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Background
In 1897, Mahler became the director of the Vienna Hofoper. Over the following years his compositional output dwindled due to over-work and ill health; between 1897 and 1900, he only completed the Fourth Symphony and the Der Knaben Wunderhorn setting ‘Revelge’.[1] Eventually Mahler suffered a near-fatal haemorrhage on the night of February 24, 1901, requiring emergency treatment, an operation, and a seven weeklong recuperation. [2] [1]
From June to August, Mahler spent his vacation at his newly completed lakeside villa near Maiernigg. Its isolation meant the summer was peaceful[3], and he experienced the most productive summer of his life,[4] completing eight Lieder and two movements of the Fifth Symphony, including four of the Ruckert-Lieder.[1] The serenity of his surroundings, as well as the emotional aftereffects of the near-death experienced he had suffered earlier in 1901, exerted a considerable influence on the Ruckert-Lieder, and they contributed to Mahler creating a new musical style which “[reveal] an artist who is already exploring another world”.[5] [1]
Overview
Each Ruckert-Lied requires a specific ensemble of instruments, different from one song to the next.[6] The instrumentation of all five combined is however equivalent to a standard-sized orchestra. Though it has become standard to perform them in large halls with full-size orchestras, Mahler himself premiered and preferred to perform the Ruckert-Lieder in a small hall with a small orchestra.[6]
- ^ a b c d Franklin, Peter. "Mahler, Gustav". Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. §7 Vienna 1897-1907. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
- ^ de la Grange, Henry-Louis (1995). Gustav Mahler: Vienna: The Years of Challenge (1897-1904). Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 334, 342. ISBN 978-0-19-315159-8.
- ^ de la Grange (1995), p. 365.
- ^ de la Grange (1995), p. 369.
- ^ de la Grange (1995), pp. 367–8.
- ^ a b de la Grange (1995), p. 786.