"THREE EARLY SONGS"
Mahler's earliest surviving songs are the "Three Early Songs" for
tenor with piano accompaniment. The titles of the songs are as
follows:
"Im Lenz" (In Spring)
BACKGROUND
The songs were written in February and March of 1880, when Mahler was
19 years old. At the exact same point in time, Mahler was feverishly
working on the orchestration of the fairy-tale cantata, "Das klagende
Lied". Originally planned as a group of five songs, only the three
above-mentioned have survived. For many years they belonged to the
Rosé family, with the manuscripts now in the Rosé room of the
University of Western Ontario, Canada. They were only published for
the first time in 1990 or 1991.
The songs are dedicated to Josephine Poisl, the daughter of a postal
clerk in the town of Iglau (Jihlava) in Bohemia. Josephine had been
a piano student of Mahler's in Iglau during the summer of 1879, but
after Mahler fell in love with her Josephine's father expressed his
disapproval of the relationship and prevented her from continuing to
see Mahler. These songs are a result of the pain and longing that
Mahler felt as a result of this unfortunate state of affairs.
BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS
The songs "Im Lenz" and "Winterlied" speak of unrequited love.
In "Im Lenz" the beloved one has "stayed far away for too long",
while in "Winterlied", the protagonist (i.e., Mahler) sings that "our
happiness was only a single glance, gone now forever". The words of
both songs, written by Mahler himself, contain feelings typical of
the 19th century German romantic Lied. They both also make
references to nature.
The song "Maitanz im Grünen" is very important as Mahler's first
surviving dance (or Ländler) piece of music. It is much more upbeat
than the other two songs but again nature plays a role. I have seen
references to the text as being both a traditional melody or as being
written by Mahler himself. Later in the 1880's the song was re-named "Hanse und Grete", with very slight adjustments to the original
text.
LINKAGES TO OTHER MAHLER WORKS
These early songs may sound rather simple, the works of a 19 year-old "dreamer", yet they are notable for the musical connections to
other Mahler works and for the feelings that would reappear in later
Mahler songs. Below I will briefly mention some of these connections.
The music for the second and fourth verses of "Im Lenz" (lines 5-8
and 13-16) may also be found in the "Der Spielmann" portion of "Das
klagende Lied". Remember that Mahler was orchestrating Das klagende
Lied at the same time that "Im Lenz" was written. The music in both
cases accompanies words related to sorrow or lament.
The melody and rhythm of the opening portion of "Maitanz im Grünen"
may also be found in the opening part of the Scherzo of the First
Symphony (the second movement of the final edition of this symphony).
From the standpoint of atmosphere and emotional feeling, "Im Lenz"
and "Winterlied" carry a good portion of the seeds for the "Lieder
eines fahrenden Gesellen" (Songs of a Wayfarer), which were to be
written several years later. In both groups of songs, the beauty of
nature and an ill-fated love affair play prominent roles.
RECORDINGS AND SOURCES
My version of these songs is by Thomas Hampson, packaged together
with "Lieder eines Fahrenden Gesellen" (David Lutz, piano), and other
early songs with orchestrations by Luciano Berio (conducted by Berio
with Philharmonia Orchestra). It is a 1994 Teldec release.
Sources of information include: 1) Henry-Louis de La Grange, "Gustav
Mahler" (appendix to vols. II and III listing Mahler's works);
2) Alphons Silbermann, "Lübbes Mahler Lexikon", Gustav Lübbe Verlag
GmbH, 1986; and 3) Liner notes to the aforementioned Teldec CD.
Submitted to the "On-line Mahler Dictionary" in March, 2001.
Written by Michael Bosworth. Any errors are my responsibility alone.
"Winterlied" (A Winter Song)
"Maitanz im Grünen" (May Dance Amongst the Green)