Illinois State University ISU ReD: Research and eData Faculty and Staff Publications – Milner Library Milner Library 5-2021 Taking Her at Her Work: Reconsidering the Legacy of Alma Mahler Rachel E. Scott Illinois State University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.library.illinoisstate.edu/fpml Part of the Musicology Commons Recommended Citation Scott, Rachel E., "Taking Her at Her Work: Reconsidering the Legacy of Alma Mahler" (2021). Faculty and Staff Publications – Milner Library. 136. https://ir.library.illinoisstate.edu/fpml/136 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Milner Library at ISU ReD: Research and eData. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty and Staff Publications – Milner Library by an authorized administrator of ISU ReD: Research and eData. For more information, please contact [email protected]. TAKING HER AT HER WORK: RECONSIDERING THE LEGACY OF ALMA MAHLER by Rachel Elizabeth Scott A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Major: Music The University of Memphis May 2021 Copyright© Rachel Elizabeth Scott All rights reserved ii Acknowledgements I am fortunate to have learned from the finest faculty members at the University of Memphis. Dr. Kenneth Kreitner, Dr. Jeremy Orosz, Dr. Janet Page, Dr. Daniel Unowsky, and Professor Mary Wilson were a Dream Team of a committee and offered helpful input throughout the process. Dr. Page’s insatiable curiosity and encyclopedic knowledge of music in Vienna recruited me to the program and have inspired me throughout. My interest in the compositions of Alma Mahler has been nurtured by Dr. Orosz, who generously offered coursework tailored to my academic needs and provided timely and insightful readings of my work. I am indebted to my chair, Dr. Kreitner, who ventured far beyond his comfort zones of Renaissance Spain, nineteenth-century American amateur bands, and other cool stuff, to keep the committee’s work on track and who offered his support on numerous occasions. I also offer my thanks to Dr. Charles Crawford, Dr. Christine Eisel, Dr. Antonio de Velasco, Dr. Leah Windsor, and Dr. Andrei Znamenski—y’all are wonderful! My former colleagues in the University Libraries at the University of Memphis provided essential encouragement as I pursued this degree. Thank you, Brigitte Billeaudeaux, Linde Brocato, Karen Brunsting, Jamie Corson, Sofiya Dahman, Mark Danley, Pam Dennis, Kenny Haggerty, Caitlin Harrington, Matt Jabaily, Steve Knowlton, Ashley Roach-Freiman, Joel Roberts, Jennifer Schnabel, Lisa Sikkink, Irma Singarella, and Brannen Varner for your input on drafts—music related or not—and kindness. My former colleague Anna Neal and her wife Elaine Blanchard both deserve a special acknowledgement. Anna and I had so much fun exploring the songs of Alma Mahler, Fanny Hensel, Josephine Lang, and Clara Schumann; thanks to Anna and Elaine for hosting these priceless musical moments. I am also grateful to my current colleagues at iii Milner Library for their warm welcome and indulgence of my tendency to turn any conversation towards Alma Mahler. Last, but certainly not least, I am indebted to my family. My mother completed her dissertation as a mother of young children and while working fulltime, a challenge that I can appreciate better now. Thank you, mama, for modeling tenacity, encouraging me to pursue my dreams, and giving so generously of your time, snarmkies, and patience. My sisters and dad have provided loving support and encouragement; thank you each and all. Thank you, Gary, for taking our boys on so many little adventures this fall so that I could write in peace. I owe you; I fully support your pursuing a PhD at the University of Chicago after you retire (at 65 or older). Howard and Jimmie, thank you for understanding that mommy needed to work on Alma Mahler during many naptimes, evenings, and weekends; your drawings, love notes, and hugs gave me a big boost! May you grow up to respect women and their ambitions. iv ABSTRACT Scott, Rachel Elizabeth. PhD. The University of Memphis. May, 2021. “Taking Her at Her Work: Reconsidering the Legacy of Alma Mahler.” Major Professor: Kenneth Kreitner, PhD. Alma Mahler (1879–1964) grew up surrounded by artists in late nineteenth- century Vienna. Despite her musical training, demonstrated passion for music, and publication of several Lieder, Mahler’s identity as a composer has remained overshadowed by narratives surrounding her personal life and those of her husbands and lovers, not to mention the artistic work of her husbands and lovers. Increasingly, however, interest in Alma Mahler as a composer has been nurtured through creative engagement with that legacy, and frequently by women authors and artists. This dissertation explores the existing literature written by and related to Alma Mahler and identifies some approaches for reevaluating her legacy as a composer. Those writing about the life and legacy of Alma Mahler in the twenty-first century