{"history":[],"article":{"id":"a14442cd-2de3-4304-92b5-b6adee8f483b","title":"Das Lied von der Erde","slug":"das-lied-von-der-erde","content":":::summary\n![Gustav Mahler in 1907](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/06/Photo///of///Gustav///Mahler///by///Moritz///N%C3%A4hr///01.jpg)\n**Name:** Das Lied von der Erde \n**Subtitle:** A Symphony for Tenor, Alto (or Baritone) Voice and Orchestra \n**Composer:** [Gustav Mahler](https://bliptext.com/articles/gustav-mahler) \n**Image Upright:** 1.05 \n**Key:** [A minor](https://bliptext.com/articles/a-minor) - [C major](https://bliptext.com/articles/c-major) \n**Text:** From [Hans Bethge](https://bliptext.com/articles/hans-bethge-poet)'s Die chinesische Flöte \n**Movements:** six \n**Duration:** c. 60 minutes \n**Scoring:** contralto · tenor · orchestra \n**Published:** 1912, [Universal Edition](https://bliptext.com/articles/universal-edition) \n**Premiere Date:** November 20, 1911 \n**Premiere Location:** [Munich Tonhalle](https://bliptext.com/articles/munich-tonhalle), Munich \n**Premiere Conductor:** [Bruno Walter](https://bliptext.com/articles/bruno-walter) \n**Premiere Performers:** [Sara Cahier](https://bliptext.com/articles/sara-cahier), William Miller \n:::\n\n# \n**Das Lied von der Erde** (The song of the Earth) is an orchestral work for two voices and orchestra written by [Gustav Mahler](https://bliptext.com/articles/gustav-mahler) between 1908 and 1909.\nDescribed as a [symphony](https://bliptext.com/articles/symphony) when published, it comprises six [movements](https://bliptext.com/articles/movement-music) for a large orchestra and two singers as the soloist alternating in the [movements](https://bliptext.com/articles/movement-music).\nMahler specified that the two singers should be a [tenor](https://bliptext.com/articles/tenor) and an [alto](https://bliptext.com/articles/alto), or else a [tenor](https://bliptext.com/articles/tenor) and a [baritone](https://bliptext.com/articles/baritone) if an [alto](https://bliptext.com/articles/alto) is not available.\nMahler composed this work following the most painful period in his life, and the songs address themes such as those of living, parting and salvation.\nOn the centenary of Mahler's birth, the composer and prominent Mahler conductor [Leonard Bernstein](https://bliptext.com/articles/leonard-bernstein) described Das Lied von der Erde as Mahler's \"greatest symphony\".\nAs with his later [Symphony No. 9](https://bliptext.com/articles/symphony-no-9-mahler), Mahler did not live to hear Das Lied von der Erde performed.\n\n# History\n\n## Composition\nThree disasters befell Mahler during the summer of 1907.\nPolitical maneuvering and [antisemitism](https://bliptext.com/articles/antisemitism) forced him to resign as Director of the [Vienna Court Opera](https://bliptext.com/articles/vienna-state-opera), his eldest daughter Maria died from [scarlet fever](https://bliptext.com/articles/scarlet-fever) and [diphtheria](https://bliptext.com/articles/diphtheria), and Mahler himself was diagnosed with a congenital heart defect.\n\"With one stroke\", he wrote to his friend [Bruno Walter](https://bliptext.com/articles/bruno-walter), \"I have lost everything I have gained in terms of who I thought I was, and have to learn my first steps again like a newborn.\"\nThe same year saw the publication of [Hans Bethge](https://bliptext.com/articles/hans-bethge-poet)'s Die chinesische Flöte, a free rewriting of others' translations of classical Chinese poems.\nMahler was captivated by the vision of earthly beauty and transience expressed in these verses and chose seven of the poems to set to music as Das Lied von der Erde.\nMahler completed the work in 1909.\nMahler was aware of the so-called \"[curse of the ninth](https://bliptext.com/articles/curse-of-the-ninth)\", a superstition arising from the fact that no major composer since [Beethoven](https://bliptext.com/articles/ludwig-van-beethoven) had successfully completed more than nine symphonies: he had already written eight symphonies before composing Das Lied von der Erde.\nFearing his subsequent demise, he decided to subtitle the work A Symphony for Tenor, Alto (or Baritone) Voice and Orchestra, rather than numbering it as a symphony.\nHis next symphony, written for purely instrumental forces, was numbered his [Ninth](https://bliptext.com/articles/symphony-no-9-mahler).