Mahler Foundation

A beautiful, but proud queen would like to get married but do not know who. She conceives of a competition: the man who first brings her the very special flower that grows in the forest may marry her.

Many men from the kingdom accept the challenge, including two brothers. The eldest brother is brave, mean and reckless, the youngest brother kind, gentle and curious. Soon the youngest brother finds the flower, picks it and places it on his hat. Satisfied he takes a nap against a tree.

The eldest brother is furious when he discovers his younger brother with the flower in his hat, steals the flower and kills the boy in his sleep. He returns to the castle to claim the queen's hand.

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A listening guide of Das Klagende Lied – Waldmärchen with Lew Smoley

Rückert-Lieder is a song cycle of five Lieder for voice and orchestra or piano by Gustav Mahler, based on poems written by Friedrich Ruckert (1788-1866). 

• Lied Ruckert 1: Blicke mir nicht in die Lieder
• Lied Ruckert 2: Ich atmet’ einen linden Duft!
• Lied Ruckert 3: Um Mitternacht
• Lied Ruckert 4: Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen
• Lied Ruckert 5: Liebst du um Schoenheit

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A listening guide of Rückert-Lieder – Intro with Lew Smoley.

A minstrel that runs through the forest finds a bone under a tree, and cuts a flute. When he plays the flute, the voice of the murdered youngest brother, who tells the story of his unfortunate death, sounds. The minstrel feels that he can not leave this story untold and goes on his way to the castle to reveal the true nature of the queen’s fiancée.

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A listening guide of Das Klagende Lied – Der Spielmann with Lew Smoley.

Um Mitternacht moves from the most brilliant day to deepest night, and the change is once more immediately apparent in its coloration. Mahler calls for an orchestra without strings. In addition to pairs of woodwinds (with a single oboe d’amore replacing the usual oboes), three horns, two trumpets, three trombones, a single tuba, and timpani, both harp and piano are prescribed.

The length, weight and scale of the song match its theme. Five six-line stanzas (each of which begins and ends with “Um Mitternacht”) are set in a rich and complex contrapuntal idiom, more symphonic than lyric in character.

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A listening guide of Rückert-Lieder – Um Mitternacht with Lew Smoley.

The poetic theme of “Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen,” one of Mahler’s most beautiful and moving songs, is again unusual. It evokes the peace achieved through the poet’s withdrawal from the everyday turmoil of the world and his absorption in the most meaningful and central aspects of his life: his heaven, his life, and his song. (By implication the last is the product of the preceding two).

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A listening guide of Rückert-Lieder – Ich Bin Der Welt Abhanden Gekommen with Lew Smoley.

Blicke mir nicht in die Lieder explores a more unusual theme. It warns the listener not to be too inquisitive about the process of creation, and suggests that the poet does not trust himself to inquire too much: only the finished work counts, not how it was achieved. 
The analogy made with the work of bees in the second stanza provides Mahler with the basis for his musical imagery. A brief introduction establishes a kind of perpetuum mobile with a subtle buzzing produced by an orchestra of muted strings, without double bass, single woodwinds and a horn, together with a harp. The two stanzas are variants of one another, but the first has an extra line, which repeats the text of the opening. In this repetition Mahler preserves the rhythm and some of the melodic features of his first vocal phrase, but shifts it to a different level and concludes with an upward rather than downward movement.

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A listening guide of Rückert-Lieder – Blicke Mir Nicht In Die Lieder with Lew Smoley.

Revelge is the most intense and manic of the Wunderhorn settings, and also by far the most extended. It is a persistent march of a magnitude matching the great march movements of the symphonies. The speaker is a fallen drummer boy whose comrades pass him by on the march and leave him for dead. For most of the song, a persistent military rhythm in the trumpets is omnipresent, becoming obsessive in its insistence.

A listening guide of Des Knaben Wunderhorn - Revelge (Reveille) with Lew Smoley.

Ich atmet’ einen linden Duft is perhaps unique in musically evoking a fragrance, the delicate fragrance of the lime tree with which the poet associates his love. The color of the setting is still more transparent, and much brighter than “Blicke mir nicht.” The orchestration again consists of single winds, horn and harp, but only violins and violas are called for, and a celesta has been added. The continuing even motion in the strings suggests the quiet wafting of the scent through the air.

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A listening guide of Rückert-Lieder – Ich Atmet’ Einen Linden Duft with Lew Smoley.

A listening guide of Des Knaben Wunderhorn - Verlorene Müh’ with Lew Smoley from ClassicalPodcasts.com.

The most traditional of the songs was the last composed, “Liebst du um Schönheit.” It is the most clearly strophic in form, with the four stanzas presented in pairs, with a very brief orchestral interlude in the middle. The first three stanzas are clear variants of one another.

The fourth begins as if it were to continue in the same pattern, but underscores the central message of the song by stressing the words “liebe” (love) and “immer” (always) through rhythmic prolongation and emphasis on the upper register in the melody. Love must be for its own sake, not for beauty, youth or treasure.

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A listening guide of Rückert-Lieder – Liebst Du Um Schönheit with Lew Smoley.