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Under what circumstances Mahler (and, one
hopes, Alma) decided to publish the song are unknown. Negotiations
with C.F. Kahnt, the publisher of Mahler's most recent songs, were opened in the late autumn of 1906,
and presumably during the negotiations a copy of the song
(perhaps made by Alma Mahler) had been sent to Alfred Hoffmann,
the owner of the firm, for perusal. He appears to have considered
Mahler's proposed purchase price for the publishing rights
(Mahler retained the performance rights) of 500 fl. (worth about
850 Marks) to be too high. Hofmann's counter proposal of 600
Marks was accepted by the composer, with the proviso that he
should be sent proofs, and he signed the contractual letter on 8
December 1906 (GMBsV,
171–2). It is notable that that contract specified that 'the copy of the
work remains in the possession of the publisher as their
property'. It was presumably this copy that was used as the
printer's copy for the medium-voice edition of the song that was
published early in 1907 (PV7m).
The first (semi-public) performance of the song was apparently
given on
8 February 1907: it is possible that one or two manuscript
copies of the song (medium voice) were prepared for the
baritone, Anton Moser and his [unidentified] accompanist, but
it is more likely that they were using early page proofs. |
