September 12, 1910: The world premiere of Gustav Mahler's Eighth
Symphony and the artistic breakthrough for which the composer had
yearned all his life. Munich's new Musik Festhalle was filled to
capacity on two successive evenings for the performances, which were
received with rapturous applause. Representatives of many European royal
houses were in attendance, along with an array of stars from the musical
and literary world, including Thomas Mann and the young Arnold
Schoenberg. Also present were Alma Mahler, the composer's wife, and
Alma's longtime lover, the architect Walter Gropius. Knowledge of their
relationship would precipitate an emotional crisis in Mahler that,
compounded with his heart condition and the loss of his young daughter
Maria, would lead to his premature death the next year.
In The Eighth, Stephen Johnson provides a masterful account of the
symphony's far-reaching consequences and its effect on composers,
conductors, and writers of the time. The Eighth looks behind the
scenes at the demanding one-week rehearsal period leading up to the
premiere--something unheard of at the time--and provides fascinating
insight into Mahler's compositional habits, his busy life as a
conductor, his philosophical and literary interests, and his personal
and professional relationships. Johnson expertly contextualizes Mahler's
work among the prevailing attitudes and political climate of his age,
considering the art, science, technology, and mass entertainment that
informed the world in 1910. The Eighth is an absorbing history of a
musical masterpiece and the troubled man who created it.
