Mahler: Das Lied von der Erde

Featuring

Violeta Urmana
Clifton Forbis
Jean-Claude Casadesus
Orchestre National de Lille
Gustav Mahler

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Composition History

Gustav Mahler began composing Das Lied von der Erde in 1907 during a dark period of his life, following his daughter's death, forced resignation from the Vienna Court Opera due to antisemitism, and a serious heart diagnosis.

Performer Biography

Jean-Claude Casadesus, the conductor on this album, founded the Orchestre National de Lille in 1976 and led it on stages across 32 countries on 4 continents.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Mahler was deeply affected by the themes in Hans Bethge's collection of classical Chinese poems, Die chinesische Flöte, which focused on the brevity of life, beauty, nature, and the human condition.

Compositional Technique

The work features alternating tenor and contralto (or baritone) voices, with the tenor singing texts about earthly beauties and vanities, and the alto reflecting on life with profound resignation.

Compositional Technique

Das Lied von der Erde is a hybrid work, combining the architectural characteristics of a symphony with the expressive qualities of a Lied, including a cyclic pentatonic three-note motif.

Composition History

Mahler subtitled Das Lied von der Erde 'Symphony' but avoided numbering it, fearing the 'curse of the 9th' that had affected composers like Schubert and Beethoven.

Historical Context

Both Mahler's work and Hans Bethge's poem collection, Die chinesische Flöte, reflect Europe's growing interest in Asian arts, which expanded from Japan to the entire Far East after the 1867 and 1900 Expositions Universelles in Paris.