\nThat was indeed the last symphony he fully completed, because only portions of the [Tenth](https://bliptext.com/articles/symphony-no-10-mahler) had been fully orchestrated at the time of his death.\n\n## Reception\nThe first public performance was given on 20 November 1911 in the [Tonhalle](https://bliptext.com/articles/munich-tonhalle) in Munich, sung by [Sara Cahier](https://bliptext.com/articles/sara-cahier) and William Miller (both Americans) with [Bruno Walter](https://bliptext.com/articles/bruno-walter) conducting.\nMahler had died six months earlier, on 18 May.\nOne of the earliest performances in London (possibly the first) occurred in January 1913 at the [Queen's Hall](https://bliptext.com/articles/queen-s-hall) under conductor [Henry Wood](https://bliptext.com/articles/henry-wood), where it was sung by [Gervase Elwes](https://bliptext.com/articles/gervase-elwes) and Doris Woodall.\nWood reportedly thought that the work was \"excessively modern but very beautiful\".\n\n# Instrumentation\nMahler had already included movements for voice and orchestra in his [Second](https://bliptext.com/articles/symphony-no-2-mahler), [Third](https://bliptext.com/articles/symphony-no-3-mahler), [Fourth](https://bliptext.com/articles/symphony-no-4-mahler) and [Eighth](https://bliptext.com/articles/symphony-no-8-mahler) Symphonies.\nHowever, Das Lied von der Erde is the first complete integration of [song cycle](https://bliptext.com/articles/song-cycle) form with that of the [symphony](https://bliptext.com/articles/symphony).\nThe form was afterwards imitated by other composers, notably by [Shostakovich](https://bliptext.com/articles/dmitri-shostakovich) and [Zemlinsky](https://bliptext.com/articles/alexander-von-zemlinsky).\nThis new form has been termed a \"song-symphony\", a hybrid of the two forms that had occupied most of Mahler's creative life.\nDas Lied von der Erde is scored for a large orchestra, consisting of the following:\nOnly in the first, fourth and sixth songs does the full orchestra play together.\nThe celesta is only heard at the end of the finale, and only the first movement requires all three trumpets, with two playing in the fourth movement and none playing in the sixth.\nIn many places the texture resembles chamber music, with only a few instruments being used at one time.\nThe score calls for [tenor](https://bliptext.com/articles/tenor) and [alto](https://bliptext.com/articles/alto) soloists.\nHowever, Mahler includes the note that \"if necessary, the alto part may be sung by a baritone\".\nMahler also arranged the work for piano accompaniment.\n\n# Movements\n\n## 1. \"Das Trinklied vom Jammer der Erde\"\nThe first movement, \"The Drinking Song of Earth's Misery\" (in [A minor](https://bliptext.com/articles/a-minor)), continually returns to the refrain, Dunkel ist das Leben, ist der Tod (literally, \"Dark is life, is death\"), which is pitched a [semitone](https://bliptext.com/articles/semitone) higher on each successive appearance.\nLike many drinking poems by [Li Bai](https://bliptext.com/articles/li-bai), the original poem \"Bei Ge Xing\" (The Song of Sorrow) (悲歌行) mixes drunken exaltation with a deep sadness.\nThe singer's part is notoriously demanding, since the tenor has to struggle at the top of his range against the power of the full orchestra.\nThis gives the voice its shrill, piercing quality, and is consistent with Mahler's practice of pushing instruments, including vocal cords, to their limits.\nAccording to musicologist [Theodor W. Adorno](https://bliptext.com/articles/theodor-w-adorno), the tenor should here create the impression of a \"denatured voice in the Chinese ([falsetto](https://bliptext.com/articles/falsetto)) style\".\nThe movement begins with a three-note horn call which recurs throughout the song, most notably at the climax in which the singer describes an ape calling \"into the sweet fragrance of life.\"\nThe climax also marks the first of the three whole-tone passages that occur in the symphony.\n\n## 2. \"Der Einsame im Herbst\"\n\"The lonely one in Autumn\" (for alto, in [D minor](https://bliptext.com/articles/d-minor)) is a much softer, less turbulent movement.\nMarked \"somewhat dragging and exhausted\", it begins with a repetitive shuffling in the strings, followed by solo wind instruments.