Gustav Mahler - Des Knaben Wunderhorn

- Composer: Gustav Mahler (7 July 1860 -- 18 May 1911) - Orchestra: London Philharmonic Orchestra - Conductor: Wyn Morris - Soloists: Geraint Evans (baritone), Janet Baker (contralto) - Year of recording: 1966 Des Knaben Wunderhorn [The Youth’s Magic Horn], song cycle for voice & piano (or orchestra), composed between 1892-1905. 00:00 - 1. Revelge 06:16 - 2. Rheinlegendchen 09:19 - 3. Lied Des Verfolgten Im Turm 13:07 - 4. Wer Hat Dies Liedlein Erdacht 15:08 - 5. Lob Des Hohen Verstandes 17:32 - 6. Der Schildwache Nachtlied 23:16 - 7. Wo Die Schönen Trompeten Blasen 29:25 - 8. Trost Im Unglück 31:45 - 9. Des Antonius Von Padua Fischpredigt 35:49 - 10. Verlor’ne Müh’ 38:07 - 11. Das Irdische Leben 41:22 - 12. Der Tamboursg’sell This collection of songs is the culmination of Mahler’s many settings from Das Knaben Wunderhorn (The Young Boy’s Magic Horn), a collection of German Folk Poetry. They are usually performed as a set, often also including the two later Wunderhorn songs, “Revelge“ and “Der Tamboursg’sell“, since their poetic origin and performance requirements are so similar. There is no cyclical connection or sequence to the songs -- they stand alone, each having its own unique affect, scoring, and conception. Representing Mahler’s mature style, the songs cover a vast range of moods and topics, from grim and ironic tragedy to fairy tales. Unlike his Wunderhorn settings for voice with piano, these are truly symphonic in scope and technique, and the composer eventually expanded several of them into symphonic movements. - “Revelge“ (Reveille). A sinister quick-step march depicts the last parade of a slain regiment--as skeletons. Scored for full orchestra without trombones, Revelge has all the fanfares, drum tattoos, woodwind trills, and snappy rhythms of any Sousa march, yet is as grim and ironic as only Mahler can be in his darkest moods. The last line of each stanza features the usually light and silly syllables “Tralali, tralaley, tralalera,“ but in this context they have a chilling and macabre effect. - “Rheinlegendchen“ (Rhine Legend). Here is another charming Ländler, in this case telling a fairy-tale about a golden ring tossed into the Rhine. - “Lied des Verfolgten im Turm“ (Song of the Prisoner in the Tower). A political prisoner sings of freedom, while his lover, outside the prison, mourns him in contrasting lyrical passages. - “Wer hat dies Liedlien erdacht?“ (Who Made Up This Little Song?). This is yet another comic love song, with the protagonist pining away for his love. The shortest and simplest of these songs, it is a Ländler with a yodeling vocal line always doubled in the orchestra. - “Lob des hohen Verstandes“ (In Praise of Lofty Intellect). This is an absurd and comical song in which a donkey judges the singing of two birds. In spite of its humor, it is a biting satire of human self-importance. - “Der Schildwache Nachtlied“ (The Sentry’s Night-song). A sentry is killed on duty while he is distracted by dreams of his sweetheart. Mahler casts the story as a ghostly dialog between the sentry and his girl, alternating between military drums and fanfares and sustained melodic passages. - “Wo die schönen Trompeten blasen“ (Where the Beautiful Trumpets are Blowing). Mahler again used contrasting materials in this touching song about a dead soldier’s ghost visiting his beloved. Muted and hushed fanfares alternate with a gentle Ländler depicting the soldier and the girl, respectively. - “Trost im Unglück“ (Solace in Sorrow). Another humorous and lively dialog between two lovers, this one is more raucous and full of military orchestral effects. It is usually sung as a duet. - “Des Antonius von Padua Fischpredigt“ (Antony of Padua’s Sermon to the Fish). This is a parody on the unchanging nature of human behavior. Mahler here uses perpetual motion in the orchestra to illustrate the purposeless busyness of life. - “Verlor’ne Müh“ (Wasted Effort). A young girl unsuccessfully attempts to seduce a boy in this charming and witty dialog. It is set as a Ländler and often sung as a duet. - “Das irdische Leben“ (Earthly Life). Here Mahler depicts a starving child who waits in vain for the grain to be harvested and milled. Cast as a chilling dialog between child and mother, the cruel inevitability of death is portrayed in the perpetual motion of the orchestra. - “Der Tamboursg’sell“ (The Drummer Boy). This song is based on a deserter facing execution. Once again Mahler has used a military funeral march as the means to convey the drummer boy’s fear of the gallows and his sad farewell to his comrades-in-arms. This time, though, the orchestral effects are real, not imitated on the piano. The song is scored for a dark-sounding orchestra without the brighter timbred flutes, trumpets, trombones, violins or violas. In spite of the expected military musical flourishes of fanfares, drum tattoos and march rhythms the result of this unusual scoring is a tragic and bitter dirge.