Enchanted horns lead into dark forests where two brothers vie for the queen's hand, with dire consequences... Inspired by the stories of the Brothers Grimm, Das klagende Lied is Mahler's astonishingly assured Op. 1, a preview of his epic, kaleidoscopic symphonies. Like those, it bursts with the magic and mystery of nature and the joys and fears of childhood. It is also strange, as German fairy tales can be strange and cruel: after a fratricide, a flute is made from the bleached bone of the dead brother, and this flute plays a song that accuses the murderer.
Das klagende Lied is a fairy-tale cantata by Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) for soloists, boys' choir, mixed choir and large orchestra. Gustav Mahler's text is based on Ludwig Bechstein's fairy tale Das klagende Lied and the Brothers Grimm's fairy tale Der singende Knochen. The original version of the three-part work was composed between 1878 and 1880 and was designated by Mahler as his "Opus 1" a few years after it was written. Mahler revised the work in 1893 and 1898 before premiering it in a two-part version in Vienna on February 17, 1901.
There are three parts:
1. Forest Fairy Tale
Mahler's poem follows the ballad first, and here the prequel is told. "There was a proud queen...". A young queen rejects all suitors and will only marry the one who finds a certain red flower in the forest. The text then follows more closely the Grimm's fairy tale in its 1819 version. Two brothers, the older violent and the younger gentle, set out to find the flower. When the younger one finds the flower, he puts it on his hat and goes to sleep. The older brother sees the sleeping man under a willow tree, kills him with his sword, and takes the flower.
2. The Minstrel
As a transition, the motif of the willow tree is taken up again.
"By the willow tree, among the cool firs,
Where jackdaws and ravens flutter,
There lay a fair-haired knight
Buried under leaves and flowers."
A traveling minstrel, passing by the willow, finds a white bone and carves a flute out of it. The moment he puts the bone flute to his mouth, the flute begins to sing:
"Oh minstrel, my dear minstrel
This I must now lament to you:
For a pretty little flower
My brother has struck me dead!
In the woods my young bones were bleached,
While my brother was courting a fair lady!"
Oh, woe, woe, woe!
Every time the minstrel blows on his flute, the same eerie song is heard.
3. Wedding Piece
On his travels, the minstrel comes to the royal castle, where the young queen is celebrating her wedding to the (unknown to her) murderer, who is now king. Again the song of the bone is heard. The king snatches the flute from the minstrel and puts it to his own mouth. At this point, the song of the singing bone becomes an accusation against the king:
"Ah brother, dear brother mine..."
The queen faints, the guests flee, and the castle collapses.
Das klagende Lied is in the tradition of late Romanticism under the influence of Wagner (note the leitmotifs!), but even the original version shows Mahler's independent personal style. Mahler had already found his own musical language by the age of 19.
Text.
Listen to: Sydney Symphony Orchestra, singers and Sydney Philharmonia Choirs conducted by Simone Young.
Choral Masterworks