\nThe lyrics, which are based on the first part of a [Tang dynasty](https://bliptext.com/articles/tang-dynasty) era poem by [Qian Qi](https://bliptext.com/articles/qian-qi), lament the dying of flowers and the passing of beauty, as well as expressing an exhausted longing for sleep.\nThe orchestration in this movement is sparse and [chamber music](https://bliptext.com/articles/chamber-music)-like, with long and independent contrapuntal lines.\n\n## 3. \"Von der Jugend\"\nThe third movement, \"Of Youth\" (for tenor, in [B♭ major](https://bliptext.com/articles/b-flat-major)), is the most obviously [pentatonic](https://bliptext.com/articles/pentatonic) and faux-Asian.\nThe form is [ternary](https://bliptext.com/articles/ternary-form), the third part being a greatly abbreviated revision of the first.\nIt is also the shortest of the six movements, and can be considered a first [scherzo](https://bliptext.com/articles/scherzo).\n\n## 4. \"Von der Schönheit\"\nThe music of this movement, \"Of Beauty\" (for alto, in [G major](https://bliptext.com/articles/g-major)), is mostly soft and legato, meditating on the image of some \"young girls picking lotus flowers at the riverbank.\"\nLater in the movement there is a louder, more articulated section in the brass as the young men ride by on their horses.\nThere is a long orchestral postlude to the sung passage, as the most beautiful of the young maidens looks longingly after the most handsome of the young men.\nThe original text used in this movement derives from another poem by the [Tang dynasty](https://bliptext.com/articles/tang-dynasty) poet [Li Bai](https://bliptext.com/articles/li-bai), known as the \"Lotus-collecting Song\" (Chinese: [采莲曲](https://bliptext.com/articles/undefined))\n\n## 5. \"Der Trunkene im Frühling\"\nThe second [scherzo](https://bliptext.com/articles/scherzo) of the work is provided by the fifth movement, \"The drunken man in Spring\" (for tenor, in [A major](https://bliptext.com/articles/a-major)).\nLike the first, it opens with a horn theme.\nIn this movement Mahler uses an extensive variety of key signatures, which can change as often as every few measures.\nThe middle section features a solo violin and solo flute, which represent the bird the singer describes.\n\n## 6. \"Der Abschied\"\nThe final movement, \"The Farewell\" (for alto, from [C minor](https://bliptext.com/articles/c-minor) to [C major](https://bliptext.com/articles/c-major)), is nearly as long as the previous five movements combined.\nIts text is drawn from two different poems, both involving the theme of leave-taking.\nMahler himself added the last lines.\nThis final song is also notable for its [text-painting](https://bliptext.com/articles/word-painting), using a [mandolin](https://bliptext.com/articles/mandolin) to represent the singer's lute, imitating [bird calls](https://bliptext.com/articles/bird-calls) with woodwinds, and repeatedly switching between the major and minor modes to articulate sharp contrasts in the text.\nThe movement is divided into three major sections.\nIn the first, the singer describes the nature around her as night falls.\nIn the second, she is waiting for her friend to say a final farewell.\nA long orchestral interlude precedes the third section, which depicts the exchange between the two friends and fades off into silence.\nLines 1–3, 17–19, and 26–28 are all sung to the same music, with a [pedal point](https://bliptext.com/articles/pedal-point) in the low strings and soft strokes of the [tam-tam](https://bliptext.com/articles/tam-tam); in the first two of these sections, a [countermelody](https://bliptext.com/articles/counter-melody) in the flute imitates the song of a bird, but the third of these sections is just the bare [pedal point](https://bliptext.com/articles/pedal-point) and [tam-tam](https://bliptext.com/articles/tam-tam).\nThe singer repeats the final word of the song, ewig (\"forever\"), like a [mantra](https://bliptext.com/articles/mantra), accompanied by sustained chords in the orchestra, which features [mandolin](https://bliptext.com/articles/mandolin), [harps](https://bliptext.com/articles/harp), and [celesta](https://bliptext.com/articles/celesta).\nEwig is repeated as the music fades into silence, the final [sixth chord](https://bliptext.com/articles/sixth-chord) \"printed on the atmosphere\" as [Benjamin Britten](https://bliptext.com/articles/benjamin-britten) asserted.\nIt is also worth noting that throughout Das Lied von der Erde there is a persistent message that \"The earth will stay beautiful forever, but man cannot live for even a hundred years.