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This working manuscript places the Scherzo second, and omits the fourth
and fifth movements. It was presumably copied in connection with
preparation the partial performance of the work, with this
configuration of movements, at the Berlin Philharmonie on 4
March 1895; the orchestra was the Berlin Philharmonische
Orchester, conducted by the composer (the rest of the
concert
was conducted by Richard Strauss). The verso of the front cover
has an autograph annotation that may perhaps relate to section
or movement durations, noted during a rehearsal:
Fig. 1
The New York Public Library
The precise date at which this performance was discussed and
agreed with Strauss is uncertain, but it must have been sometime
in the autumn of 1894. In his letter to Strauss of 19
July 1894 (GMRSB, 39–40;
GMRSBE, 37–8) Mahler announced the completion of the
work (it seems unlikely that such a scheme would have been
discussed before that date), but by 4 January 1895 (GMRSB, 41;
GMRSBE, 38) he could report that the orchestral
parts ([CO]) for the three movements were complete, and were to
be used in a run-through in Hamburg
the following week; although it is not
mentioned, Weidig's copy of the score of the first three movements
must also have been ready some time before this date. On 27 January
Mahler reported that the run-through had taken place, and that
the material for the Symphony was ready (GMRSB, 42;
GMRSBE, 39). Remarkably we have a fascinating account of that
read-through of the first three movements. Although
it was recorded many years after the event, it does offer the
first-hand memories of one of the few people present, the
composer and critic, J.B. Foerster (JBFDP,
406–7):
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Zu Beginn der neuen Saison³ kam es im kleinen
Coventgarten-Saal bei geschlossenen Türen zur Uraufführung des
Allegros, des langsamen Satzes und des Scherzos. Das Orchester
des Stadttheaters verehrte seinen Dirigenten und kam mit Freuden
seinem Wunsch nach. Auf der Galerie hatten Gäste Platz genommen,
acht im ganzen: die ihre Karriere in Hamburg beginnende Anna
Mildenburg,⁴ der Schauspieler
[Karl] Wagner, Rechtsanwalt Doktor [Hermann] Behn
und Fabrikant Wilhelm Berkan mit ihren Gemahlinnen, endlich
meine Frau⁵
und ich. |
At the beginning of the new season³
the first performance of the Allegro, slow movement
and Scherzo took place in the small Covent Garden
hall, behind closed doors. The orchestra of the
Stadttheater respected its conductor and happily
acceded to his wish. Guests, eight in all, had taken
their seats in the circle: Anna von Mildenburg, just
starting her career in Hamburg,⁴
the actor [Karl] Wagner, the lawyer Dr [Hermann]
Behn and the manufacturer Wilhelm Berkan with their
wives, and finally my wife⁵
and myself.
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Mahler erschien mit dem Orchestermitglied Weidich
[recte: Weidig], einem älteren Herrn, der die Aufgabe hatte, die von Mahler
während der Probe bezeichneten Abänderungen und Ergänzungen
vorzumerken. Unser Zuhörerkreis vernahm zuerst nur kurze
Bruchstücke der Musik, denn Mahler unterbracht das Spiel immer
wieder durch seine Bemerkungen: „Weidlich, das Violoncello
unisono mit dem Fagott – die Oboen streichen – Flöten verdoppeln
– die Harmonie in die Posaunen.” |
Mahler appeared with a member of the
orchestra, Weidich [recte: Weidig], an old man whose
task it was to record the revisions and additions
specified by Mahler during the rehearsal. At first
our group of listeners heard only short fragments of
music, as Mahler constantly interrupted the playing
with his comments: Weidlich, the cello in unison
with the bassoon – delete the oboes – double the
flutes – the harmony in the trombones. |
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Weidichs Vormerkbuch war bald vollgeschrieben.
Manche Abänderungen und die dynamische Details wurden gleich an
Ort und Stelle in die Partiturstimmen eingetragen, das Übrige
wurde in der Pause berichtigt. Nach dieser Vorbereitung spielte
das Orchester Satz um Satz ohne Unterbrechung durch und belohnte
zum Schluß den Komponisten mit herzlichem Applaus. Wir Zuhörer
waren hingerissen. Doktor Behn und ich, die wir bereits in das
Werk eingeweiht waren, lauschten berauscht den Zauberklängen.
Geradezu geblendet waren wir von dem zweiten Thema (E-dur) im
ersten Satz mit seiner lyrischen Schönheit und Innigkeit, dann
von dem Trio im Scherzo, wo Mahler in kühner dreistimmiger
Führung, in der sich die Dissonanzen zum lieblichsten
Zusammenklang einen, die tönende Seele der Trompeten entdeckt
hat. |
Weidich's notebook was soon full.
