Symfoni nr. 1 (Mahler)

Symfoni nr 1 i D-dur, komponert av Gustav Mahler mellom 1884 og 1888. Verket var i utgangspunktet et symfonisk dikt kalt Titanen (etter en roman av Jean Paul).

Tilblivelse

Det er opplysende å sammenlikne programmet fra de første oppføringene mellom 1889 og 1899 med hverandre. Mahler var åpenbart innledningsvis i villrede, om han skulle betrakte verket som et symfonisk dikt eller som en symfoni. Den opprinnelig planlagte inndelingen av satsen i to deler forsvant med tiden, akkurat som ytterligere en sats som stod som nummer to (den blir leilighetsvis fortsatt fremført under navnet "Blumine"). Ved de første oppføringene forsøkte Mahler også å lette publikums tilgang til verket gjennom verk- og satstitler, som til dels inneholdt litterære trekk. Det tidvis brukte tilnavnet Titan henviser til Jean Pauls roman med samme navn. Forfatteren var Mahlers ungdomstid yndlingsfofatter. Sørgemarsjen bar kortvarig tilnavnet Ein Totenmarsch in Callots Manier, en hentydning til E. T. A. Hoffmanns Fantasiestücke in Callots Manier. Visstnok kjente Mahler ikke dette verket ennå i tiden da den første symfonien oppstod, og etter et forslag fra en Ferdinand Pfohl, en av Mahlers venner, ble tittelen trukket. Etter Mahlers eget sigende skal også satsen ha blitt inspirert av en tegning, som viser den skutte jegeren som begraves av skogens dyr. Til oppføringen i Hamburg i 1893 forfattet Mahler til og med et fullstendig utarbeidet program. Tilnavnet / tilskuddet til tittelen og de programmatiske satsoverskriftene ga Mahler senere avkall på, „weil ich es erlebt habe, auf welch falsche Wege hiedurch [sic!] das Publikum geriet“. Først da førsteutgaven ble trykket i 1899 mottok symfonien sin endelige form med fire satser og betegnelsen "Symfoni nr 1".

Oversikt: Tilblivelseshistorien til Mahlers 1. Symfoni – Fra fremføringer til trykket førsteutgave

Budapest 20. november 1889	Hamburg 27. oktober 1893	Weimar 3. juni 1894	Berlin 16. mars 1896	Førsteutgave, trykket 1899
Symphonische Dichtung in zwei Teilen	„Titan“, eine Tondichtung in Symphonieform	(ukjent)	Symphonie in D-Dur für großes Orchester	Symphonie Nr. 1 in D-Dur
1. del (ingen deltittel)	1. del: „Aus den Tagen der Jugend“, Blumen-, Frucht- und Dornstücke	1. del: „Aus den Tagen der Jugend“, Blumen-, Frucht- und Dornstücke	(ingen deling)	(ingen deling)
1. sats: Introduktion und Allegro comodo	1. sats: „Frühling und kein Ende“ (Einleitung und Allegro comodo). Die Einleitung stellt das Erwachen der Natur aus langem Winterschlafe dar	1. sats: „Frühling und kein Ende“ (Einleitung und Allegro comodo). Die Einleitung schildert das Erwachen der Natur am frühesten Morgen	1. sats: Einleitung und Allegro comodo	1. sats: Langsam. Schleppend. Wie ein Naturlaut. Später: Im Anfang sehr gemächlich
2. sats: Andante	2. sats: „Blumine“ (Andante)	2. sats: „Bluminenkapitel“	(mangler)	(mangler)
3. sats: Scherzo	3. sats: „Mit vollen Segeln“ (Scherzo)	3. sats: „Mit vollen Segeln“ (Scherzo)	2. sats: Scherzo	2. sats: Kräftig bewegt, doch nicht zu schnell
2. del (ingen deltittel)	2. del: „Commedia humana“	2. del: „Commedia humana“
4. sats: A la pompes funèbres; attaca	4. sats: „Gestrandet!“ (ein Todtenmarsch in „Callots Manier“)	4. sats: „Gestrandet!“ Des Jägers Leichenbegängnis	3. sats: „Alla Marcia funebre“	3. sats: Feierlich und gemessen, ohne zu schleppen
5. sats: Molto appassionato	5. sats: „Dall’ Inferno“ (Allegro furioso) folgt, als der plötzliche Ausbruch der Verzweiflung eines im Tiefsten verwundeten Herzens	5. sats: „Dall’ Inferno al Paradiso“ (Allegro furioso ...)	4. sats: Allegro furioso	4. sats: Stürmisch bewegt

Orkestrering

Stykket er skrevet for et stort orkester, som typisk består av omkring hundre instrumenter.