\"\nAt the end of \"Der Abschied,\" however, Mahler adds three original lines which repeat this, but purposefully omit the part saying that \"man must die\".\nConductor and composer [Leonard Bernstein](https://bliptext.com/articles/leonard-bernstein) asserts that this ties in with the Eastern idea of [Nirvana](https://bliptext.com/articles/nirvana), in that the \"soul\" of the singer, as she or he dies, becomes one with the everlasting earth.\nThe last movement is very difficult to conduct because of its [cadenza](https://bliptext.com/articles/cadenza)-like writing for voice and solo instruments, which often flows over the barlines.\nMahler specifically instructed the movement to be played Ohne Rücksicht auf das Tempo (Without regard for the tempo).\nBruno Walter related that Mahler showed him the score of this movement and asked about one passage, \"Can you think of a way of conducting that? Because I can't.\"\nMahler also hesitated to put the piece before the public because of its relentless negativity, unusual even for him.\n\"Won't people go home and shoot themselves?\"\nhe asked.\n\n# Text\nMahler's source for the text was Hans Bethge's Die chinesische Flöte (1907).\nBethge's poems were free adaptations (\"Nachdichtungen\") of classical Chinese poetry based on prior prose translations into German (Hans Heilmann Chinesische Lyrik, 1905 ) and French ([Marquis d'Hervey de Saint Denys](https://bliptext.com/articles/marie-jean-l-on-marquis-d-hervey-de-saint-denys)' Poésies de l'époque des Thang, 1862 and [Judith Gautier](https://bliptext.com/articles/judith-gautier)'s Livre de Jade, 1867/1902 ).\nFour of the songs—\"Das Trinklied vom Jammer der Erde\", \"Von der Jugend\", \"Von der Schönheit\" and \"Der Trunkene im Frühling\"—were derived from poems written by [Li Bai](https://bliptext.com/articles/li-bai), the wandering poet of the [Tang dynasty](https://bliptext.com/articles/tang-dynasty).\n\"Der Einsame im Herbst\" is based on a poem \"[After Long Autumn Night](https://bliptext.com/articles/long-autumn-night)\" by [Qian Qi](https://bliptext.com/articles/qian-qi), another poet of the Tang dynasty.\n\"Der Abschied\" combines poems by Tang dynasty poets [Meng Haoran](https://bliptext.com/articles/meng-haoran) and [Wang Wei](https://bliptext.com/articles/wang-wei-tang-dynasty), with several additional lines by Mahler himself.\nThese attributions have been a matter of some uncertainty, and around the turn of the 21st century, Chinese scholars extensively debated the sources of the songs following a performance of the work in China in 1998.\nAccording to the musicologist [Theodor W. Adorno](https://bliptext.com/articles/theodor-w-adorno), Mahler found in Chinese poetry what he had formerly sought after in the genre of German folk song: a mask or costume for the sense of rootlessness or \"otherness\" attending his identity as a Jew.\nThis theme, and its influence upon Mahler's tonality, has been further explored by John Sheinbaum.\nIt has also been asserted that Mahler found in these poems an echo of his own increasing awareness of mortality.\nThe [Universal Edition](https://bliptext.com/articles/universal-edition) score of 1912 for Das Lied von der Erde shows Mahler's adapted text as follows.\n\n## 1. \"Das Trinklied vom Jammer der Erde\" (\"The Drinking Song of Earth's Sorrow\")\nSchon winkt der Wein im gold'nen Pokale,\nDoch trinkt noch nicht, erst sing' ich euch ein Lied!\nDas Lied vom Kummer\nSoll auflachend in die Seele euch klingen.\nWenn der Kummer naht,\nLiegen wüst die Gärten der Seele,\nWelkt hin und stirbt die Freude, der Gesang.\nDunkel ist das Leben, ist der Tod.\nHerr dieses Hauses!\nDein Keller birgt die Fülle des goldenen Weins!\nHier, diese Laute nenn' ich mein!\nDie Laute schlagen und die Gläser leeren,\nDas sind die Dinge, die zusammen passen.\nEin voller Becher Weins zur rechten Zeit\nIst mehr wert, als alle Reiche dieser Erde!\nDunkel ist das Leben, ist der Tod!\nDas Firmament blaut ewig und die Erde\nWird lange fest steh'n und aufblüh'n im Lenz.\nDu aber, Mensch, wie lang lebst denn du?\nNicht hundert Jahre darfst du dich ergötzen\nAn all dem morschen Tande dieser Erde!\nSeht dort hinab!\nIm Mondschein auf den Gräbern\nHockt eine wild-gespenstische Gestalt –\nEin Aff' ist's! Hört ihr, wie sein Heulen\nHinausgellt in den süßen Duft des Lebens!\nJetzt nehmt den Wein!