When Gustav Mahler took over the directorship of the Vienna Court Opera in 1897, the most important and at the same time most testing phase of his life began. His ten years in Vienna, which ended in 1907 with his resignation from the post of Court Opera Director, saw both burgeoning artistic fame and several personal crises, which together triggered a creative process that fundamentally shaped Mahler’s style.
With the Fifth Symphony, composed in 1901/02, the composer struck a new path that departed from the “Wunderhorn” symphonies. He abandoned vocal elements to concentrate on a purely instrumental mode of expression. One of the first to recognise the Fifth as an artistic departure was Romain Rolland. In a review, he wrote: “Mahler wants to prove himself capable of writing pure music. For him, this is a dangerous experiment.” The composer was aware of this ambivalent response, complaining after a performance: “The Fifth is a cursed work. Nobody gets it.”
Often interpreted as a musical love letter to Alma Mahler, the famous Adagietto is today one of the Austrian composer’s most popular works – not least due to its prominent use in Luigi Visconti’s film “Death in Venice”. However, the symphony begins with a funeral march, which can perhaps be partly attributed to a bout of ill health in 1901 from which Mahler recovered only slowly. At the same time, the Fifth is also an expression of a newfound zest for life brought by his marriage to Alma.
In contrast to the Fifth, the Sixth, written in 1903/04, is undeniably one of the composer’s darkest works. The Finale’s infamous hammer blows can be viewed as foreshadowing the various misfortunes that Mahler endured in the years to follow: the loss of his daughter Maria, his serious heart condition and his resignation from the position in Vienna. Even if these events did not occur until later, the symphony remains a bleak testament to Mahler’s artistic preoccupation with the vagaries of fate.
The Seventh, written in 1904/05, constitutes a further stylistic break. This is perhaps the Austrian composer’s most enigmatic symphony. While the two movements Nachtmusik I and II and the spooky scherzo evoke surreal moods, the Finale is a gigantic triumphal procession. Scholars disagree on whether this is meant ironically or is in fact intended to represent a true victory over darkness.
These three symphonies were composed during a period in which, as opera director in Vienna, Mahler enjoyed widespread acclaim while simultaneously suffering bitter attacks. His uncompromising reforms, his perfectionism and not least his Jewish background made him a target of conservative and anti-Semitic voices. While setting new standards in opera performance every evening, the growing cacophony of public criticism finally led him to resign in 1907. In their astonishing diversity, the Symphonies Nos. 5, 6 and 7 are testimony to this turbulent decade.
Hagen Kunze
