Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-12-16
MAILER EARTH SONG
GIVEN BY ORCHESTRA
Fascinating Cycle Reveals the
Gloomy Powers of Composer
in Meditative Mood
CHINESE IN INSPIRATION
Lyrics Of Orient in Bysone DAYS Wal
ded to Music by German
Dreamer

Gustav Mailer. writer Of songs ana -.
phonies, dreamer and designer contrik,s.s
10 yesterdays concert by the pbIindstss,u
Orchestra work Of curious proportIo..
and content. far less ambitious than b,.
eighth symphony, and far more intercstts.
II Ia a song cycle In six parts. with ~.
OF the music allotted 20 tenor and contrai,,
The purely orchestral portion Ia neri,gIt,.
80 u Is not easy 10 understand whv n \.
labeled symphony There is morsov.,
practically no recurrence OF therns.
Several Of the single pieces are In the Vein
Of leder. ~"
Historical dsia on the compoaltlon ~ IN.
Song OF the Ea~th" do not abound rbs
sources Of the lyrics are Chinese pn.,.
Whose periods ~ as far back as the eirb,h
century. and farther. The verses as IN
cluded In Mahler's score are taken from
Hans BethgC's The Chinese Flute" III
transcribed them from their Oriental orlr.
inalf. Their titles are The prinkInv
Song Of Earthly Woe" Autumn Solitude !,
"Of Youth" "Of Beauty" The Drrnt.sa
In sprinEtime" and Awaiting a Friends
and Farewell Of a Friend" the two latte,
coupled
These strange verses. mated with muso
that nearly always perfectly lnterprets their
spirit. constitute a series In which the elah.
oratlona OF modern orchestral technlous
are subduod to tho unhappy. ancestral
memories OF n land stepped in the mas,
Sometimes words and melodies exult. Bue
II Ia the exultatlon OF the souls desperate
remedies. or the clean Joys OF Greek ba.
donism there IL no trace when Mahler
as celebrant OF the wlnecup. tells Of he
golden glitter there is in his voice the
haunting Of the grave that IL TO reoeive
him. when he lifts the bowl he sees horrId
figures-apes and ghosts-pl.antoms as un.
real and as terrifying as the opium dreams
OF Coleridge. Dark is life. dark Ia death"
is his chant amid the bahble and reyeI OF
his vintage.
He sees in autumn season OF mlsts but
not OF mellow fruitfulncss" His heart
dies down like the lamp. Sensible OF the
beauty OF II all. no dIscerns In Ha rich
fullness only decay and the breath OF tho
sepulchor. II Is the spirit OF cloudy ana
quiet remorse which breaks out in Eccleri-
astes. and sometimes in Omar the maker
or tents. But withal he can paint ana
carve pictures Of simple pictorial beauty,
when that beauty has youth for It's hero,
against n mosaic background. SILK and
jade and the mirror OF the waters are lovely
In themselves, and the flower gatherers are
lovelier still SO he forgetS the worst
always lowering near, nevertheless-and.
drunk with the spring and the goblet he
makes merry until with Tho Farewell" the
surge OF his old grief overwhelms him and
he passes the door OF life to the throhbinE
of weary and faltering tune But the
world is still IN bloom Heaven is blua
What II man was unhappy
on such foundations Mahler built the
tonal structure Of his cycle. Scoring his
themes profusely but In general with due
care for the simple emotionality of his sub
ject he used most OF those instruments
thought requisite in the twentieth century.
The rhythms are often subtle; the themes
simple. Perhaps the two most easily caught
and appreciated OF these are THE Autumn
Solitude" and the exquisite "Of Youth"
Delicacy OF sentiment and refinement OF
method have produced few finer comblna-
tions than in this latter piece. The mono
tones OF "The Farewell less happily real-
ize the accompanying lyric. Here the fatally
German liking for the postponed climax and
the reiterated mood nearly brings about
a state OF boredom absent from the earlier
portion of the symphony"
The artists who interpreted each three Of
the numbers were Johannes Sembach, the
German tenor. and Tlllie Koenen. the Dutch
contralto. AZ times they were obviously
fearful of losing their places in the wind
inRs OF the score. but they came through
their task with distinction, II not positive
victory. The writing for the tenor part Is
at the top OF Mahler's creative voice now
and then. and on that account II was I'M
possible to tell just what form Mr. SEM
bach was In. Nine. Koenen has a limpld.
easily flowing middle vo.ce, without much
nervous or passionate impetus.
The only other number on the program
was Strauss's tone poem, Don Juan" The
orchestra played II with the brillance and
vivacity which 1t demands and which Mr..
Stoltowski gives IT, b. D.