\nJetzt ist es Zeit, Genossen!\nLeert eure gold'nen Becher zu Grund!\nDunkel ist das Leben, ist der Tod!\nThe wine beckons in golden goblets\nbut drink not yet; first I'll sing you a song.\nThe song of sorrow\nshall ring laughingly in your soul.\nWhen the sorrow comes,\nblasted lie the gardens of the soul,\nwither and perish joy and singing.\nDark is life, dark is death!\nMaster of this house,\nyour cellar is full of golden wine!\nHere, this lute I call mine.\nThe lute to strike and the glasses to drain,\nthese things go well together.\nA full goblet of wine at the right time\nis worth more than all the kingdoms of this earth.\nDark is life, dark is death!\nThe heavens are ever blue and the Earth\nshall stand sure, and blossom in the spring.\nBut you O man, what long life have you?\nNot a hundred years may you delight\nin all the rotten baubles of this earth.\nSee down there!\nIn the moonlight, on the graves\nsquats a wild ghostly shape;\nan ape it is!\nHear you his howl go out\nin the sweet fragrance of life.\nNow!\nDrink the wine!\nNow it is time comrades.\nDrain your golden goblets to the last.\nDark is life, dark is death!\n(Chinese original version of this poem: 悲歌行.\n\n## 2. \"Der Einsame im Herbst\" (\"The Solitary One in Autumn\")\nHerbstnebel wallen bläulich überm See;\nVom Reif bezogen stehen alle Gräser;\nMan meint, ein Künstler habe Staub von Jade\nÜber die feinen Blüten ausgestreut.\nDer süße Duft der Blumen ist verflogen;\nEin kalter Wind beugt ihre Stengel nieder.\nBald werden die verwelkten, gold'nen Blätter\nDer Lotosblüten auf dem Wasser zieh'n.\nMein Herz ist müde.\nMeine kleine Lampe\nErlosch mit Knistern, es gemahnt mich an den Schlaf.\nIch komm' zu dir, traute Ruhestätte!\nJa, gib mir Ruh', ich hab' Erquickung not!\nIch weine viel in meinen Einsamkeiten.\nDer Herbst in meinem Herzen währt zu lange.\nSonne der Liebe willst du nie mehr scheinen,\nUm meine bittern Tränen mild aufzutrocknen?\nAutumn fog creeps bluishly over the lake.\nEvery blade of grass stands frosted.\nAs though an artist had jade-dust\nover the fine flowers strewn.\nThe sweet fragrance of flower has passed;\nA cold wind bows their stems low.\nSoon will the wilted, golden petals\nof lotus flowers upon the water float.\nMy heart is tired.\nMy little lamp\nexpired with a crackle, minding me to sleep.\nI come to you, trusted resting place.\nYes, give me rest, I have need of refreshment!\nI weep often in my loneliness.\nAutumn in my heart lingers too long.\nSun of love, will you no longer shine\nGently to dry up my bitter tears?\n\n## 3. \"Von der Jugend\" (\"Of Youth\")\nMitten in dem kleinen Teiche\nSteht ein Pavillon aus grünem\nUnd aus weißem Porzellan.\nWie der Rücken eines Tigers\nWölbt die Brücke sich aus Jade\nZu dem Pavillon hinüber.\nIn dem Häuschen sitzen Freunde,\nSchön gekleidet, trinken, plaudern.\nManche schreiben Verse nieder.\nIhre seidnen Ärmel gleiten\nRückwärts, ihre seidnen Mützen\nHocken lustig tief im Nacken.\nAuf des kleinen Teiches stiller\nWasserfläche zeigt sich alles\nWunderlich im Spiegelbilde.\nAlles auf dem Kopfe stehend\nIn dem Pavillon aus grünem\nUnd aus weißem Porzellan;\nWie ein Halbmond steht die Brücke,\nUmgekehrt der Bogen.\nFreunde,\nSchön gekleidet, trinken, plaudern.\nIn the middle of the little pond\nstands a pavilion of green\nand white porcelain.\nLike the back of a tiger\narches the jade bridge\nover to the pavilion.\nFriends sit in the little house\nwell dressed, drinking, chatting.\nsome writing verses.\nTheir silk sleeves glide\nbackwards, their silk caps\nrest gaily at the napes of their necks.\nOn the small pond's still\nsurface, everything shows\nwhimsical in mirror image.\nEverything stands on its head\nin the pavilion of green\nand white porcelain.\nLike a half-moon is the bridge\nits arch upturned.\nFriends\nwell dressed, drinking, chatting.\n\n## 4. \"Von der Schönheit\" (\"Of Beauty\")\nJunge Mädchen pflücken Blumen,\nPflücken Lotosblumen an dem Uferrande.\nZwischen Büschen und Blättern sitzen sie,\nSammeln Blüten in den Schoß und rufen\nSich einander Neckereien zu.\nGold'ne Sonne webt um die Gestalten,\nSpiegelt sie im blanken Wasser wider,\nSonne spiegelt ihre schlanken Glieder,\nIhre süßen Augen wider,\nUnd der Zephir hebt mit Schmeichelkosen\nDas Gewebe Ihrer Ärmel auf,\nFührt den Zauber\nIhrer Wohlgerüche durch die Luft.\nO sieh, was tummeln sich für schöne Knaben\nDort an dem Uferrand auf mut'gen Rossen?