G U S TAV M A H L E R ’ A S tuqy of His P er son a/119, and Wer e BY P AU L S TEF AN TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN BY T. E. TO OSKAR FRIED ’ WHOS E GREAT PERF ORMANCES OF MAHLER S WORKS ’ ARE SHINING P O IN TS IN B ERLIN S MUSICAL ’ LIF A ITS MUSI IA S M S SPL I E , ND C N O T END D M M B RA S IS TRA SLATI RE E NCE , TH N ON IS RESPECTF ULLY DEDICATED mmer o 1 12 . BERLIN , S u f 9 TRAN SLATO R’ S PREFAC E The present translation was undertaken by the writer some G . two years ago , on the appearance of the first erman edition Oskar Fried had made known to us in Berlin the overwhelming ’ beauty of Mahler s music , and it was intended that the book r Should pave the way for Mahler in England . F om his appearance there , we hoped that his genius as man and musi cian his would be recognised , and also that example would put an end to the intolerable existing chaos in reproductive music c making , wherein every qua k may succeed who is unscrupulous enough and wealthy enough to hold o ut until he becomes “ ” ’ “ E : God popular . The nglish musician s prayer was pre ” serve Mozart and Beethoven until the right man comes , and this man would have been Mahler . Then came Mahler ’s death with such appalling suddenness f “ ” or our . youthful enthusiasm Since that tragedy , young r musicians suddenly find themselves a generation olde , if only for the reason that the responsibility of continuing Mah ’ r r ler s ideals now rests upon thei shoulde s in dead earnest . E now . The work , in ngland and elsewhere , will fall to others w Progress ill be slow at first , but the way is clear and there ’ are those who are strong enough to walk in Mahler s footsteps . ’ The future of Mahler s compositions is as certain as that his ideals will live ; and it is perhaps they that concern the musical public most . In Germany their greatness is scarcely dis uted - p to day amongst musicians . Goethe distinguishes two of kinds music , that which aims at external perfection of u text re , and that which strives to satisfy intelligence , sensi bilit “ y and perception ; and he adds that without question , the v i GUSTAV MAHLER union o f these two characters does and must take place in the ” is greatest works of the greatest masters . The opinion irresistibly gaining ground that in modern music the two com posers who have attained this limit Of perfection are Beethoven and Mahler . It is therefore in the highest degree agreeable to the writer that this translation , in its present extended form , appear with a purpose worthy of it ; not merely as a work of propaganda r for a musician , however g eat , but as an extremely valuable ’ on psychological essay Mahler s music as a whole , and as a history (in the best sense ofthe word) of some ofthe most heroic deeds that have been performe d during the development of “ ” modern art . It tells , in short , what manner of man Mahler was . The book has been specially revised for the present issue and many additions have been made since the appearance of the fourth German edition— the most important being concerning the Ninth Symphony , which was first heard in i . e . Vienna in June last , , Since the latest German edition was published . Notes have been added in a few cases where certain names might be unfamiliar to those not versed in the more “ tenden ” G tial aspects of erman artistic life . I Lastly, may be allowed here to thank my friend Dr. Paul for r Stefan permission to translate his admi able work , and for the valuable intercourse with him the translating of it has procured me . F O REWO RD TO THE THIRD GERM AN ED ITION 1 1 1 for In September , 9 , this book went its way the second ’ — time the first time Since Mahler s death . “ ” is . to I wrote , he dead But my book referred the living so . man , and I never thought it would soon be otherwise It has done its work for the living Mahler . Must it hardly a “ ” year later appraise his now completed work! “ ” It is called appraisal , and this is demanding something I — F r cannot do measuring and weighing up . o I know I Should say little that would be different . The past time is too near and sticks too fast in our remembrance . And for the moment I do not wish merely to patch up So I have only added an account of the last year Of his life . Faults and omis sions remain . This third time I was clearer and more composed . I as . renewed , improved and completed well as I could But the nature of the book remains unchanged . The many things sa that still are to be said , and that perhaps will soon be to y , about Mahler as man and artist , demand a new and larger m f . work . The li its o this study are clear It is still not of . critical , but the loud call an enthusiast to enthusiasts Many have followed it . SO I call once again . In the name of one who will for all time awaken enthusiasm . F ru r the 12 1912 . eb a y th, CONTENTS PAGE DEDICATION ’ Translator s Preface Foreword ’ MAHLER S SIGNIF ICAN CE n the r s and His Art The M a , A ti t, Work an d Race o Ear You Childho d, ly th Apprenticeship Prague and Leipzig r the rs e D rec or Pesth . Fo Fi t Tim i t The Su er Co oser . rs er or a es Hamburg. mm mp Fi t P f m nc e a Cour O era. La er or s an d Per The Master. Vi nn t p t W k formances ’ INTRODU CTION To M AHLE R s WORKS ’ Mahler s Lyri cs ’ Mahler s Symphoni es First Symphony (D maj or) Se con d Symphony (C minor) Third Symphony (D minor) Fourth Symphony (G maj or) Fifth Symphony (C-Sharp minor) Sixth Symphony (A minor) Seventh Symphony (B minor) Eighth Symphony (E—flat maj or) The Last Stage an d Last Works D as Lied v on der Erde Ninth Symphony (D maj or) A CONVE RSATION ON THE NIGHT OF HIS DEATH APPENDI! I . The Works of Gustav Mahler II . A Few Books about Mahler M AHLER ’ S SIGN I FIC ANC E THE MAN THE AN D HI , ARTIST, S ART ’ ’ ’ R Flor tan E i From Meister aro s , es s and useb us s Notebook Of Things and Thoughts : “ e e e errs se s . Int llig nc , but not n ibility Le t one no expect to find in this book a Biography , as was ’ prophesied during Mahler s lifetime— by some in a friendly Spirit , by many in mockery . As the work took form , Mahler o f stood in the zenith his power , but also in the zenith of his right : the right neither to limit nor to divide himself in his “ ” to . intentions , his right not be trammeled by consistencies o n n His life was not one that obtruded itself others , rather o e that strove towards a given goal ; a modest and hidden life , our -of— like that of the Old masters Of art , a matter fact life , as ha v rsu . s been well said , a life in the world e s the world And — now has we of even to day , that it ended , still think it as his contemporaries . We have not yet outgrown this feeling , and of the figure the man Mahler still vibrates in our memory , so that no calm for viewing and reviewing has come to us . What ! TO u ! if it never should come s rvey calmly a volcano Or , ’ i at . any rate , not at once One thing s certain , calmness is for i the present not our affair . Our aim s simply to retain for a moment the last flaming reflection of this life , and my book may be called abiography only inasmuch as in describing that of Gustav Mahler it strikes sparks of life itself . It will Often m for of speak in i ages , this is the only way we have speaking about music , itself an image Of presentiments and secrets 2 GUSTAV MAHLER beyond the bounds o f temporality . May these images be such as become comprehensible where Mahler ’ s will controls ’ are no and Mahler s works are heard . And then , when they longer needed , and the true sense of the works is revealed ; when a few have seized their real meaning — then the Veil will be drawn aside, and the goal reached ; then words about a ’ man s life will not have been wasted — disquisitions o n art matters are only too Often a hindrance and a waste of time ; then , life itself will have spoken , and no greater satisfaction can be given the mediator between the genius and those who wish to approach him . This book strives little for the Lob des hohen Verstandes “ “ (the praise of lofty intellect for the dispassionate j udge it will have collected too few “ data and too little “ was far information , though the author from despising the for exami labour of the investigator , and the search and f nation o f whatever friendly assistance and books could of er .