Philip West’s Chamber Ensemble Arrangement of Mahler’s Rückert Lieder

T  he performances here, leaving aside the emotional circumstances of their provenance, are priceless. [DeGaetani’s] illness had done nothing to dim the lustrous quality of her instantly recognizable mezzo voice nor her impeccable musicianship. West’s chamber reductions of the orchestral scores are skillful and effective. This is one of my ‘desert isle’ recordings [ —one that, were I marooned on a desert isle, I would salvage as one of the but few things I could take with me from the wreck].”
  —  J. Scott Morrison, 2003.

I spend part of Easter Sunday listening to the chamber ensemble arrangements of Mahler’s ‘Fünf Lieder nach Texten von Friedrich Rückert’ by Jan DeGaetani’s husband, Philip West (oboe, English horn, shawm, and krummhorn; long-time Professor of chamber music at Eastman School of Music), sung by DeGaetani, accompanied by the Eastman Chamber Ensemble. These are the last recordings made by DeGaetani, several months before her death from leukemia. The recording was done in 1989 and released on Bridge Records in 1993. Coincidentally, Philip West died also of leukemia 14 years later, on 26-JUN-2004. He was 73. At the time of her death, she had been 56.

The movements are as follows:

• Blicke mir nicht in die Lieder! − Do not look at my songs! (June 1901)
  
• Ich atmet’ einen linden Duft − I breathed a gentle fragrance (July 1901)
  
• Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen − I am lost to the world (August 1901)
  
• Um Mitternacht − At midnight (August 1901)
  
• Liebst du um Schönheit − If you love for beauty (August 1902)

W est’s arrangements enhance the suppleness of line, delicacy of texture, and uncertainty of intermittent admixtures—they emphasize these qualities even more than in the original Mahler orchestrations.

In fact, if you hear DeGaetani’s rendering of the West arrangements, you will rethink whether the original full-orchestra Mahler manuscripts were as good as these—rethink whether any of the many superb orchestral performances of the originals are anywhere near this good. In some ways, West’s arrangements are like expert ‘novelizations’ of a screenplay—faithful transductions after-the-fact, which not only are true to the original intent but in many ways improve upon the originals or reveal shades and nuances that were not fully developed in them.

Chronologically, these lieder hail from a time in Mahler’s life when he was in progressively worse health, and the precariousness of his prognosis totally changed his outlook and his compositional style—from the more extroverted ‘early’ Mahler, to the introverted and otherworldly ‘late’ Mahler. Four of these five songs were written in the summer of 1901; Liebst du um Schönheit in summer of 1902. The first four were originally issued individually, in versions for voice with piano and orchestra; Liebst was only in piano manuscript and was orchestrated posthumously in 1916.

Unlike his ‘Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen’ or ‘Kindertotenlieder’, Mahler’s five Rückert Lieder do not form a cycle. And their other-worldliness is not some beatific transcendental vision; rather, it is an existential despair—a profound relinquishing; a near-total cessation of desire; a hebephrenic hymn, inconsolable, announcing the futility of any attempts to provide solace.

Blicke mir nicht in die Lieder’ confides that the poet/composer/performer mistrusts her/his own judgment as frail or unreliable—confides an irreducible uncertainty, such that anything she/he might say does not bear overmuch scrutiny. A life’s story, retold in the waning days, may be marked by revisions and changed perceptions—priorities reset and substituted in recollection, priorities that may not have been quite as they are now being recounted.

The orchestral version of these lieder is thinly orchestrated—mostly single winds, horn, harp, plus a few violins and violas; in some songs a celesta is added. The string parts are ethereal, atmospheric. ‘Um Mitternacht’ is dark, midnightly in its coloration. Here, Mahler specified an orchestra without strings, just pairs of woodwinds (with a single oboe d’amore instead of an oboe section), three horns, two trumpets, three trombones, a solitary tuba, tympani, plus harp and piano.

Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen’, the most hebephrenic, regressive, and despondent of the Rückert songs, is serene only by way of withdrawal from society. We infer that the withdrawal is natural result of the protagonist’s struggle in the preceding two stanzas. This song, dark and weighty, has an English horn but no flute. It presents a pensive upward melodic line, up from two notes to three, and then arcing toward the line’s melodic peak, followed by descent. This is beautiful in all of the various versions. But it seems best of all in a thinner chamber ensemble arrangement, like Philip West’s, or in the original piano version. The Jan DeGaetani—Eastman Ensemble performance (this arr. by Philip West) is my favorite. Or, a close ‘second’, the Lorraine Hunt Lieberson—Roger Vignoles one—also very intimate. In the case of the latter version, Lieberson’s own failing health informed her interpretation, in much the same manner as Jan DeGaetani’s health informed the 1989 Eastman performance. ‘Desert isle’ material, indeed!

• West P. Mahler: Four Rückert Songs, arr. for voice and chamber ensemble (score). Theo Presser, 1989.
  
• Jan DeGaetani page at Eastman School
  
• Harrell E. Philip West obituary. Aspen Times, 23-AUG-2004.
  
• Mahler Society U.K.
  
• Mahler Society New York
  
• Intl Mahler Society
  
• Mahler Archives Chicago
  
• Rückert-Lieder page at Wikipedia
  
• Adorno T. Mahler: A Musical Physiognomy. Univ Chicago, 1996.
  
• Carr J. The Real Mahler. Constable and Robinson, 1997.
  
• DeGaetani J, Eastman Chamber Ensemble. Berlioz, Mahler Lieder. (Bridge, 1993.)
  
• de la Grange H-L. Gustav Mahler: Triumph and Disillusion (1904-1907). Vol 3. Oxford Univ, 2000.
  
