This volume concentrates on the composer's vocal music, including the
late Rueckert Lieder, the 8th Symphony and Das Lied von der Erde.
A monument in Mahler studies, this volume concentrates on the composer's
vocal music and, in particular, on some of his most famous, most
original and best loved compositions: the late Rueckert orchestral songs
and Kindertotenlieder; Das Lied von der Erde, one of the composer's
supreme masterpieces, and the vast Eighth Symphony. Much new ground is
broken but the author bases his conclusions on a meticulous examination
of the principal manuscript sources, especially those for Das Lied. He
offers an unprecedented exploration of the original Chinese texts for
that work and indeed of the whole Oriental dimension of Mahler's last
and greatest song-cycle. Time and time again, the composer's sketches
back up the author's reading of these massive scores and there will be
few among this book's readers who will not find a familiar passage or
movement sharply illuminated by fresh insights and information. The
scope of the book, despite its concentration, is immensely wide; and so
is the readership it addresses: Mahler scholars, performers, and general
readers.
DONALD MITCHELL was Founder Professor of Music at the University of
Sussex. He is currently Visiting Professor at Sussex and York, and
formerly at King's College, London.