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JEWISHNESS IN MUSIC: MIRRORS OF SELFNESS IN JEWISH MUSIC

Philip V. Bohlman

in Jewish Music and Modernity

Identifying certain forms of music as Jewish and establishing the criteria for how Jewishness in music would be recognized preoccupied ideological and aesthetic concerns of many Jews entering ... More

Identifying certain forms of music as Jewish and establishing the criteria for how Jewishness in music would be recognized preoccupied ideological and aesthetic concerns of many Jews entering modernity by the end of the nineteenth century. This chapter concerns itself primarily with the ways in which Jewishness would counterbalance the nineteenth-century notion of absolute music, in which textual meaning negated contextual functions. Richard Wagner’s invective 1850 essay on “Jewishness in Music” unleashed responses until the Holocaust, and the chapter summarizes many of these, especially by leading Jewish music critics. Examples are drawn from Mahler, Jewish social organizations, and political musical traditions of Bertolt Brecht, Hanns Eisler, Kurt Tucholsky, and others from the Weimar period separating the world wars.Less

Shadows

Philip Kitcher

in Deaths in Venice: The Cases of Gustav von Aschenbach

This chapter considers whether Thomas Mann was uncertain about the death of Gustav van Aschenbach in Death in Venice. It argues that the problem he faced could not have been that of deciding if ... More

This chapter considers whether Thomas Mann was uncertain about the death of Gustav van Aschenbach in Death in Venice. It argues that the problem he faced could not have been that of deciding if Aschenbach should die but rather how. The difficulty was to discover the right death for his protagonist, a death that would show what it—and the life that preceded it—meant. Mann allows his readers more than one possibility for Aschenbach's death. Once he reveals that cholera is rampant in Venice, the threat of death is omnipresent, and he supplies a few clues consistent with the conclusion that his protagonist is infected with the dry form of the disease. Yet by presenting this death as so atypical of cholera sicca, he invites us to explore alternatives to what initially appears as the most obvious cause. The chapter also examines Luchino Visconti's film Morte a Venezia, and how he replaced the writer von Aschenbach with a composer of the same name, a composer plainly modeled on—if not identical with—Gustav Mahler. It concludes with an analysis of the two-page coda to Mann's novella.Less

Aesthetics of Integration in Mahler’s Fifth Symphony

William Kinderman

in The Creative Process in Music from Mozart to Kurtág

This chapter examines the intermovement connections of the final two movements in Mahler's Fifth Symphony—the Adagietto and the Rondo-Finale. It shows how the questions of aesthetic meaning and ... More

This chapter examines the intermovement connections of the final two movements in Mahler's Fifth Symphony—the Adagietto and the Rondo-Finale. It shows how the questions of aesthetic meaning and biographical context raised by the Adagietto are complicated by the fact that the finale of the Fifth Symphony has generated its own share of controversy since the appearance in 1960 of Theodor Adorno's classic study Mahler: Eine musikalische Physiognomik. The chapter studies these paired final movements of the Fifth Symphony and explores the nature of their interrelationship. It then assesses Mahler's techniques of integration in light of the influence on his style of Bach and Wagner as well as his interest in the aesthetics of polarity as articulated by one of his favorite writers, Jean Paul. In this context, the chapter returns to Adorno's conviction that “brokenness” is the key to Mahler's music.Less

Mahler and His Chronicler Julius Korngold

Michael Haas

in Forbidden Music: The Jewish Composers Banned by the Nazis

This chapter examines the works of Jewish composer Gustav Mahler, who it suggests was the musical personality who would provide hundreds of twentieth-century Jewish composers. It discusses how Mahler ... More

This chapter examines the works of Jewish composer Gustav Mahler, who it suggests was the musical personality who would provide hundreds of twentieth-century Jewish composers. It discusses how Mahler broke down the barriers that subsequently allowed younger Jewish composers to surge forward with their own ideas and agendas and provided an inheritance of such undeniably great and original music that reconversion to Judaism could be understood as an act of defiance. The chapter also describes his relationship with Erich Wolfgang Korngold.Less

