Mahler and Strauss

Charles Youmans

Description

A rare case among history's great music contemporaries, Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) and Richard Strauss (1864-1949) enjoyed a close friendship until Mahler's death in 1911. Unlike similar musical pairs (Bach and Handel, Haydn and Mozart, Schoenberg and Stravinsky), these two composers may have disagreed on the matters of musical taste and social comportment, but deeply respected one another's artistic talents, freely exchanging advice from the earliest days of professional apprenticeship through the security and aggravations of artistic fame.

Using a wealth of documentary material, this book reconstructs the 24-year relationship between Mahler and Strauss through collage—"a meaning that arises from fragments," to borrow Adorno's characterization of Mahler's Sixth Symphony. Fourteen different topics, all of central importance to the life and work of the two composers, provide distinct vantage points from which to view both the professional and personal relationships. Some address musical concerns: Wagnerism, program music, intertextuality, and the craft of conducting. Others treat the connection of music to related disciplines (philosophy, literature), or to matters relevant to artists in general (autobiography, irony). And the most intimate dimensions of life—childhood, marriage, personal character—are the most extensively and colorfully documented, offering an abundance of comparative material. This integrated look at Mahler and Strauss discloses provocative revelations about the two greatest western composers at the turn of the 20th century.

Preface
Acknowledgements
Note on Translation
Introduction: Friends
1. Children
2. Conductors
3. Husbands
4. Wagnerians
5. Businessmen
6. Literati
7. Autobiographers
8. Programmmusiker
9. Imports
10. Allusionists
11. Ironists
12. Metaphysicians
Epilogue: Individuals
Bibliography
Index

Sujets

• Musique
• Histoire de la musique
• Gustav Mahler
• Opera
• Music
• Strauss
• History
• Train de luxe
• 20th century
• History of classical music traditions
• Criticism
• Multiple signal classification
• 19th century
• Mahler

Informations

• Publié par: Indiana University Press
• Date de parution: 05 septembre 2016
• Nombre de lectures: 5
• EAN13: 9780253021663
• Langue: English