\nWeithin glänzend wie die Sonnenstrahlen;\nSchon zwischen dem Geäst der grünen Weiden\nTrabt das jungfrische Volk einher!\nDas Roß des einen wiehert fröhlich auf\nUnd scheut und saust dahin,\nÜber Blumen, Gräser wanken hin die Hufe,\nSie zerstampfen jäh im Sturm die hingesunk'nen Blüten,\nHei!\nWie flattern im Taumel seine Mähnen,\nDampfen heiß die Nüstern!\nGold'ne Sonne webt um die Gestalten,\nSpiegelt sie im blanken Wasser wider.\nUnd die schönste von den Jungfrau'n sendet\nLange Blicke ihm der Sehnsucht nach.\nIhre stolze Haltung ist nur Verstellung.\nIn dem Funkeln ihrer großen Augen,\nIn dem Dunkel ihres heißen Blicks\nSchwingt klagend noch die Erregung ihres Herzens nach.\nYoung girls picking flowers,\nPicking lotus flowers at the riverbank.\nAmid bushes and leaves they sit,\ngathering flowers in their laps and calling\none another in raillery.\nGolden sun plays about their form\nreflecting them in the clear water.\nThe sun reflects back their slender limbs,\ntheir sweet eyes,\nand the breeze teasing up the warp of their sleeves,\ndirects the magic\nof perfume through the air.\nO see, what a tumult of handsome boys\nthere on the shore on their spirited horses.\nYonder shining like the sun's rays\nbetween the branches of green willows\ntrot along the bold companions.\nThe horse of one neighs happily on and shies and rushes there,\nhooves shaking down blooms, grass,\ntrampling wildly the fallen flowers.\nHei!\nHow frenzied his mane flutters,\nand hotly steam his nostrils!\nGolden sun plays about their form\nreflecting them in the clear water.\nAnd the most beautiful of the maidens sends\nlong looks adoring at him.\nHer proud pose is but a pretense;\nin the flash of her big eyes,\nin the darkness of her ardent gaze\nbeats longingly her burning heart.\n(Chinese original version of this poem: [采莲曲 (李白)](https://bliptext.com/articles/undefined) ( [Wikisource](https://bliptext.com/articles/wikisource)).\n# [12px | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg]\n\n## 5. \"Der Trunkene im Frühling\" (\"The Drunkard in Spring\")\nWenn nur ein Traum das Leben ist,\nWarum denn Müh' und Plag'!?\nIch trinke, bis ich nicht mehr kann,\nDen ganzen, lieben Tag!\nUnd wenn ich nicht mehr trinken kann,\nWeil Kehl' und Seele voll,\nSo tauml' ich bis zu meiner Tür\nUnd schlafe wundervoll!\nWas hör' ich beim Erwachen?\nHorch!\nEin Vogel singt im Baum.\nIch frag' ihn, ob schon Frühling sei,\nMir ist als wie im Traum.\nDer Vogel zwitschert: Ja!\nDer Lenz ist da, sei kommen über Nacht!\nAus tiefstem Schauen lauscht' ich auf,\nDer Vogel singt und lacht!\nIch fülle mir den Becher neu\nUnd leer' ihn bis zum Grund\nUnd singe, bis der Mond erglänzt\nAm schwarzen Firmament!\nUnd wenn ich nicht mehr singen kann,\nSo schlaf' ich wieder ein.\nWas geht mich denn der Frühling an!?\nLaßt mich betrunken sein!\nIf life is but a dream,\nwhy work and worry?\nI drink until I no more can,\nthe whole, blessed day!\nAnd if I can drink no more\nas throat and soul are full,\nthen I stagger to my door\nand sleep wonderfully!\nWhat do I hear on waking?\nHark!\nA bird sings in the tree.\nI ask him if it's spring already;\nto me it's as if I'm in a dream.\nThe bird chirps Yes!\nThe spring is here, it came overnight!\nFrom deep wonderment I listen;\nthe bird sings and laughs!\nI fill my cup anew\nand drink it to the bottom\nand sing until the moon shines\nin the black firmament!\nAnd if I can not sing,\nthen I fall asleep again.\nWhat to me is spring?\nLet me be drunk!\n(Chinese original version of this poem: [春日醉起言志](https://bliptext.com/articles/undefined) ( [Wikisource](https://bliptext.com/articles/wikisource)).\n# [12px | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg]\n\n## 6. \"Der Abschied\" (\"The Farewell\")\nDie Sonne scheidet hinter dem Gebirge.\nIn alle Täler steigt der Abend nieder\nMit seinen Schatten, die voll Kühlung sind.\nO sieh!\nWie eine Silberbarke schwebt\nDer Mond am blauen Himmelssee herauf.\nIch spüre eines feinen Windes Weh'n Hinter den dunklen Fichten!\nDer Bach singt voller Wohllaut durch das Dunkel.\nDie Blumen blassen im Dämmerschein.\nDie Erde atmet voll von Ruh' und Schlaf.\nAlle Sehnsucht will nun träumen,\nDie müden Menschen geh'n heimwärts,\nUm im Schlaf vergess'nes Glück\nUnd Jugend neu zu lernen!\nDie Vögel hocken still in ihren Zweigen.\nDie Welt schläft ein!\nEs wehet kühl im Schatten meiner Fichten.