' (Songs after Rückert) is a collection of five
Lied
In Western classical music tradition, (, plural ; , plural , ) is a term for setting poetry to classical music to create a piece of polyphonic music. The term is used for any kind of song in contemporary German, but among English and French sp ...
er for voice and orchestra or piano by
Gustav Mahler, based on poems written by
Friedrich Rückert
Friedrich Rückert (16 May 1788 – 31 January 1866) was a German poet, translator, and professor of Oriental languages.
Biography
Rückert was born in Schweinfurt and was the eldest son of a lawyer. He was educated at the local '' Gymnasium' ...
. The songs were first published in ''Sieben Lieder aus letzter Zeit'' (''Seven Songs of Latter Days'').
The songs
# ''Blicke mir nicht in die Lieder!'' (Look not, love, on my work unended!) – 14 June 1901
# ''Ich atmet’ einen linden Duft'' (I breathed the breath of blossoms red) – July 1901
# ''Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen'' (O garish world, long since thou hast lost me) – 16 August 1901
# ''Um Mitternacht'' (At midnight hour) – Summer 1901
# ''Liebst du um Schönheit'' (Lovest thou but beauty) – August 1902
The first four songs were premiered on 29 January 1905 in
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
, Mahler himself conducting, together with his ''
Kindertotenlieder'' (also on poems by Rückert). The last song, ''Liebst du um Schönheit'', was not orchestrated by Mahler himself but by Max Puttmann, an employee of the first publisher, after Mahler's death.
The set of songs was not intended as a cycle: the Lieder were originally published independently from each other, connected only by the poetry and common themes. However, they were later published together and most often have been performed together and come to be known as the ''Rückert-Lieder'', although Mahler did set more texts of Rückert. Artists such as
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (28 May 1925 – 18 May 2012) was a German lyric baritone and conductor of classical music, one of the most famous Lieder (art song) performers of the post-war period, best known as a singer of Franz Schubert's Lieder, ...
and
Kathleen Ferrier
Kathleen Mary Ferrier, CBE (22 April 19128 October 1953) was an English contralto singer who achieved an international reputation as a stage, concert and recording artist, with a repertoire extending from folksong and popular ballads to the c ...
have chosen their own order of the Lieder.
Publication
The songs were first published in 1910 by C.F. Kahnt of Leipzig as ''Sieben Lieder aus letzter Zeit'' (''Seven Songs of Latter Days''), together with "''Revelge''" and "''Der Tamboursg’sell''" (on poems from ''
Des Knaben Wunderhorn'') in the order:
# ''Ich atmet’ einen linden Duft''
# ''Liebst du um Schönheit''
# ''Blicke mir nicht in die Lieder''
# ''Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen''
# ''Um Mitternacht''"
# ''Revelge'' (Reveille)
# ''Der Tamboursg’sell'' (''The Drummer Boy'')
Universal Edition
Universal Edition (UE) is a classical music publishing firm. Founded in 1901 in Vienna, they originally intended to provide the core classical works and educational works to the Austrian market (which had until then been dominated by Leipzig-ba ...
has published a score consisting only of the five Rückert settings.
Instrumentation
The size and constitution of the orchestra varies from song to song, but the instruments required for performance of the complete set are as follows: two
flutes, two
oboe
The oboe ( ) is a type of double reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common oboe plays in the treble or soprano range.
...
s,
oboe d'amore
The oboe d'amore (; Italian for "oboe of love"), less commonly , is a double reed woodwind musical instrument in the oboe family. Slightly larger than the oboe, it has a less assertive and a more tranquil and serene tone, and is considered the ...
,
English horn
The cor anglais (, or original ; plural: ''cors anglais''), or English horn in North America, is a double-reed woodwind instrument in the oboe family. It is approximately one and a half times the length of an oboe, making it essentially an alto ...
, two
clarinets, two
bassoons,
contrabassoon
The contrabassoon, also known as the double bassoon, is a larger version of the bassoon, sounding an octave lower. Its technique is similar to its smaller cousin, with a few notable differences.
Differences from the bassoon
The reed is cons ...
, four
horns, two
trumpet
The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standar ...
s, three
trombone
The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrat ...
s,
bass tuba
The tuba (; ) is the lowest-pitched musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, the sound is produced by lip vibrationa buzzinto a mouthpiece. It first appeared in the mid-19th century, making it one of the new ...
,
timpani
Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a membrane called a head stretched over a large bowl traditiona ...
,
celesta
The celesta or celeste , also called a bell-piano, is a struck idiophone operated by a keyboard. It looks similar to an upright piano (four- or five- octave), albeit with smaller keys and a much smaller cabinet, or a large wooden music box ...
,
harp,
piano
The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a musica ...
and strings.
Discography
*
Frederica von Stade and the London Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Andrew Davis, Columbia, 1979
References
External links
*
Fünf Rückertlieder the lyrics with translations at the LiederNet Archive
on gustavmahler.net (in French)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ruckert-Lieder
Song cycles by Gustav Mahler
Classical song cycles in German