Many alterations and details of dynamics were
entered into the parts there and then, and the rest
were corrected during the interval. After this
preparation the orchestra played through movement by
movement without interruption and at the end awarded
the composer enthusiastic applause. Those of us in
the audience were overpowered. Although
we had already been introduced to the work, Dr Behn and I listened
intoxicated to the magical sounds. We were
immediately dazzled by the second theme (in E major)
of the first movement, with its lyrical beauty and
ardour, then by the Trio of the Scherzo, where
Mahler – in a daring three-part texture, in which
dissonances united with delightful harmonies –
revealed the musical soul of the trumpet. |
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Doktor Behn, ein ausgezeichneter Musiker und
Pianist, versprach, eine Einrichtung der Partitur zu vier Händen
für zwei Klaviere versuchen zu wollen, „damit wir nicht
jahrelang auf eine Wiederaufführung warten müssen.” Auch bei
dieser Klavierpremiere in Behns Villa an der Alster war ich
zugegen. An den Klavieren nahmen der Komponist und der Gastgeber
Platz. Unter den Gästen erschien auch Bülows greise Freundin and
warme Verehrerin Frau Lazarus. Sie versicherte uns beim Abschied,
sie scheide als nicht weniger glühende Vereherin Gustav Mahlers. |
Dr Behn, an outstanding musician and
pianist, declared he wished to attempt an
arrangement of the score for two pianos, four hands,
'because we must not wait a year for a repeat
performance'. I was also present at this piano
première at Behn's villa on the Alster. The composer
and the host took their places at the piano. Von
Bülow's aged friend and ardent supporter, Frau
Lazarus, was among the guests. Making her farewell
she assured us that she left as no less enthusiastic
an admirer of Gustav Mahler. |
Apart from a layer of revisions and corrections, the Hamburg run-through would be the most likely occasion
for the addition of the timings for the first and second
(=Scherzo) movements.⁶
How accurately the score and parts were collated during and
after the run-through is a matter for
conjecture. Further layers of revisions may have been added by
Mahler before (during rehearsals) and after the March performance of the
first three movements; again the thoroughness of any collation
of score and parts is open to debate.
The fact that the pagination in ACF1
is NOT continuous (which it is in
ACF2) perhaps indicates that
the movement order was in some sense provisional⁷ – either the
order in the symphony was still not quite fixed,⁸ or Mahler was undecided about the sequence to be adopted in the partial
première. This uncertainty is also reflected in the sequence of
rehearsal numbers: initially reflecting the movement order of
this manuscript, in having a continuous sequence through the
first movement and Scherzo (in the latter the first bar
corresponds to figure 28) it then adopts a new sequence
for the Andante moderato. When the final movement order
was adopted (from
ACF2 onwards) this sequence of rehearsal numbers
was retained, no doubt for pragmatic reasons: the task of
providing a new sequence in all the parts of the Scherzo would
have been time-consuming and costly. Exactly when the final
movement order was established definitively is not known, but
the
programme of the partial première lists them in the now
familiar sequence.
The autograph full score
AF2 was the primary source used by Weidig when
preparing ACF1, but the relationship
between the two manuscripts is complicated by the fact that
AF2 itself contains several layers of
corrections and revisions. The earliest revisions were made in
ink during the process of writing out the score and these,
together with later revisions in red and blue crayon were
incorporated into the original layer of Weidig's copy. Mahler
subsequently made further changes to
AF2
in blue crayon (and perhaps ink) and these were transferred to
ACF1 by Mahler who also made further revisions
directly into the newer score (for a graphic summary of this
overview, see the provisional
stemma).
It seems surprising that Mahler would enter a further series of
revisions into
AF2 at a
time when ACF1 was in existence, and the main working
copy for the first three movements. One explanation would be
that Mahler did so at a time when he did not have access to ACF1
and two possible occasions were (a) while ACF1 was
being used as the copy text for the preparation of the
orchestral parts (presumably in December 1894) and (b) after it
was sent to Strauss in Berlin (the revised parts –
and by implication, the revised version of the score, ACF1a –
were ready for dispatch by 27 January 1895; see
GMRSB,
42;
GMRSBE, 39). It appears that in the event only the score was
sent to Strauss – Mahler's letter of 5 February (GMRSB,
43;
GMRSBE, 40) assumes that his colleague had it to hand –
and that Mahler planned to take the parts with him to Berlin for the
first rehearsal in mid-February (GMRSB,
46;
GMRSBE, 42).
Perhaps the most significant example of late revisions in
AF2
that were not transferred to ACF1 is the
redistribution of the original timpani part in the first
movement and scherzo for two players. This process was first
sketched in blue crayon in
AF2, Mahler then worked on
the details in an autograph part for the two players, and
prepared a full score Einlage to replace the first page
of the scherzo in ACF1, but never entered the rest of
the revised text of AO into ACF1, the score from
which he conducted in March 1895 (see the description of
the autograph timpani part (AO)
for the details and conjectural chronology of this complex
revision process). A rather different situation occurs in the Andante moderato,
bb. 171–4 and 280–5; here the original layer of ACF1
adopts readings that are close to the published version of the
string parts, but with no textual foundation in
AF2 –
it is not clear from what Weidig was working. |