\nIch stehe hier und harre meines Freundes;\nIch harre sein zum letzten Lebewohl.\nIch sehne mich, o Freund, an deiner Seite\nDie Schönheit dieses Abends zu genießen.\nWo bleibst du?\nDu läßt mich lang allein!\nIch wandle auf und nieder mit meiner Laute\nAuf Wegen, die von weichem Grase schwellen.\nO Schönheit!\nO ewigen Liebens – Lebens – trunk'ne Welt!\nEr stieg vom Pferd und reichte ihm den Trunk\nDes Abschieds dar.\nEr fragte ihn, wohin er führe\nUnd auch warum es müßte sein.\nEr sprach, seine Stimme war umflort.\nDu, mein Freund,\nMir war auf dieser Welt das Glück nicht hold!\nWohin ich geh'?\nIch geh', ich wand're in die Berge.\nIch suche Ruhe für mein einsam Herz.\nIch wandle nach der Heimat, meiner Stätte.\nIch werde niemals in die Ferne schweifen.\nStill ist mein Herz und harret seiner Stunde!\nDie liebe Erde allüberall\nBlüht auf im Lenz und grünt aufs neu!\nAllüberall und ewig blauen licht die Fernen!\nEwig... ewig...\nThe sun departs behind the mountains.\nIn all the valleys the evening descends\nwith its shadow, full cooling.\nO look!\nLike a silver boat sails\nthe moon in the watery blue heaven.\nI sense the fine breeze stirring\nbehind the dark pines.\nThe brook sings out clear through the darkness.\nThe flowers pale in the twilight.\nThe earth breathes, in full rest and sleep.\nAll longing now becomes a dream.\nWeary men traipse homeward\nto sleep; forgotten happiness\nand youth to rediscover.\nThe birds roost silent in their branches.\nThe world falls asleep.\nIt blows coolly in the shadows of my pines.\nI stand here and wait for my friend;\nI wait to bid him a last farewell.\nI yearn, my friend, at your side\nto enjoy the beauty of this evening.\nWhere are you?\nYou leave me long alone!\nI walk up and down with my lute\non paths swelling with soft grass.\nO beauty!\nO eternal loving-and-life-bedrunken world!\nHe dismounted and handed him the drink\nof farewell.\nHe asked him where he would go and why must it be.\nHe spoke, his voice was quiet.\nAh my friend,\nFortune was not kind to me in this world!\nWhere do I go?\nI go, I wander in the mountains.\nI seek peace for my lonely heart.\nI wander homeward, to my abode!\nI'll never wander far.\nStill is my heart, awaiting its hour.\nThe dear earth everywhere\nblossoms in spring and grows green anew!\nEverywhere and forever blue is the horizon!\nForever ... Forever ...\n\n# Recordings\n\n## Orchestra, female and male soloists\n\n## Two male soloists\nFor the first few decades after the work's premiere, the option to perform it with two male soloists was little used.\nOn one occasion, [Bruno Walter](https://bliptext.com/articles/bruno-walter) tried it out and engaged [Friedrich Weidemann](https://bliptext.com/articles/friedrich-weidemann), the baritone who had premiered [Kindertotenlieder](https://bliptext.com/articles/kindertotenlieder) under Mahler's own baton in 1905.\nHowever, Walter felt that tenor and baritone did not work as well as tenor and alto, and he never repeated the experiment.\nFollowing the pioneering recordings of the work by baritone [Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau](https://bliptext.com/articles/dietrich-fischer-dieskau) under conductors [Paul Kletzki](https://bliptext.com/articles/paul-kletzki) and [Leonard Bernstein](https://bliptext.com/articles/leonard-bernstein), the use of baritones in this work has increased.\n\n## One male soloist\n\n## Piano accompaniment\n\n## Other versions\n\n### Schoenberg and Riehn arrangement\n[Arnold Schoenberg](https://bliptext.com/articles/arnold-schoenberg) began to arrange Das Lied von der Erde for chamber orchestra, reducing the orchestral forces to string and wind quintets, and calling for piano, [celesta](https://bliptext.com/articles/celesta) and [harmonium](https://bliptext.com/articles/pump-organ) to supplement the harmonic texture.\nThree percussionists are also employed.\nSchoenberg never finished this project, but the arrangement was completed by [Rainer Riehn](https://bliptext.com/articles/rainer-riehn) in 1980.