Extrait

Mahler Strauss

Mahler Strauss
In Dialogue

CHARLES YOUMANS
This book is a publication of
Indiana University Press
Office of Scholarly Publishing
Herman B Wells Library 350
1320 East 10th Street
Bloomington, Indiana 47405 USA
iupress.indiana.edu
2016 by Charles Youmans
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The Association of American University Presses Resolution on Permissions constitutes the only exception to this prohibition.
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences-Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992.
Manufactured in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Youmans, Charles Dowell, [date]- author.
Title: Mahler and Strauss : in dialogue / Charles Youmans.
Description: Bloomington ; Indianapolis : Indiana University Press, 2016. |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016024305 (print) | LCCN 2016024671 (ebook) |
ISBN 9780253021595 (cl : alk. paper) | ISBN 9780253021663 (e-book)
Subjects: LCSH : Mahler, Gustav, 1860-1911. | Strauss, Richard, 1864-1949.
Classification: LCC ML410.M23 Y68 2016 (print) | LCC ML410.M23 (ebook) |
DDC 780.92/2 [B] -dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016024305
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For Nancy
Contents
Preface
Acknowledgments
Note on Translation
Introduction: Friends
1 Children
2 Conductors
3 Husbands
4 Wagnerians
5 Businessmen
6 Literati
7 Autobiographers
8 Programmmusiker
9 Imports
10 Allusionists
11 Ironists
12 Metaphysicians
Epilogue: Individuals
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Preface
FIFTEEN YEARS AGO , chatting with colleagues in the dependably fruitful setting of a hotel bar, I floated the idea of a conference on Mahler and Strauss. My youthful tenure-track self considered this a sure winner, an idea long overdue. Forget it, came the instant response of a senior scholar who belonged neither to the Straussians nor the Mahlerians but knew both sides well. It ll never work.
There was wisdom in this pronouncement. Polite intercourse notwithstanding, the scholars effectively belong to camps, more so than the general enthusiasts. A joint gathering has yet to be seen on either side of the Atlantic, despite growing scholarly interest in both figures. And yet, for a lone wolf the topic holds an irresistible attraction.
Anyone who flips through the correspondence-carefully edited in 1980 by Herta Blaukopf, who wrote what remains the definitive treatment of the topic-can see that these composers got along far better than have their devotees. Strauss, the self-styled first Mahlerian, was already called an old friend by Mahler in 1897, ten years after their introduction in Leipzig. The substantial historical record includes meetings, conversations, study and performance of one another s works-and, yes, sharp, interesting disagreements. There is good reason for someone to forge ahead with a scholarly investigation, then, expecting that others will eventually join in.
I have not set out to write the book on this relationship. Particularly in biographical writing, we musicologists tend to produce monographs that double as reference sources, with every scrap of documentary evidence collected and arranged chronologically for easy access. This volume is not such a tool, though it makes fairly thorough use of the surviving evidence and contributes some new material. What I have written instead is a reading, and one that dispenses with linear narrative in favor of a fragmentary, topic-based approach. The details and intent of this methodology are explained in the introduction. Here I would merely suggest that our best chance to catch glimpses of truth in such a complex and contentious area is to look from different angles and allow peripheral vision to fill in what is missing.
The question of which themes to include has cost me as much sleep as the methodological challenges. Certainly other topics could be imagined. Nature, for example, would seem an obvious choice, considering the quasi-religious enthusiasm of both composers in this area. Should it have its own chapter, or can the points be made through discussion of other concerns? I hope the latter, but another writer might choose differently. Likewise, many of the subjects I did select could themselves receive book-length treatments. This reality bothered me particularly in the chapter on Wagner, where my desire to make a specific point (about the composers distinct receptions of Wagner s musical philosophy) preempted interesting but ultimately overburdening tasks, such as tracing the voluminous allusions to Wagner across the two oeuvres.
The Mahler-Strauss relationship deserves many books, then, not one, and hopefully mine will serve as a stimulus. By training and experience I am a Straussian; perhaps that in itself will be enough to elicit a companion volume in the near future. Nonetheless, I do not believe that this book treats Strauss more gently than it does Mahler, even if at some subconscious level I hold ingrained biases. As will become clear, in certain qualities of personality, spiritual outlook, and even musical taste, I find Mahler easier to identify with than Strauss. Although twenty-five years of research on Strauss have left me feeling that I lived his life along with him, I would still claim, not at all pejoratively, that Mahler s character is self-evidently less confounding than that of his counterpart.
It is my hope that this book can and will be read by nonmusicians. Obscure musical terminology appears only rarely, and most of what I describe in the music will be audible to lay readers. Interdisciplinary research teaches one all too keenly that every field has its own jargon; I have attempted to forestall the Babel effect wherever possible. Likewise, in the interest of readability I have used English translations (published, if available) for quotations from German sources, though where clarity and/or style demands it I have included the original language, either in the main text or the notes. For quotations from unpublished sources I have provided the German.
Acknowledgments
MANY INDIVIDUALS AND INSTITUTIONS have kindly assisted me in my work. At the beautiful villa on Zoeppritzstra e, the Strauss family once again warmly supported my research. I am grateful to Gabriele Strauss (whose late husband Richard hosted me, as I will always remember, on my first visit in 1994) and to Christian Strauss for permission to study and quote from archival materials. Also in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Christian Wolf and J rgen May at the Richard-Strauss-Institut facilitated my work in numerous invaluable ways, as they do for Strauss scholars across the globe. At the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek in Munich, Hartmut Schaefer and Sabine Kurth of the Musikabteilung and Sigrid von Moisy of the Abteilung f r Handschriften und Alte Drucke allowed me easy access to materials on both Strauss and Mahler, especially those portions of the splendid Moldenhauer Archives now held at the Stabi. Henry-Louis de La Grange and his efficient staff at the M diath que Musicale Mahler in Paris made available a number of unique sources, some unknown to me, and gave me an excuse for picnics in the Parc Monceau. In Vienna, Frank Fanning scrambled to arrange for the offices of the Internationale Gustav Mahler Gesellschaft to be opened for me during a visit in the vacation month of July. Likewise, the librarians of the Musiksammlung of the sterreichische Nationalbibliothek generously accelerated the ordering process and agreed without exception to my requests to see original documents rather than copies. I am grateful also to the staffs of the Morgan Library Museum and the Music Division of the New York Public Library. For the necessary arrangements and permission to publish images I warmly thank Gilbert Kaplan of The Kaplan Foundation, New York; J rgen May of the Richard-Strauss-Institut, Garmisch-Partenkirchen; Brian McMillan of the University of Western Ontario; Ann Kersting-Meuleman of the Universit tsbibliothek Johann Christian Senckenberg, Frankfurt am Main; and Irina Graef of the Archiv Berliner Philharmoniker.
I am particularly appreciative of the comments provided to me by Bryan Gilliam and J rgen Thym, who read the entire manuscript and improved it in countless ways; any errors that remain are my responsibility. Over the years I have read portions of the manuscript at assorted venues and am happy to have heard many useful responses; for these and for enlightening informal conversations I thank especially Walter Werbeck, Morten Kristiansen, David Larkin, Stephen E. Hefling, Morten Solvik, Jim Zychowicz, and Walter Frisch. My colleagues at Penn State-Marica Tacconi, Mark Ferraguto, Maureen Carr, Taylor Greer, Eric McKee, Steve Hopkins, Tom Cody, and Vincent Benitez-create a work environment that could not be more congenial. For ten years now I have had the good fortune to work for Sue Haug, director of the Penn State School of Music, a fine musician and thoughtful administrator who values musicological research and ensures that it is supported. Grants from the College of Arts and Architecture and Penn State s Institute for the Arts and Humanities provided the funding necessary for research trips to Germany, Austria, France, England, and New York City; I would like to thank Barbara Korner, dean of the College, and Marica Tacconi, former director of the Institute, for contributing to my efforts in this meaningful way. I also thank Gunalan Nadarajan, former associate dean for research and graduate studies in the College of Arts and Architecture, for his support