Reading Mahler: German Culture and Jewish Identity in Fin-de-Siècle Vienna

Abstract

Reviewed by: Reading Mahler: German Culture and Jewish Identity in Fin-de-Siècle Vienna James L. Zychowicz Reading Mahler: German Culture and Jewish Identity in Fin-de-Siècle Vienna. By Carl Niekerk. Rochester, NY: Camden House, 2010. x + 312 pages. $75.00. A century after the composer's death in 1911, Gustav Mahler has become an iconic figure in modern culture through his influential work as an innovative conductor and his enduring legacy of songs and symphonies. Modern approaches to Mahler often derive from the groundbreaking study by Theodor Adorno, Mahler. Eine musikalische Physiognomik (1960), which departs from the conventional life-and-works approach (predictably divided into early, middle, and late), to pursue instead a topical investigation that focuses on themes in the composer's oeuvre, such as narrative, fanfares, and other elements that convey musico-semiotic interpretations. While such a thematic approach is behind Reading Mahler by Carl Niekerk with its stated focus on Mahler's "interest in and use of literature, philosophy, and the visual arts" (1), the present study is problematic because of the idiosyncratic stances expressed throughout. Yet that does not detract from the need for a study focused on both the texts that inspired Mahler's vocal music, and also the literature the composer actively read. The composer's songs are based on three primary sources: the early nineteenth-century anthology Des Knaben Wunderhorn, selected verse by Friedrich Rückert, and the Chinese-inspired poetry of Hans Bethge; with Mahler's symphonic music including the setting of a text from Nietzsche's Also sprach Zarathustra (in the Third Symphony) and, in the Eighth Symphony, the Latin hymn text "Veni, creator spiritus" along with the final scene from the second part of Goethe's Faust. Mahler's music is not limited to those literary models, but involves references to Jean Paul through the designation of the First Symphony as "Titan" and to E.T.A. Hoffmann, whose musical writings fascinated the composer and which inspired connections in Mahler's music with his audiences. From this perspective, a survey of the literary aspects of Mahler's music may parallel an overview of nineteenth-century literature. Mahler's reading also emerges in the documented conversations with his confidante Natalie Bauer-Lechner, his widow Alma Mahler, and in other reminiscences. As such, Mahler study would be served well by a literary companion to supplement studies focused on music, as Niekerk promises later in his introduction. At some point, though, the present study goes beyond such a literary companion to include, as stated in the subtitle, "German Culture and Jewish Identity in Fin-de-Siècle Vienna," the latter limiting the scope of the investigation to a locus that was Mahler's home during the decade he led the Vienna Hofoper. (Such a companion would work well, especially if organized encyclopedically.) Rather, the volume contains a series of specialized essays. Niekerk specifically discusses Mahler's music in six chapters, which are divided into two sections. The first section, entitled "The Crisis of German Culture," contains three essays, "Titan: Symphony of an Anti-Hero," "Des Knaben Wunderhorn: Rediscovering the 'Volk'," and "Nietzsche and the Crisis of German Culture." In these three essays, the author essentially reviews Mahler's works through his Fourth Symphony. The second section is entitled "German Culture and Its Others," with chapters concerning "Rembrandt and the Margins of German Culture," "Goethe against German Culture" and "The Two Faces of German Orientalism." The second part mainly concerns the Seventh and Eighth Symphonies, along with the symphonic song cycle Das Lied von der Erde, with references to other works throughout. [End Page 140] Mahler's artistic legacy is primarily musical, and while an investigation with a literary focus is important, it is difficult to account for Niekerk taking issue in his introduction with the idea that "[t]he assumption, implicit or explicit, is often that Mahler's interest in literature and culture merely mirrors his musical preferences" (1). This statement is sufficiently intriguing to merit explication by either citing the composer's statements about personal musical choices or the evidence for this that could be inferred from the repertoire he conducted, the latter qualified by an understanding of...