Treblåsere

4 Fløyter (2 veksler Piccolofløyter)

4 Oboer (1 veksler engelsk horn)

4 Klarinetter i B, D, Ess, A (1 veksler bassklarinett i siste sats)

3 Fagotter (1 veksler kontrafagott)

Messingblåsere

7 horn (med "ekstra mannskap" i siste sats)

4 trompeter (med ytterligere en trumpet i siste sats)

3 tromboner

tuba

Perkusjon

4 pauker (2 musikere)

cymbaler

triangel

gong

basstromme

Strykere

harpe

1., 2. fioliner

bratsjer

celloer

kontrabasser.

Struktur

It has a duration of approximately 55 minutes.

In its final form, the symphony has four movements:

1. Langsam, Schleppend (Slowly, dragging) D major
2. Kräftig bewegt (Moving strongly) – a Ländler
3. Feierlich und gemessen (Solemnly and measured) – a funeral march based on the children's song "Frère Jacques" (or "Bruder Martin")
4. Stürmisch bewegt (Stormily agitated)

For the first 3 performances, there was an additional movement, known as the Blumine, between the first and second movements of the piece as it now stands. This movement was originally written for Mahler's incidental music for Joseph Scheffel's play Der Trompeter von Säckingen (1884), which, the Blumine aside, has since been lost. The addition of this movement appears to have been an afterthought, and Mahler discarded it after the Weimar performance in 1894, and it was not discovered again until 1966 when Donald Mitchell unearthed it. The following year, Benjamin Britten conducted the first performance of it since Mahler's time at Aldeburgh. The symphony is almost never played with this movement included today, although it is sometimes heard separately. In the 1970s Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra made the first recording of the symphony to include Blumine movement. This recording has been out-of-print for many years but RCA recently re-released it.

Under this early five-movement scheme, the work was envisioned by Mahler as a large symphonic poem, and he wrote a programme to describe the piece, but without adding any further title for the 1889 Budapest premiere. It was divided into two parts, the first consisting of the first two movements of the symphony as it is now known plus the Blumine, and the second consisting of the funeral-march and finale. For the 1893 Hamburg and 1894 Weimar performances, Mahler gave the piece the title Titan after the novel by Jean Paul, although Mahler specified that the piece was not in any way "about" the book; the nickname is often used today, but properly only applies to those two versions and should not be used in connection with the definitive final version.

The work includes a number of themes from Mahler's song cycle Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (1883–1885), and the available evidence also seems to indicate that Mahler recycled music from his abandoned opera project Rübezahl.

The third measure of the third movement features a double bass soloist performing a variation on the theme of "Frère Jacques", distinguishing it as one of the few symphonic pieces to use the instrument in such a manner. Mahler uses the song, which he cites as "Bruder Martin", changed from major to minor, thus giving the piece the character of a funeral march. The mode change to minor is though not an invention by Mahler, as it is often believed, but rather the way this round was sung in the 19th and early 20th century in Austria.

Transkripsjoner

I 1906 ble et arrangement av Bruno Walter for firehendig piano publisert.

Premieres

• World premiere: 1889 November 20, Budapest, conducted by the composer. The work was poorly received.
• German premieres:

1. 1893 October 27, Hamburg, conducted by the composer.
2. 1894 June 3, Weimar, conducted by the composer.
3. 1896 March 16, Berlin, conducted by the composer.
4. 1899 March, Frankfurt, conducted by the composer.

• Austrian premieres:

1. 1898 March, Prague, conducted by the composer. The first really successful performance.
2. 1900 November 18, Vienna, conducted by the composer.

• English premiere: 1903 October 21, London as part of a Proms concert, conducted by Henry Wood.
• American premiere: 1909 December 16, New York City, conducted by the composer.

Publication

• 1899 February, Vienna, Weinberger.
• 1906 May, Vienna, Universal Edition.
• 1967 Vienna, Universal Edition (critical edition).

External links

• A Century of New Music in Vienna