Des Knaben Wunderhorn (Mahler)

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Des Knaben Wunderhorn is a collection of art songs written by Gustav Mahler . Mahler set 12 poems from the collection of poems Des Knaben Wunderhorn , which was published between 1805 and 1808 by Clemens Brentano and Achim von Arnim .

In addition to this collection in the narrower sense, Mahler set various texts from Des Knaben Wunderhorn to music . A total of 24 Wunderhorn texts are available in settings by Gustav Mahler.

Piano songs

Even before the twelve songs, which are now commonly referred to as Mahler's "Wunderhorn-Lieder", were written, Mahler wrote nine piano songs between 1887 and 1891, based on texts from Des Knaben Wunderhorn . These appeared in 1892 as volumes 2 and 3 of Gustav Mahler's collection "Songs and Chants" (occasionally also incorrectly cited as "Songs and chants from his youth").

  1. In the song "To make bad children good", the title suggests that it is a kind of educational poem that is there for bad, d. H. to mend poorly behaved children. In truth, the poem, which Mahler has taken over from the song collection almost unchanged, is about a knight who would be too happy to respond to the maiden's advances (the man is not at home, the maid is in the Feste Wind (Speicher)), - if it weren't for two annoying children. Will the children behave nicely (not tease) or are they bad children who will tell everything to the lord of the castle as soon as he has returned? The maid of honor flirts. Finally she calls out to the rider that they are bad children, who then rushes off. Whether the children are good or not is ultimately an open question, but there is no question that the adults are not. In addition to the superficial interpretation of the event, one can also see a parody of the gender relationship, the rider embodies the male principle, he wants to act, get to the point quickly, the woman reacts, flirting, she crawls into her locket, to which the rider would love to have the key. The issue of gender relations runs through the entire cycle of early songs from the Knaben Wunderhorn.
  2. In “I went through a green forest with pleasure” , a young man goes for a walk in the forest to visit his sweetheart.
  3. In “Aus! A girl wants to go to the monastery because her loved one is moving to May.
  4. In “Strong Imagination” , a girl and a boy confirm their love for each other .
  5. In “Zu Strassburg auf der Schantz” a soldier is sentenced to death because he tried to desert out of homesickness (the Swiss disease gripped him at the sound of the alphorn ).
  6. In “Replacement in Summer” , the nightingale is supposed to provide entertainment after the death of the cuckoo.
  7. In “Scheiden und Meiden” the main character hurts to be separated from his loved one.
  8. In “Not again!” A young man says goodbye to his sweetheart. When he comes back a year later, she has since died of grief.
  9. The main character of "self-esteem" doesn't know how you are because of the many conflicting feelings - but feels better when the doctor says she is a fool.

Orchestral songs

From 1892 to 1898, 12 chants (ballads and songs) were composed from the collection of poems for voice and orchestra.

Originally, Urlicht and Es sungen Drei Engel were part of these orchestral songs; Urlicht was then used in the fourth movement of Mahler's 2nd Symphony , while three angels sung again in the 5th movement of Mahler's 3rd Symphony . Mahler replaced Urlicht and three angels sang in Des Knaben Wunderhorn then through Revelge (created in 1899) and Der Tamboursg'sell (1901).

The first performance of the orchestral songs in cyclical form did not take place until 1970.

In addition to the orchestral versions, the Wunderhorn songs also exist in versions for voice and piano written by the composer, some of which differ significantly from the orchestral versions. This fact was hardly known for a long time, as the Universal Edition publishing house had only published piano reductions of the orchestral versions for decades . It was not until 1993 that the original piano versions by Renate Stark-Voit and Thomas Hampson were reissued as part of the Critical Complete Edition of Mahler's Works.

  1. In "Der Schildwache Nachtlied" a sentinel describes their grief that they have to keep watch while everyone else can sleep. The song is also an imaginary dialogue between the guard and the beloved. On the one hand, she asserts her waiting for the soldier, but also hardly believes that he can count on God's help in his service - precisely because he is not the emperor or king who wages the war. The song thus resigns itself to the fate of the common soldier.
  2. In “ Verlorne Müh '” a couple squirms in the dialect.
  3. In “Trost im Unglück” a hussar and his girl come to the realization that they can get along without each other. It is based on the folk song Well, the time has come ( love of hussars ).
  4. In “Who came up with the little song?” A love song is sung to a cheerful landlord's daughter.
  5. In “The Earthly Life” a starving child begs his mother for bread, but has to be consoled by her several times, because first the grain has to be harvested, threshed and finally the bread has to be baked. When the bread is finally ready, however, the child is already dead.
  6. " Revelge " is about a drummer who goes into battle from his treasure's house and is mortally wounded. The comrades cannot help him, but rather sink down dead around him. The drummer wakes them up and with them drives the enemy to flight; at the end all of her bones are placed "in a row like corpse stones" in front of the house of the treasure.
  7. In “ Des Antonius von Padua Fish Sermon ” (the music of which can be found in the 3rd movement of the 2nd symphony ), after his church is empty, Anthony goes to the rivers to preach to the fish instead. They are enthusiastic about the sermon - but soon forget about it. Just like the human audience, too ...
  8. The main character of "Rheinlegendchen" imagines throwing a ring into the Rhine, where it would be eaten by a fish, which in turn would be served to the king. He would pass the ring on to the beloved. It is based on the folk song " I'll be grasping at the Neckar "
  9. In the “Song of the Persecuted in the Tower” , a prisoner praises freedom of thought. It is based on the folk song " The thoughts are free ".
  10. In “Where the Beautiful Trumpets Blow” a soldier visits his loved one and then goes to war. The song juxtaposes the characteristics of an intimate love song and military music. In the end, the soldier tries to console himself with a romanticizing idea of ​​military service (“the beautiful trumpets”).
  11. In “In Praise of the High Mind” , the cuckoo and nightingale hold a competition with the donkey as referee to see who can sing better. In this song Mahler makes fun of music critics in secret.
  12. The “Der Tamboursg'sell” is the last complaint of a drum journeyman who is to be executed as a deserter on the gallows.

literature

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