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This set of chorus parts, used by Mahler and others for
early performances of the work, has not
been located and probably no longer exists. Nevertheless quite a
lot of its history and content can be uncovered.
Sometime in the spring or summer of 1895 Mahler started planning
the first complete performance of the work at his own expense.
In August, on his way back to Hamburg, he passed through Berlin and had discussions with
the concert agent Hermann Wolff about the project (HLG1, 327, 332), and
while there was told by Hermann Behn that he and Wilhelm Berkhan
would pay for the performance (GMLJ,
503;
GMLJE, 369). Despite this financial support as late as 10 September
matters were still undecided (GMB,
141;
GMSL, 167),
but it seems very likely that despite this, the production of a complete copyist's score and performing
material was begun rather earlier; the process of preparing the
chorus material was particularly urgent, as the parts were needed by October
so that chorus rehearsals could commence – see Mahler's letter to Friedrich Gernsheim (the
conductor of the Stern'sche Chorverein) on 17 October 1895 (GMB,
172;
GMSL,
168).
In the absence of [CCh] there is no direct way to infer which
score –
AF2 or
CF2 (as it then was) – was the source
used as the copy text for the chorus parts, but it was almost
certainly the latter. Another imponderable is the nature of the
method of reproduction: the parts might have all been hand
copied, but given the number of identical parts required (Mahler
initially supplied 30 parts each of the tenor and bass parts (GMB,
173;
GMSL,
169),
and planned to supply more) it is possible that they may
have been printed by lithographic transfer from writing.¹
It may be that Willem Mengelberg was referring to that process
when he noted in
his copy of the
full score that Mahler had told him that Hermann Behn had paid
for the printing of parts.
The documentation for the next stage in the history of the chorus
parts is rather more certain: there is
substantial evidence that
PCh1
was engraved from [CCh], thus omitting revisions made to
ACF2
after October 1895. Between that date and the appearance of the
printed parts (perhaps in 1898/9 or as late as 1903), [CCh] was
the only chorus material available.
The interrelationships between the various sources is
graphically summarized in a provisional
stemma. |
