Gustav Mahler's Symphonic Landscapes

234 Pages·2015·1.955 MB·English

by  Thomas Peattie

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Gustav Mahlers Symphonic Landscapes
In this study Thomas Peattie offers a new account of Mahler’s
symphonies by considering the composer’s reinvention of the genre
in light of his career as a conductor and more broadly in terms of
his sustained engagement with the musical, theatrical, and aesthetic
traditions of the Austrian fin de siècle. Drawing on the ideas
of landscape, mobility, and theatricality, Peattie creates a rich
interdisciplinary framework that reveals the uniqueness of Mahler’s
symphonicidiomanditsradicalattitudetowardsthepresentationand
orderingofmusicalevents.Thebookgoesontoidentifyafundamental
tension between the music’s episodic nature and its often-noted
narrative impulse and suggests that Mahler’s symphonic dramaturgy
canbeunderstoodasaformofabstracttheatre.
thomas peattie is Assistant Professor of Music at Boston
University. His articles and reviews have appeared in the Journal of
theRoyalMusicalAssociation,ActaMusicologica,MusicandLetters,
and Naturlaut. His essay “In Search of Lost Time: Memory and
Mahler’sBrokenPastoral”appearsinthecollectionMahlerandHis
World (2002). His research interests include the Austro-German
symphony, Gustav Mahler, early modernism, sound reproduction,
auditoryculture,aesthetics,andhistoriography.

’
Gustav Mahler s Symphonic
Landscapes
thomas peattie
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pages cm
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN978-1-107-02708-4
1. Mahler,Gustav,1860-1911.Symphonies. 2. Symphonies–Analysis,appreciation.
3. Mahler,Gustav,1860-1911–Criticismandinterpretation. I. Title.
ML410.M23P43 2015
784.2ʹ184092–dc23
2014043419
ISBN978-1-107-02708-4Hardback
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For my parents

Contents
Listoffigures [pageviii]
Acknowledgements [ix]
Introduction:HearingMahler [1]
1 Theexpansionofsymphonicspace [11]
2 “Distantmusic” [47]
3 Alpinejourneys [81]
4 Symphonicpanoramas [116]
5 Wanderers [152]
Bibliography [191]
Index [213]
vii
Figures
1 GustavMahler,SymphonyNo.1,fourthmovement,rehearsal26.
Copyist’smanuscript.TheGustavMahler–AlfredRoséCollection.
MusicLibrary,WesternUniversity,London,Canada. [page61]
2 AlexanderRobertson,ThroughtheDolomites.2nded.London:
GeorgeAllen,1903.CourtesyofHarvardCollegeLibrary,
ImagingServices. [88]
3 JosephMallordWilliamTurner,Rain,Steam,andSpeed–TheGreat
WesternRailway,1844.Oiloncanvas.91×121.8cm.©National
Gallery,London/ArtResource,NewYork. [120]
4 AdolfMenzel,DieBerlin-PotsdamerEisenbahn[TheBerlin
PotsdamRailway],1847.Oiloncanvas.42×52cm.PhotoCredit:
bpk,Berlin/Nationalgalerie/JoergP.Anders/ArtResource,
NewYork. [121]
5 HonoréDaumier,Lewagondetroisièmeclasse[TheThird-Class
Carriage],c.1862–64.©MetropolitanMuseumofArt,
NewYork. [123]
6 Unknownphotographer,[GustavMahler].1904.Reproduced
fromTheMahlerAlbum,GilbertKaplan,Editor. [168]
7 AntonKolm,[GustavMahler].1904.©Bildarchivder
ÖsterreichischenNationalbibliothek,Vienna. [169]
viii