Das Lied von der Erde is highly unusual, constantly shifting between genres, appearing at times as a song cycle with a large orchestra, and at other times revealing its true symphonic nature.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Mahler used ancient Chinese poetry, drawn from Hans Bethge's collection The Chinese Flute, as a vehicle for his own deeply personal thoughts, amending and adding new lines to the texts.
Recording & Production
This album was recorded live at the Philharmonie, Berlin, on October 14, 2018, as a co-production with Deutschlandfunk Kultur and the Rundfunk-Orchester und -Chöre gGmbH Berlin (ROC).
Composition History
The year 1907 was a fateful turning point for Mahler, marked by his resignation from the Vienna Court Opera, the death of his four-year-old daughter Maria Anna, and a serious heart condition diagnosis.
Critical Reception
Dmitri Shostakovich considered Das Lied von der Erde, particularly its final movement, to be his 'desert island score'.
Composer's Artistic Vision
In Das Lied von der Erde, Mahler consciously juxtaposes the mortality of humans with the immortal nature of Life itself, aligning more with the teachings of Buddha or Lao Tse.
Composition History
Gustav Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde was written after his monumental Symphony No. 8, but he avoided numbering it as his Ninth Symphony due to superstition among European composers after Beethoven.
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