Mahler's Second-in-Command: Vienna, 1901–1907

Erik Ryding and Rebecca Pechefsky

in Bruno Walter: A World Elsewhere

In 1901, Bruno Walter accepted Gustav Mahler's invitation to be his assistant at the Court Opera in Vienna. Shortly before Walter arrived in the fall of 1901, Richard Strauss had given the Viennese ... More

In 1901, Bruno Walter accepted Gustav Mahler's invitation to be his assistant at the Court Opera in Vienna. Shortly before Walter arrived in the fall of 1901, Richard Strauss had given the Viennese premiere of Ein Heldenleben while Mahler had the belated world premiere of his cantata Das klagende Lied. That same year saw the young tenor Leo Slezak join the opera company at the Vienna Hofoper. The racy plays of Arthur Schnitzler and the writings of Oscar Wilde appealed to many Austrians. On May 2, 1901, a few months before arriving in the capital of Austria, Walter and Elsa Korneck were married in Berlin. But Walter had to wait for the emperor's permission before he could work at the Vienna Hofoper, and soon he was conducting countless operas for the company. Walter's often had an uneasy relationship with Strauss, more so with Arnold Schoenberg.Less

Deep: Classical Values and Musical Color in Mahler’s Symphonies

John J. Sheinbaum

in Good Music: What It Is and Who Gets to Decide

Gustav Mahler often thought about his orchestral music in the metaphorical shadow of Beethoven’s symphonies, particularly the singular masterpiece of the Ninth. Beyond occasionally employing voices, ... More

Gustav Mahler often thought about his orchestral music in the metaphorical shadow of Beethoven’s symphonies, particularly the singular masterpiece of the Ninth. Beyond occasionally employing voices, Mahler’s symphonies throw open the supposedly closed world of the work, question conventional symphonic rhetoric, and allow a hint of the “other” to permeate the work. A sharply etched kaleidoscopic use of orchestral color, an aspect of music usually considered a “secondary” parameter, is often placed center stage, signaling the multiplicity of metaphorical voices within the work. Such features were often serious stumbling blocks for the composer’s contemporary critics, for they were thought to steal focus away from the deep musical structures based in the organization of pitch materials. The chapter contends that tone color functions as an integral part of the musical fabric, providing an essential key for interpretation. Timbre plays an important role in passages of cadential closure and thematic return. Primary examples are drawn from the Sixth and Ninth symphonies. By focusing on the ways musical color shapes sites of structural importance, the fundamental hybridity of Mahler’s music is highlighted in a way rich with connections to the fin-de-siècle context in which the works were created and first functioned.Less

An Apogee of Conversions: Gustav Mahler, Karl Kraus, and fin de siècle Vienna ⋆

in From Vienna to Chicago and Back: Essays on Intellectual History and Political Thought in Europe and America

This chapter discusses Vienna's fin de siècle. The most famous of Vienna's fin de siècle converts was probably Gustav Mahler. Mahler's conversion to Catholicism was closely linked with his ... More

This chapter discusses Vienna's fin de siècle. The most famous of Vienna's fin de siècle converts was probably Gustav Mahler. Mahler's conversion to Catholicism was closely linked with his energetically pursued efforts to attain the direction of the Vienna Imperial Opera, the “Hofoper.” His religiosity remained undogmatic. Karl Kraus would remain “konfessionslos” before receiving Catholic baptism on 8 April 1911. Die Fackel recommended turning to Christianity. It is shown that both Mahler and Kraus were in favor of “Mischehen” or mixed marriages, of the connubium between persons of Jewish and non-Jewish origin. Vienna in the course of the later nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was a city with a high incidence of marriages—most of them “Christian-Christian” marriages—of persons of Jewish origin and persons on non-Jewish origin. There is a “lieu de mémoire” in Vienna, where the problems discussed in this chapter have found a most poignant expression.Less

