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The early
compositional history of this song is not well documented: no
autograph manuscripts have been located. Fortunately Natalie
Bauer-Lechner recorded the details of Mahler's vacations in 1898 and
1899 in some detail in her original manuscript, so the outlines, though not the details, of the history of the song can been
traced. The summer of 1898 was relatively unproductive, mainly because
Mahler was in pain after an operation for hemorrhoids, but on 19
July he discussed his creative work with Natalie (NBL2,
121):
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Mahler sprach mir von den drei Liedern (aus „Des
Knaben Wunderhorn‟), die er hier komponiert
hatte. Das beste sei jenes, welches den heftigsten
Ausdruck von Wut und Ärger entfahlte – mit
Orchesterbegleitung –, „wie das heuer, aus einer
Menge von Gründen, meine fortwährende Stimmung ist!‟
rief er zornig. |
Mahler told me about the three songs he had composed
here (from "Des Knaben Wunderhorn"). The best was
the one that showed the most violent
expression of rage and anger – with orchestral
accompaniment – "which, this year, for a lot of
reasons, is my persistent mood!" he exclaimed
angrily. |
The song singled out by
Mahler was undoubtedly Lied des Verfolgtem im Turm, and
the draft (AV) was presented to Nina Spiegler the following year with
the dedication:
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Meine Liebe Nina! Dieß hab ich „unter
hinterweltlichen (metaphysischen) Schmerzen‟ zur
Welt gebracht; hoffentlich merkt man sie in dem
Kinde nicht an. Gedenke Deines Dich liebenden
Freundes Gustav / Wien, Mai 1899. |
My dear Nina! I gave birth to this "suffering from
subterranean (metaphysical) pain"; hopefully it will
not be noticed in the child. Remember your loving
friend Gustav / Vienna, May 1899. |
The manuscript is dated at
the end
Vahrn, Juli 1898, as is that of Wo die schönen Trompeten
blasen. But at present there is no source that offers any
strong clue about the identity of the third song. Indeed, Bauer-Lechner's
report on the summer of 1899 offers a hint that the third song
may not have been completed (NKGXIV/2,
382; c.f.
NBL2,
135):
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Ich fragte, ob er nicht das eine Lied, welches
voriges Jahr in Vahrn unvollendet geblieben war,
wieder aufnehmen könnte. Das sei nicht mehr möglich,
sagte M., so weit war es noch nicht gediehen, „Denn,
wenn einen Kinde, das im 6.ten, ja vielleicht im
5.ten Monat geboren wird, möglicher Weise noch das
leben zu erhalten ist, so kann man einen Embrio
nicht retten, der des schützenden Mutterschoßes zum
Ausreifen noch viel länger bedurf hätte.‟...Er hatte
dies noch kaum gesagt –, als eine Pille, über dessen
Nichtwirken er den ganzen Tag Unbehagen empfunden
hatte, plötzlich ihren verspätete Schuldigkeit zu
tun begann und er schleunigst verschwinden mußte.
Als er wie der „malade imaginaire‟, ganz erheitert
und erlöst zurückkam,, hatte er die „Revelge‟, ein
neues Lied aus „Des Knaben Wunderhorn‟, im Entwurf
seines Skizzenbuches in der Tasche. |
I asked if he would resume the one song which had
remained unfinished at Vahrn the previous year. That
was no longer possible, said M., it had not
developed far enough, "For although a child born in
the sixth, perhaps even in the fifth month may still
be able to sustain life, one cannot save an embryo
which would have required the protective womb to
mature much longer. "... He had barely said this
before a pill over whose inactivity he had felt
discomfort the whole day suddenly began to have its
delayed effect and he was forced to disappear as
soon as possible. When he came back, like the "malade
imaginaire", quite amused and redeemed, he had "Revelge",
a new song from "Des Knaben Wunderhorn", sketched in
his pocket sketchbook.
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Wir mußten über
den reichen Lohn dieses Ganges später noch lachen,
denn M. hielt es für die größte seiner Kompositionen
dieser Art. |
Later on we
laughed at the rich reward of this passage, for M.
considered it the greatest of his compositions of
this kind. |
This account is important
because it specifically identifies Revelge as a new
Wunderhorn setting, effectively ruling out any suggestion that
Revelge was begun the previous year.¹
It also suggests that there may have been one or more now
missing autograph manuscripts: the sketch book in which the
first ideas were notated, a short score draft (though AV1 may
represent that stage) and a fair copy for
voice and piano. However, Renate Hilmar-Voit is of the opinion
that the extent of the corrections that were needed at the
proof stage indicates that whatever type of manuscript it was
(autograph or copyist's manuscript),
the printer's copy must have represented a less finished state
than had been the case with the sources from which the earlier
Wunderhorn settings published by EWZG/Weinberger had been
prepared (see
NKGXIII/2b,
186).
Bauer-Lechner reports that
by 2 July the song was drafted and that Mahler, unusually,
immediately began work on the orchestration which was probably
completed by the middle of the month when Mahler started work on
the Fourth Symphony. On 7 July, Mahler's birthday, he played
through the new song, 'really and orchestral work with voice'
for her, Justine and Arnold Rosé (NKGXIV/2,
382;
NKGXIII/2b, 183,
HLGII, 177).
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