• Feder S. Gustav Mahler: Life in Crisis. Routledge, 2004.
  
• Franklin P. Life of Mahler. Cambridge Univ, 1997.
  
• Friedfeld M. Kindertotenlieder. Classical.net, 2001.
  
• Lieberson L, Vignoles R. Live from Wigmore Hall. (BBC, 2000.)
  
• Mahler G. Fünf Lieder nach Texten von Friedrich Rückert. (voice and piano) Kahnt, 1905.
  
• Mitchell D. Discovering Mahler. Boydell, 2007.
  
• Painter K, ed. Mahler and His World. Princeton Univ, 2002.
  
• Reilly E. Rückert-Lieder. American Symphony Orchestra program notes, 1998.
  
• Rivero H. The Rise of Pseudo-Historical Fiction. Lang, 2004.
  
• Russell P. Light in Battle with Darkness: Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder. Lang, 1991.
  
• Mahler G. Rückert-Lieder. Transcription for voice, harp, strings. Kalmus, 1950.

Ich atmet' einen linden Duft!	I breathed a gentle fragrance!
Im Zimmer stand	In the room stood
Ein Zweig der Linde,	a sprig of linden,
Ein Angebinde	a gift
Von lieber Hand.	from a dear hand.
Wie lieblich war der Lindenduft!	How lovely was the fragrance of linden!
Wie lieblich ist der Lindenduft!	How lovely is the fragrance of linden!
Das Lindenreis	That twig of linden
Brachst du gelinde!	you broke off so gently!
Ich atme leis	Softly I breathe in
Im Duft der Linde	the fragrance of linden,
Der Liebe linden Duft.	the gentle fragrance of love.
Liebst du um Schönheit,	If you love for beauty,
O nicht mich liebe!	Oh, do not love me!
Liebe die Sonne,	Love the sun,
Sie trägt ein gold'nes Haar!	She has golden hair!
Liebst du um Jugend,	If you love for youth,
O nicht mich liebe!	Oh, do not love me!
Liebe der Frühling,	Love the spring;
Der jung ist jedes Jahr!	It is young every year!
Liebst du um Schätze,	If you love for treasure,
O nicht mich liebe.	Oh, do not love me!
Liebe die Meerfrau,	Love the mermaid;
Sie hat viel Perlen klar.	She has many clear pearls!
Liebst du um Liebe,	If you love for love,
O ja, mich liebe!	Oh yes, do love me!
Liebe mich immer,	Love me ever,
Dich lieb' ich immerdar.	I'll love you evermore!
Blicke mir nicht in die Lieder!	Do not look at my songs!
Meine Augen schlag' ich nieder,	My eyes I lower,
Wie ertappt auf böser Tat.	as if I've been caught in an evil deed.
Selber darf ich nicht getrauen,	I can't even trust myself
Ihrem Wachsen zuzuschauen.	to watch them grow.
Deine Neugier ist Verrat!	Your curiosity is a betrayal!
Bienen, wenn sie Zellen bauen,	Bees, when they build their cells,
Lassen auch nicht zu sich schauen,	also do not let anyone observe them;
Schauen selber auch nicht zu.	even themselves.
Wann die reichen Honigwaben	If the rich honeycombs
Sie zu Tag gefördert haben,	are brought out to the light of day,
Dann vor allen nasche du!	then you shall taste them before everyone else!
Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen,	I am lost to the world
Mit der ich sonst viele Zeit verdorben,	with which I used to waste so much time,
Sie hat so lange nichts von mir vernommen,	It has heard nothing from me for so long
Sie mag wohl glauben, ich sei gestorben!	that it may very well believe that I am dead!
Es ist mir auch gar nichts daran gelegen,	It is of no consequence to me
Ob sie mich für gestorben hält,	Whether it thinks me dead;
Ich kann auch gar nichts sagen dagegen,	I cannot deny it,
Denn wirklich bin ich gestorben der Welt.	for I really am dead to the world.
Ich bin gestorben dem Weltgetümmel,	I am dead to the world's tumult,
Und ruh' in einem stillen Gebiet!	And I rest in a quiet realm!
Ich leb' allein in meinem Himmel,	I live alone in my heaven,
In meinem Lieben, in meinem Lied!	In my love and in my song!
Um Mitternacht	At midnight
Hab' ich gewacht	I awoke
Und aufgeblickt zum Himmel;	and gazed up to heaven;
Kein Stern vom Sterngewimmel	No star in the entire mass
Hat mir gelacht	did smile down at me
Um Mitternacht.	at midnight.
Um Mitternacht	At midnight
Hab' ich gedacht	I projected my thoughts
Hinaus in dunkle Schranken.	out past the dark barriers.
Es hat kein Lichtgedanken	No thought of light
Mir Trost gebracht	brought me comfort
Um Mitternacht.	at midnight.
Um Mitternacht	At midnight
Nahm ich in acht	I paid close attention
Die Schläge meines Herzens;	to the beating of my heart;
Ein einz'ger Puls des Schmerzes	One single pulse of agony
War angefacht	flared up
Um Mitternacht.	at midnight.
Um Mitternacht	At midnight
Kämpft' ich die Schlacht,	I fought the battle,
O Menschheit, deiner Leiden;	O Mankind, of your suffering;
Nicht konnt' ich sie entscheiden	I could not decide it
Mit meiner Macht	with my strength
Um Mitternacht.	at midnight.
Um Mitternacht	At midnight
Hab' ich die Macht	I surrendered my strength
In deine Hand gegeben!	into your hands!
Herr! über Tod und Leben	God! over death and life
Du hältst die Wacht	You keep watch
Um Mitternacht!	at midnight!