Bruno Schlesinger: Berlin, Cologne, Hamburg, 1876–1896

Erik Ryding and Rebecca Pechefsky

in Bruno Walter: A World Elsewhere

Born on September 15, 1876, to Joseph and Johanna Schlesinger (née Fernbach) in Berlin, Germany, Bruno Walter displayed prodigious musical talent at an early age. At the age of eight, he entered the ... More

Born on September 15, 1876, to Joseph and Johanna Schlesinger (née Fernbach) in Berlin, Germany, Bruno Walter displayed prodigious musical talent at an early age. At the age of eight, he entered the Stern Conservatory, where he became known as “the little Mozart.” After a year, Bruno decided to try his hand at composition. As a twelve-year-old, he appeared destined for a career as a concert pianist and a budding composer. He was also an accomplished vocal accompanist. However, Bruno decided to pursue a conducting career after he saw Hans von Bülow direct an orchestra, and he soon developed a strong interest in Richard Wagner's operas. Walter also became friends with Gustav Mahler, whose conducting would have an even greater effect on him than his discoveries of Wagner and Bülow. He made his conducting debut at the Cologne Opera with Albert Lortzing's Der Waffenschmied in 1894. In 1896, he was appointed Kapellmeister of the Breslau Stadttheater (municipal opera) in Breslau, but not after he changed his last name from Schlesinger.Less

Early Years in Vienna and Berlin: 1874–1906

Joseph Auner

in A Schoenberg Reader: Documents of a Life

This chapter provides an overall chronology of Arnold Schoenberg's life and works, along with a recollection of his childhood and musical education. It also looks at his early years in Vienna and ... More

This chapter provides an overall chronology of Arnold Schoenberg's life and works, along with a recollection of his childhood and musical education. It also looks at his early years in Vienna and Berlin through the First String Quartet, Op. 7. The rest of the chapter describes Schoenberg's résumé around the year 1944, his home life and musicality among his relatives, his early musical life and friendships, and his beginnings as a composer. It also considers documents dating to 1891–1906 containing Schoenberg's views on essence and appearance, the Bible and the modern world, socialism and aesthetics, nature and stylization, program music, concert life, Gustav Mahler's Third Symphony, and the First String Quartet, Op. 7.Less

“Air from Another Planet Vienna”:1906–1911

Joseph Auner

in A Schoenberg Reader: Documents of a Life

Arnold Schoenberg started work on the First Chamber Symphony, Op. 9, at the end of 1905 and completed the autograph score the following year. The First Chamber Symphony was premiered in Vienna on ... More

Arnold Schoenberg started work on the First Chamber Symphony, Op. 9, at the end of 1905 and completed the autograph score the following year. The First Chamber Symphony was premiered in Vienna on February 8, 1907. This chapter begins with Schoenberg's composition of the First Chamber Symphony before turning to his subsequent breakthrough to atonality and concluding with his second move to Berlin in 1911. The rest of the chapter looks at some of Schoenberg's views on idea and realization, as well as internal and external realities, and his first wife Mathilde's affair with the painter Richard Gerstl. It also examines his Second String Quartet in F-sharp Minor, Op. 10 (1908); his thoughts on modern music, audiences, musical critics, precision and brevity in art, variegation, expression, and illogicality; and order and aesthetic laws. Finally, the chapter considers Schoenberg's response to Gustav Mahler's final illness and his essay on Mahler.Less

Epilogue: Germans, Jews, and Czechs in Mahler’s Vienna

David Brodbeck

in Defining Deutschtum: Political Ideology, German Identity, and Music-Critical Discourse in Liberal Vienna

The epilogue, set in 1897 with Gustav Mahler’s return to Vienna as the head of the Court Opera, brings all the themes of the book together. Political context is provided by the Cilli Crisis and the ... More

