To
Interpret or to Follow? Mahler's Beethoven
Retuschen and the Romantic Critical Tradition
by Katarina Markovic-Stokes
On 4 November 1898, just two
days before Gustav Mahler's first concert as music director of the
Vienna Philharmonic, a letter entitled "The Jewish Regime at the
Vienna Opera" appeared in the Deutsche Zeitung. Riddled with inflammatory
anti-Semitic content and personal attacks, it harshly criticized Mahler's
interpretation of Beethoven's Eroica Symphony, particularly his
addition of the E clarinet and some brass instruments in certain moments
of dramatic climax. The correspondent, identified only as "E. Th.,"
states:
Yes, Herr Mahler
has E clarinets on the brain. Not content with adding one to the Eroica
he has also reinforced the trombones and double basses, and it is even
being said that he will send his brother-in-law to Jericho to rediscover
Joshua's trumpet, because Aryan trumpets are not loud enough for
him. . . . The orchestra is preparing to hold the forthcoming rehearsals
of the Eroica on the Steinfeld, so that Mahler can employ the field artillery
with some guns to reinforce the kettledrums.
While Mahler obviously did not
have any intention of including field artillery, certain passages in his
performances of the Eroica were undoubtedly more forceful and emphatic than
in performances under other conductors. As the author of the letter correctly
observed, Mahler's orchestra was heavily reinforced in several passages
in the Symphony, the most notable being the famous syncopated passage in
the development section of the first movement (mm.248–79). At this
point, Mahler's annotated orchestral parts from which the Vienna Philharmonic
Orchestra played in this concert of November 1898 show that this passage
received the most changes of any in the Symphony, including alterations
in orchestration, dynamics, and articulation.2 The fact that changes were
so extensive suggests that the passage had some special significance in
Mahler's vision of this work. |
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