Large single sheet flyer, printed for the composer and conductor and distributed at his February 22, 1900 performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. Small nicks to left edge and a small stain upper left corner, else fine. 13.5 x 8 inches (34 x 25.5 cm).
Very rare. We have not traced any examples of this important document ever having appeared at auction and Worldcat likewise locates no institutional copies.
On February 18, 1900, Mahler conducted the Wiener Philharmoniker at the Musikverein in Vienna at the annual Nicolaikonzert, in his own re-re-orchestration of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, his decades-long project to modernize the symphony through the incorporation of modern instruments and techniques, an attempt, according to him, to enhance the expression to Beethoven’s intentions, who he felt had not had an orchestra sufficiently suited to his musical imagination. Mahler's orchestration of the Ninth remains controversial and its critical reception has been mixed. His erasures and additions in the choir passages in the finale —which he doubled by other instruments, because he considered them otherwise not properly set in relief — leave even present-day listeners perplexed. But his intention was to bring out in this score the timbre clarity and the “melodischer Gang” (melodic ductus)—which were also the goal of Wagner’s indications in his own reworkings. Indeed, Mahler was following a very personal ideal of performance, pursuing a much broader and more nuanced concept of “Werktreue” (faithfulness to the original).
Mahler’s Retuschen of Beethoven’s “sacred text," however, aroused a savage response from critics, one calling it "scarcely recognizable" and a "forgery." In Deutsche Zeitung, a newspaper with anti-Semitic orientation, Theodor Helm describes Mahler’s performance of Beethoven’s “Wunderwerk” (miracle work) as alienating and too far removed from “wie es der Meister schrieb” (as the master wrote). Indeed, K.M. Knittel suggests that pervasive antisemitism in fin-de-siècle Vienna offers the best explanation for critics' reactions. Mahler was so taken aback by these criticisms that he decided to issue an explanatory note, responding to critics stressing that he had proceeded carefully, noting that he was not the first conductor to make changes to the Ninth, and stating that he had a "veneration" for Beethoven. He conducted a repeat performance on February 22, 1900 and the present “defense” was distributed gratis at this second performance in which the overture was not included.
Large single sheet flyer, printed for the composer and conductor and distributed at his February 22, 1900 performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. Small nicks to left edge and a small stain upper left corner, else fine. 13.5 x 8 inches (34 x 25.5 cm).
Very rare. We have not traced any examples of this important document ever having appeared at auction and Worldcat likewise locates no institutional copies.
On February 18, 1900, Mahler conducted the Wiener Philharmoniker at the Musikverein in Vienna at the annual Nicolaikonzert, in his own re-re-orchestration of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, his decades-long project to modernize the symphony through the incorporation of modern instruments and techniques, an attempt, according to him, to enhance the expression to Beethoven’s intentions, who he felt had not had an orchestra sufficiently suited to his musical imagination. Mahler's orchestration of the Ninth remains controversial and its critical reception has been mixed. His erasures and additions in the choir passages in the finale —which he doubled by other instruments, because he considered them otherwise not properly set in relief — leave even present-day listeners perplexed. But his intention was to bring out in this score the timbre clarity and the “melodischer Gang” (melodic ductus)—which were also the goal of Wagner’s indications in his own reworkings. Indeed, Mahler was following a very personal ideal of performance, pursuing a much broader and more nuanced concept of “Werktreue” (faithfulness to the original).
Mahler’s Retuschen of Beethoven’s “sacred text," however, aroused a savage response from critics, one calling it "scarcely recognizable" and a "forgery." In Deutsche Zeitung, a newspaper with anti-Semitic orientation, Theodor Helm describes Mahler’s performance of Beethoven’s “Wunderwerk” (miracle work) as alienating and too far removed from “wie es der Meister schrieb” (as the master wrote). Indeed, K.M. Knittel suggests that pervasive antisemitism in fin-de-siècle Vienna offers the best explanation for critics' reactions. Mahler was so taken aback by these criticisms that he decided to issue an explanatory note, responding to critics stressing that he had proceeded carefully, noting that he was not the first conductor to make changes to the Ninth, and stating that he had a "veneration" for Beethoven. He conducted a repeat performance on February 22, 1900 and the present “defense” was distributed gratis at this second performance in which the overture was not included.