The epilogue, set in 1897 with Gustav Mahler’s return to Vienna as the head of the Court Opera, brings all the themes of the book together. Political context is provided by the Cilli Crisis and the Badeni Language decrees, both of which led many Germans to fight vociferously to protect their “national property.” The concept of national property is extended to apply to Vienna’s venues for operatic and concert performances. By the time Mahler led the Viennese première of Smetana’s Dalibor, even the radical German nationalists, who had once extolled the composer as a model for German composers to follow, were critical of giving the Court Opera, as German national property, over to the music of a “foreigner.”Less

The Music of Gustav Mahler in Experimental Film Contexts: Questions of Visual Music and Intermedial Theory

Jeremy Barham

in The Music and Sound of Experimental Film

The anniversary years of the composer Gustav Mahler (150 years of his birth in 2010, 100 years of his death in 2011) took place in the age of digital media, whose technological possibilities afforded ... More

The anniversary years of the composer Gustav Mahler (150 years of his birth in 2010, 100 years of his death in 2011) took place in the age of digital media, whose technological possibilities afforded strikingly diverse opportunities to mark the occasion. Various experimental sound and video artists, produced audiovisual translations and interpretations of the composer’s music at this time, including Danish composer Henrik Marstal with VJ Dark Matters, and Austrian experimental composer Fennesz with Berlin-based video artist Lillevan. Building on a tradition which had begun in the 1990s, this repertoire is examined here from the theoretical and historical perspectives of “visual music” and intermediality.Less

Austria: Homecoming via A Survivor from Warsaw

Joy H. Calico

in Arnold Schoenberg's A Survivor from Warsaw in Postwar Europe

Hermann Scherchen conducted the Austrian premiere of A Survivor from Warsaw on April 10, 1951, at the Fourth International Music Fest in Vienna. The performance is situated in the context of ... More

Hermann Scherchen conducted the Austrian premiere of A Survivor from Warsaw on April 10, 1951, at the Fourth International Music Fest in Vienna. The performance is situated in the context of Austria's Allied occupation, as well as Austria's embrace of Allied-conferred “first-victim status,” which held that Austria was Hitler's first victim and not accountable for wartime events, including the Holocaust. Schoenberg was ambivalent about reengaging with Viennese musical life, as is evident in correspondence between the composer and his former student H. E. Apostel, the administrator Egon Seefehlner, and Scherchen. The Viennese performance is notable because the English-language narration was translated into and performed in German in a version by Hanns von Winter, a former Nazi. The reviews reflect the partisanship of their sponsoring political entities, Allied or otherwise, and make reference to Thomas Mann's novel Doctor Faustus and to Gustav Mahler.Less

Premiere Performances: Vienna and Munich,1911–1912

Erik Ryding and Rebecca Pechefsky

in Bruno Walter: A World Elsewhere

In 1911, Bruno Walter had to endure the death of his friend Gustav Mahler. He became director of the Vienna Singakademie, a position held by Johannes Brahms almost five decades before. He would also ... More

In 1911, Bruno Walter had to endure the death of his friend Gustav Mahler. He became director of the Vienna Singakademie, a position held by Johannes Brahms almost five decades before. He would also be drawn away from the Vienna Hofoper to other non-theatrical events. In February he had his first engagement in Rome, conducting the Orchestra of the Society of Santa Cecilia at the Augusteum in a concert of Hector Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique, Richard Strauss's Don Quixote, and Karl Goldmark's “Sakuntala” Overture. Walter also became preoccupied with the preparation for George Frideric Handel's Messiah in German. In the spring of 1911, two operatic premieres stood out: Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier and Claude Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande. Walter led the first performance of Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde in Munich in 1911 as well as his Ninth Symphony in Vienna the following year. At the end of March Walter returned to Rome to conduct two concerts at the Augusteum.Less

Modern

Lawrence Kramer

in Interpreting Music

Both modernity and its artistic offshoot, modernism, famously involve skepticism and confusion, widespread unintelligibility, and the negation of meaning. How does either modernism or modernity fit, ... More