typically follow one of two established paths; that of the rational author writing the irrational female subject or that of creative, and frequently feminist, approaches to Mahler’s life and work. I propose a third path, one that acknowledges both of the aforementioned approaches, but that focuses on Mahler’s work instead of her words. By drawing attention to Mahler works—that is, her songs and the performance thereof—and considering how reception and recording of these songs has shifted over the past several decades, I am poised to assert that Mahler is a composer. The proliferation of diverging primary source materials surrounding her life and musical activities has prompted some to discount the narrative of Alma Mahler as a legitimate composer. This dissertation acknowledges the varied and often conflicting approaches to and perspectives on the idea of Alma Mahler as a composer and v investigates how her music and its performance have been received in light of, and sometimes despite, her own writings. My work reconciles diverse facets of the composer by exploring her own words, the words of others, and, perhaps most importantly, her musical work in contemporary performance. It is my contention that by investigating Mahler through all of these frames, we can identify and contextualize the hidden but significant musical contributions of a young, female song composer in turn-of-the- century Vienna. vi Table of Contents Chapter Page List of Figures viii List of Examples ix Introduction. Alma Mahler in the 21st Century: Words Versus Works 1 1. Alma Mahler as Composer: Gender and Creativity in fin-de-siècle Vienna 7 2. In Her Own Words: The Alma Problem and Life Writing in Music Historiography 45 3. In His Words: Alma Mahler in the Male Imagination 79 4. Taking Her at Her Work: Text Selection and Musical Characteristics of Mahler’s Songs 110 5. Shot into the Air Like a Rocket: Exploring Climax in Mahler’s Lieder 152 6. Take Their Work for It: Establishing Mahler’s Legacy Through Performance 175 7. Capturing Alma Mahler: In the Middle of Life 207 Bibliography 228 Copyright Permissions 246 vii List of Figures Figure Page 3.1. Alma Mahler’s dating app image by Andrew Crust 90 4.1. Rilke’s “Leise weht ein erstes Blühn” in graphic notation 140 5.1. Musical climax in Mahler Lieder 164 5.2. Musical Climax in Zemlinsky Lieder 169 6.1. OCLC records for recordings featuring Alma Mahler, by decade 182 6.2. Alma Mahler Recordings by decade and type 183 6.3. Alma Mahler songs by voice type and decade 185 6.4. YouTube results list with Data Miner Recipe Creator 189 6.5. Data Miner’s “Crawl Scrape” 190 6.6. Alma Mahler songs uploaded to YouTube, by year 192 6.7. Licensed Alma Mahler songs uploaded to YouTube in 2014-2018, by provider 193 6.8. Licensed and unlicensed recordings of Mahler songs 2014-2020 193 6.9. Mahler songs by singer’s voice type 197 6.10. Mahler songs on Youtube by title 199 6.11. Voyant Tools word cloud of descriptions in Alma Mahler YouTube Videos 201 6.12. Voyant Tools word cloud of comments for Alma Mahler YouTube Videos 203 7.1. HathiTrust record for “Lulu Galop,” incorrectly attributed to Alma Mahler 208 7.2. HathiTrust scan of “Lulu Galop” 208 7.3. “Hälfte des Lebens,” dated 1925 210 7.4. “Hälfte des Lebens,” dated 1927 211 7.5. Dedication from Alma Mahler to “my beloved” Helene Berg 213 7.6. “Einsamer Gang,” autograph manuscript, dated 16 September 1899 214 7.7. “Der Erkennende,” 1915 215 viii List of Examples 4.1. Intervallic leaps in the vocal line in “Ansturm” 128 4.2. Ascending chromatic passage in “Laue Sommernacht” 129 4.3. Ascending scalar passage in “In meines Vaters Garten” 130 4.4. Static chordal opening of “Ekstase” 131 4.5. Accompaniment evoking crashing waves in “Lobgesang” 131 4.6. Tonally ambiguous opening to “Waldseligkeit” 135 4.7. Obscured tonality in “Laue Sommernacht” 136 4.8. Four-square phrases in “In meines Vaters Garten” 137 4.9. Four-square with instance of 4+2 in “In meines Vaters Garten” 138 4.10. Zemlinsky, “Ansturm,” measures 1–3 144 4.11. Mahler, “Ansturm,” measures 1–3 144 4.12. Mahler, “Ansturm,” measures 8–14 145 4.13. Mahler, “Ansturm,” measures 15–18 145 4.14. Zemlinsky, “Ansturm,” measures 17 and 18 146 4.15. Mahler, “Ansturm,” measures 16 and 17 147 4.16. Zemlinsky, “Ansturm,” measures 17–29 149 5.1. Mahler’s song “Laue Sommernacht,” measures 14–22 163 7.1. “Hälfte des Lebens,” 1927, initial statement of the row 221 ix INTRODUCTION: ALMA MAHLER IN THE 21ST CENTURY: WORDS VERSUS WORKS I make you up from the lines of a few songs you wove: I wander among flowers and blossom myself along.1 Alma Mahler (1879–1964) grew up surrounded by artists in late nineteenth century Vienna.2 Despite her musical training, demonstrated passion for music, and publication of several Lieder, Mahler’s identity as a composer has remained overshadowed by narratives surrounding her personal life and those of her husbands, not to mention the artistic work of her husbands and lovers.