Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen ('Songs of a Travelling Journeyman', often mistranslated as 'Songs of a Wayfarer') is Gustav Mahler's first song cycle. While he had previously written other lieder, they were grouped by source of text or time of composition as opposed to common theme. The four-movement cycle, for low voice (but often performed by a female singer), is widely believed to have been inspired by the conclusion of an unhappy love-affair.
The work's compositional history is complex and difficult to trace. Mahler appears to have begun composing the songs in December 1884 and to have completed them in 1885. He subjected the score to a great deal of revision, however, probably between 1891 and 1896, and some time in the early 1890s orchestrated the original piano accompaniments. As a result of this situation, various discrepancies exist between the different sources.
It appears to have been in the orchestral version that the cycle was first performed, in 1896, but possible indications of an earlier, voice-and-piano performance cannot be discounted. The work was published in 1897 and is one of Mahler's most well-known compositions.
The lyrics are by the composer himself, though they are influenced by Des Knaben Wunderhorn, a collection of German folk poetry that was one of Mahler's favorite books, and the first song is actually based on the Wunderhorn poem "Wann [sic] mein Schatz".
The first movement is entitled "Wenn mein Schatz Hochzeit macht" ("When My Sweetheart is Married"), and the text discusses the Wayfarer's grief at losing his love to another. He remarks on the beauty of the surrounding world, but how that can't keep him from having sad dreams. The orchestral texture is bittersweet, using much double reed and strings.
The second movement, "Ging heut' Morgen übers Feld" ("I Went This Morning over the Field"), is the happiest movement of the work. Indeed, it is a song of joy and wonder at the beauty of nature in simple actions like birdsong and dew on the grass. "Is it not a lovely world?" is a refrain. However, the Wayfarer is reminded at the end that despite this beauty, his happiness will not blossom anymore now that his love is gone. This movement is orchestrated delicately, making use of high strings and flutes, as well as a fair amount of triangle. The melody of this movement, as well as much of the orchestration, is developed into the 'A' theme of the first movement of the First Symphony.
The third movement is a full display of despair. Entitled "Ich hab' ein glühend Messer" ("I Have a Gleaming Knife"), the Wayfarer likens his agony of lost love to having an actual metal blade piercing his heart. He obsesses to the point where everything in the environment reminds him of some aspect of his love, and he wishes he actually had the knife. The music is intense and driving, fitting to the agonized nature of the Wayfarer's obsession.
The final movement culminates in a resolution. The music (also reused in the First Symphony) is subdued and gentle, lyrical and often reminiscent of a chorale in its harmonies. Its title, "Die zwei blauen Augen von meinem Schatz" ("The Two Blue Eyes of my Beloved"), deals with how the image of those eyes has caused the Wayfarer so much grief that he can no longer stand to be in the environment. He describes lying down under a linden tree, allowing the flowers to fall on him. He wishes to return to his life before his travels. He asks that the whole affair had never occurred: "Everything: love and grief, and world, and dreams!"
Songs of a Wayfarer is the normal English translation of the work's title, but Fritz Spiegl pointed out that "ein Geselle" is a journeyman; that is, the stage between apprentice and master craftsman, in which payment was by the day, or jour, and with the 'journeyman' traditionally travelling to gain experience with other masters. A more accurate translation, therefore, may be Songs of a Travelling Journeyman. With this clarified, the cycle reveals an autobiographical aspect of a kind that is familiar from other Mahler works: as a young and newly qualified composer and conductor, Mahler was himself somewhere between an 'apprentice' and a 'master craftsman' and was indeed travelling between towns (Bad Hall; Laibach; Olmütz; Vienna; Kassel...). All the while, he was honing his skills and learning from the great masters in his field