Both modernity and its artistic offshoot, modernism, famously involve skepticism and confusion, widespread unintelligibility, and the negation of meaning. How does either modernism or modernity fit, except as a tragic or celebratory passage away from bygone clarities and promises, in a historically sensitive theory of interpretation? Is a hermeneutics of the modern and the modernist possible? This chapter shows that the answer to the second question is yes if the answer to the first one is roughly this: that expressions of modernity typically defer an interpretation they cannot in the end escape. More strongly: expressions of modernity typically present themselves as the deferral of an interpretation they cannot in the end escape. Franz Kafka's well-known parable “An Imperial Message” finds a roughly contemporaneous musical equivalent in the twofold appearance of an offstage post horn, the sound of a message about to be delivered, in Gustav Mahler's Third Symphony. For further insight into the issues broached by Kafka and Mahler, the chapter turns to a short series of iconically modernist moments in literature and music.Less

The Long Sixties: 1960–1973

Barry Seldes

in Leonard Bernstein: The Political Life of an American Musician

This chapter describes the Gustav Mahler centennial that was celebrated by the Philharmonic in 1960. It looks at Bernstein's work, the Kaddish, which had great political significance and transformed ... More

This chapter describes the Gustav Mahler centennial that was celebrated by the Philharmonic in 1960. It looks at Bernstein's work, the Kaddish, which had great political significance and transformed theology into political sociology. It looks at his role in the civil rights and antiwar movement, as well as his positions on the nature and exercise of American power. It identifies and studies important events during this period, including the Selma March, the resistance to the Vietnam War, and the radicalization of Americans in the late 1960s, along with Bernstein's political evolution. The chapter also considers Bernstein's support for Senator Eugene McCarthy's campaign, and Bernstein's humiliation over his rejection of black musicians and the debate of a Black Panther fund raiser.Less

“The Last Days of Mankind”

Glenn Watkins

in Proof through the Night: Music and the Great War

In a letter to Gerty von Hofmannsthal on August 22, 1914, Richard Strauss registered pride in Germany's initial battlefield successes during the Great War. On September 12, however, it was reported ... More

In a letter to Gerty von Hofmannsthal on August 22, 1914, Richard Strauss registered pride in Germany's initial battlefield successes during the Great War. On September 12, however, it was reported that Strauss had refused to sign a manifesto of German artists and intellectuals. Among the members of the Viennese School it was Anton Webern who retained the closest spiritual link with the nature world of Strauss and Gustav Mahler. Karl Kraus, a Jewish convert to Catholicism, brooked ambiguity along with apocalyptic visions in his powerful five-act play, Die letzten Tage der Menschheit (1915–1922). Kraus was not the only contemporary poet to whom Webern turned. In the same month that he completed “Der Tag ist vergangen,” Webern sketched but never finished settings for two poems by Georg Trakl, who had died two months earlier. The “March” that concludes Alban Berg's Three Pieces for orchestra, op. 6, written in 1914, immediately following the assassination at Sarajevo, has been linked to the composer's affection for the music of Mahler.Less

Grail and Anti-Grail

William Kinderman

in Wagner's Parsifal

Klingsor’s kingdom represents the anti-Grail, and his chromatic music is pitted against the diatonic music of the Grail. This conflict is brought to a climax in the great scene between Parsifal and ... More

Klingsor’s kingdom represents the anti-Grail, and his chromatic music is pitted against the diatonic music of the Grail. This conflict is brought to a climax in the great scene between Parsifal and Kundry: as she delivers her poisoned kiss, a dissonant, chromatic contamination of the rising, aspiring head of the Communion theme conveys the dark forces at work. In responding to the kiss, Parsifal becomes an agent of the Grail and begins to act as a supernatural medium. The music of Act 2 has influenced other composers including Verdi and Mahler. The concluding music at Parsifal’s confrontation with Klingsor, with its collision of C major and B minor, was misunderstood by Adorno, but offers a superb example of Wagner’s use of tonal spaces to convey dramatic conflict.Less