the Third Symphony, and several of his important letters on the subject date from these years. He continued to modify the programs for the early symphonies'throughout the 1890s: his last written program, for the Second Symphony, dating from 1901. At the turn of the century, when embarking on a new style of composition, Mahler presumably regarded the old programs as outdated and no longer necessary. He would have had no hesitations in removing programs which he had been persuaded i i i to write in order to comply with current trends. Hence, all traces of written programs were subsequently discarded and no new ones were devised for the later symphonies. In spite of this, evidence shows that no accurate appraisal of nineteenth-century program music can ignore the contribution of Gustav Mahler. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ii PREFACE vi PART I Chapter 1 . INTRODUCTION 2 Program Music in the Nineteenth Century .... 2 Mahler and Romanticism 7 The Symphonies and Their Programs: A Summary. 14 2. MAHLER ON PROGRAM MUSIC ... 19 PART II 3. THE FIRST SYMPHONY . 35 4. THE SECOND SYMPHONY 58 5. THE THIRD SYMPHONY 78 6. A PROGRAMMATIC ANALYSIS OF THE THIRD SYMPHONY . 93 7. MAHLER AND NIETZSCHE • Ill CONCLUSION .125 NOTES 130 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY . 154 APPENDIX 158 SUMMARY OF THE DOCUMENTS . 211 v PREFACE Program music in its most elementary sense, that of imitation, has a history long preceding the nineteenth century. The complex and sophisticated form of program music, with which we are more familiar today, was the result of the romantic composers' preoccupation with 1 it.erature and philosophy and their belief in the merging of the arts. This led to the development of the program symphony and the tone poem. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, following the important achievements in these fields by Berlioz, Liszt and Richard Strauss, the controversy over program music was at its height. The number of major books and essays which appeared on the subject in the first ten years of the twentieth century attests to this interest. Gustav Mahler, whose compositions span these very decades, could not avoid being affected by the entire issue. By concentrating on the programmatic aspect of Mahler's compositions, I hope to arrive at a clearer _pi.cture of his relationship to the problem. One does not immediately think of Mahler as a composer of program music. Today, his major works are labelled as simply "Symphonies"; at the most, they have retained descriptive titles. For instance, "Titan", the title often used with the First Symphony, is a remnant of one of Mahler's vi programs for the work, but "Resurrection" (the Second) and "Symphony of a Thousand" (the Eighth) are popular superscriptions which were added by people other than Mahler. However, when one begins delving into the Mahlerian literature, one soon discovers that there is ample material to support the view that he did indeed compose program music. Most commentators do touch, even if only briefly, on the subject of Mahler and program music. Some are willing to take a stand on the issue. They propose either that Mahler definitely did (Donald Mitchell) or did not (Kurt Blaukopf, Bruno Walter) write music of a programmatic nature. Others withold judgment, but simply report the facts. Without exception, all writers agree that Mahler's music contains something "extra", a highly personal stamp that, although a common feature in nineteenth-century music, was even more pronounced in his case. Two books, Donald Mitchell's Gustav Mahler: The Wunderhorn Years, and Henry-Louis de La Grange's Mahler, Vol . I, were especially helpful in the preparation of this study. These two men have collected, sorted through, and presented a great deal of useful material on the early symphonies, including the various programs given to each. Both have made a sincere effort to establish an accurate chronology for the composition of these works. La Grange cites quotations from many reviews of performances of Mahler's works in the nineteenth century. Since I did not have access to original sources of this type, I thought this aspect of his book was v i i particularly valuable, and I am indebted to his groundwork. La Grange is the more objective of the two writers, whereas Mitchell is the more personal. Mitchell's book is liberally sprinkled with his often fascinating opinions. He does devote considerable space to discussing the sources of the early programs, but this information is placed within other historical and analytical material, and is still not as complete as it could be. There is an obvious need to isolate the pertinent facts, and to examine certain of the symphonies from the angle of program music alone. This was accomplished by tracing the history of each work, with references to Mahler's comments on the meaning of the work, its various programs, and contemporaneous reviews. It would have been impossible in a paper of this size to have dealt with all of Mahler's symphonies in the detail required. The first three were logical choices; first of all, because they were all given programs and, secondly, because this is primarily a nineteenth-century study. Mahler has bequeathed to posterity a considerable body of written evidence revealing his views on many musical matters. These include the mysteries of musical creation, the extra-musical associations which contributed to his creative processes, and program music in general. Sally O'Brien, the writer of an articulate article entitled "The Programme Paradox in Romantic Music as Epitomized in the Works of Gustav Mahler", considers that juxtaposing Mahler's statements on program music has some value.''' I agree and have attempted to do this in Chapter 2. Since O'Brien's paper was of article length, she was able to include only a few short examples and, even for this larger study, it was necessary to be very selective. I have chosen a variety of documents, which will hopefully present a sufficiently accurate survey of Mahler1s thoughts . i x PART I 1 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Program Music in the Nineteenth Century Although it is not the purpose of this study to survey the role of program music in the nineteenth century, a few general remarks should help to place Mahler's attitude towards the subject in perspective.
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