Conducted by Leonard Bernstein, the Wiener Philharmoniker (Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra) performs Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 in G major. Soprano: Edith Mathis.

Conducted by Leonard Bernstein, the Wiener Philharmoniker (Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra) performs Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 in G major. Soprano: Edith Mathis.

Mahler wrote his fourth symphony in 1889-1890 and added a song named “Das himmlische Leben” (English: The Heavenly Life) to the fourth movement in 1892. The song presents a child’s vision of Heaven. In fact, musically, the whole symphony is built around that song. It is prefigured in various ways in the first three movements and sung in its entirety by a solo soprano in the fourth movement.

Mahler’s first four symphonies are often referred to as the “Wunderhorn” symphonies because many of their themes originate in earlier songs by Mahler on texts from Des Knaben Wunderhorn (The Youth’s Magic Horn). It is a collection of German folk poems and songs edited by Achim von Arnim and Clemens Brentano and published in Heidelberg, Baden. T.

Articulated in the poetic description of conditions in heaven, the symphony’s central theme is the presence of death. Mahler composed “Das himmlische Leben” as a free-standing piece in 1892. The title is Mahler’s own: in the Wunderhorn collection the poem is called “Der Himmel hängt voll Geigen” (an idiomatic expression akin to “there’s not a cloud in the sky”). Several years later Mahler considered using the song in the fifth and seventh movement, the finale, of his Third symphony. While motifs from “Das himmlische Leben” are found in the Third symphony, Mahler eventually decided not to include it in that work and, instead, made the song the goal and source of his Fourth Symphony. The Fourth Symphony thus presents a thematic fulfilment of the musical world of the Third, which is part of the larger tetralogy of the first four symphonies, as Mahler described them to Natalie Bauer-Lechner. Early plans in which the Symphony was projected as a six-movement work included another Wunderhorn song, “Das irdische Leben” (“Earthly Life”) as a somber pendant to “Das himmlische Leben,” offering a tableau of childhood starvation in juxtaposition to heavenly abundance, but Mahler later decided on a simpler structure for the score.

The symphony’s premiere took place in Munich in November 1901 with the composer himself conducting.

There are four movements:

  1. Bedächtig, nicht eilen (Moderately, not rushed) (Sonata Form)
  2. In gemächlicher Bewegung, ohne Hast (Leisurely moving, without haste) (Scherzo & Trio)
  3. Ruhevoll, poco adagio (Peacefully, somewhat slowly) (Theme & Variations)
  4. Sehr behaglich (Very comfortably) (Strophic)

Fourth Movement lyrics

Das himmlische Leben (aus Des Knaben Wunderhorn)

Wir genießen die himmlischen Freuden,
D’rum tun wir das Irdische meiden.
Kein weltlich’ Getümmel
Hört man nicht im Himmel!
Lebt alles in sanftester Ruh’.
Wir führen ein englisches Leben,
Sind dennoch ganz lustig daneben;
Wir tanzen und springen,
Wir hüpfen und singen,
Sankt Peter im Himmel sieht zu.

Johannes das Lämmlein auslasset,
Der Metzger Herodes d’rauf passet.
Wir führen ein geduldig’s,
Unschuldig’s, geduldig’s,
Ein liebliches Lämmlein zu Tod.
Sankt Lucas den Ochsen tät schlachten
Ohn’ einig’s Bedenken und Achten.
Der Wein kost’ kein Heller
Im himmlischen Keller;
Die Englein, die backen das Brot.

Gut’ Kräuter von allerhand Arten,
Die wachsen im himmlischen Garten,
Gut’ Spargel, Fisolen
Und was wir nur wollen.
Ganze Schüsseln voll sind uns bereit!
Gut’ Äpfel, gut’ Birn’ und gut’ Trauben;
Die Gärtner, die alles erlauben.
Willst Rehbock, willst Hasen,
Auf offener Straßen
Sie laufen herbei!

Sollt’ ein Fasttag etwa kommen,
Alle Fische gleich mit Freuden angeschwommen!
Dort läuft schon Sankt Peter
Mit Netz und mit Köder
Zum himmlischen Weiher hinein.[note 1]
Sankt Martha die Köchin muß sein.

Kein’ Musik ist ja nicht auf Erden,
Die unsrer verglichen kann werden.
Elftausend Jungfrauen
Zu tanzen sich trauen.
Sankt Ursula selbst dazu lacht.
Kein’ Musik ist ja nicht auf Erden,
Die unsrer verglichen kann werden.
Cäcilia mit ihren Verwandten
Sind treffliche Hofmusikanten!
Die englischen Stimmen
Ermuntern die Sinnen,
Daß alles für Freuden erwacht.

The Heavenly Life (from Des Knaben Wunderhorn)

We enjoy heavenly pleasures
and therefore avoid earthly ones.
No worldly tumult
is to be heard in heaven.
All live in the greatest peace.
We lead angelic lives,
yet have a merry time of it besides.
We dance and we spring,
We skip and we sing.
Saint Peter in heaven looks on.

John lets the lambkin out,
and Herod the Butcher lies in wait for it.
We lead a patient,
an innocent, patient,
dear little lamb to its death.
Saint Luke slaughters the ox
without any thought or concern.
Wine doesn’t cost a penny
in the heavenly cellars;
The angels bake the bread.

Good greens of every sort
grow in the heavenly vegetable patch,
good asparagus, string beans,
and whatever we want.
Whole dishfuls are set for us!
Good apples, good pears and good grapes,
and gardeners who allow everything!
If you want roebuck or hare,
on the public streets
they come running right up.

Should a fast day come along,
all the fishes at once come swimming with joy.
There goes Saint Peter running
with his net and his bait
to the heavenly pond.
Saint Martha must be the cook.

There is just no music on earth
that can compare to ours.
Even the eleven thousand virgins
venture to dance,
and Saint Ursula herself has to laugh.
There is just no music on earth
that can compare to ours.
Cecilia and all her relations
make excellent court musicians.
The angelic voices
gladden our senses,
so that all awaken for joy.

Edith Mathis

Edith Mathis
Edith Mathis

Edith Mathis (born 11 February 1938) is a Swiss soprano. She made her operatic debut as the second boy in Zauberflöte in 1956. She continued gaining stage experience in her native Switzerland for the next three years. Her first appearance abroad was at the Cologne Opera in 1959.

In the early 1960s, she made frequent guest appearances in Hamburg, at the Glyndebourne Festival, and the Salzburg Festival.

In 1963, she became a member of the Deutsche Oper in West Berlin. She made her debut at Covent Garden and the Met in 1970. The 1970s saw her appear in the great opera houses of Europe: the Vienna State Opera, the Bavarian State Opera, and the Opéra de Paris.

In addition to her operatic career, Mathis made numerous concert tours in Lieder recitals, including tours to Japan, the USA, Australia, Russia, and Israel.

Sources

M. Özgür Nevres

Published by M. Özgür Nevres

I am Özgür Nevres, a software engineer, a former road racing cyclist, and also an amateur musician. I opened andantemoderato.com to share my favorite music. I also take care of stray cats & dogs. This website's all income goes directly to our furry friends. Please consider supporting me on Patreon, so I can help more animals!

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