\n\n### 21st-century versions\n\n# Sources","current_revision":null,"created_by":"kACnuQmH5k9Nr5VNVEpVeg7XpvUmMctD","created_at":"2025-01-25T19:36:21.082Z","updated_at":"2025-01-25T19:36:21.082Z","search_vector":"'das':1 'der':4 'erd':5 'lie':2 'von':3","search_content":" \n \n**Name:** Das Lied von der Erde \n**Subtitle:** A Symphony for Tenor, Alto (or Baritone) Voice and Orchestra \n**Composer:** [Gustav Mahler](https://bliptext.com/articles/gustav-mahler) \n**Image Upright:** 1.05 \n**Key:** [A minor](https://bliptext.com/articles/a-minor) - [C major](https://bliptext.com/articles/c-major) \n**Text:** From [Hans Bethge](https://bliptext.com/articles/hans-bethge-poet)'s Die chinesische Flöte \n**Movements:** six \n**Duration:** c. 60 minutes \n**Scoring:** contralto · tenor · orchestra \n**Published:** 1912, [Universal Edition](https://bliptext.com/articles/universal-edition) \n**Premiere Date:** November 20, 1911 \n**Premiere Location:** [Munich Tonhalle](https://bliptext.com/articles/munich-tonhalle), Munich \n**Premiere Conductor:** [Bruno Walter](https://bliptext.com/articles/bruno-walter) \n**Premiere Performers:** [Sara Cahier](https://bliptext.com/articles/sara-cahier), William Miller \n \n\n# \n**Das Lied von der Erde** (The song of the Earth) is an orchestral work for two voices and orchestra written by [Gustav Mahler](https://bliptext.com/articles/gustav-mahler) between 1908 and 1909.\nDescribed as a [symphony](https://bliptext.com/articles/symphony) when published, it comprises six [movements](https://bliptext.com/articles/movement-music) for a large orchestra and two singers as the soloist alternating in the [movements](https://bliptext.com/articles/movement-music).\nMahler specified that the two singers should be a [tenor](https://bliptext.com/articles/tenor) and an [alto](https://bliptext.com/articles/alto), or else a [tenor](https://bliptext.com/articles/tenor) and a [baritone](https://bliptext.com/articles/baritone) if an [alto](https://bliptext.com/articles/alto) is not available.\nMahler composed this work following the most painful period in his life, and the songs address themes such as those of living, parting and salvation.\nOn the centenary of Mahler's birth, the composer and prominent Mahler conductor [Leonard Bernstein](https://bliptext.com/articles/leonard-bernstein) described Das Lied von der Erde as Mahler's \"greatest symphony\".\nAs with his later [Symphony No. 9](https://bliptext.com/articles/symphony-no-9-mahler), Mahler did not live to hear Das Lied von der Erde performed.\n\n# History\n\n## Composition\nThree disasters befell Mahler during the summer of 1907.\nPolitical maneuvering and [antisemitism](https://bliptext.com/articles/antisemitism) forced him to resign as Director of the [Vienna Court Opera](https://bliptext.com/articles/vienna-state-opera), his eldest daughter Maria died from [scarlet fever](https://bliptext.com/articles/scarlet-fever) and [diphtheria](https://bliptext.com/articles/diphtheria), and Mahler himself was diagnosed with a congenital heart defect.\n\"With one stroke\", he wrote to his friend [Bruno Walter](https://bliptext.com/articles/bruno-walter), \"I have lost everything I have gained in terms of who I thought I was, and have to learn my first steps again like a newborn.\"\nThe same year saw the publication of [Hans Bethge](https://bliptext.com/articles/hans-bethge-poet)'s Die chinesische Flöte, a free rewriting of others' translations of classical Chinese poems.\nMahler was captivated by the vision of earthly beauty and transience expressed in these verses and chose seven of the poems to set to music as Das Lied von der Erde.\nMahler completed the work in 1909.\nMahler was aware of the so-called \"[curse of the ninth](https://bliptext.com/articles/curse-of-the-ninth)\", a superstition arising from the fact that no major composer since [Beethoven](https://bliptext.com/articles/ludwig-van-beethoven) had successfully completed more than nine symphonies: he had already written eight symphonies before composing Das Lied von der Erde.\nFearing his subsequent demise, he decided to subtitle the work A Symphony for Tenor, Alto (or Baritone) Voice and Orchestra, rather than numbering it as a symphony.\nHis next symphony, written for purely instrumental forces, was numbered his [Ninth](https://bliptext.com/articles/symphony-no-9-mahler).\nThat was indeed the last symphony he fully completed, because only portions of the [Tenth](https://bliptext.com/articles/symphony-no-10-mahler) had been fully orchestrated at the time of his death.\n\n## Reception\nThe first public performance was given on 20 November 1911 in the [Tonhalle](https://bliptext.com/articles/munich-tonhalle) in Munich, sung by [Sara Cahier](https://bliptext.com/articles/sara-cahier) and William Miller (both Americans) with [Bruno Walter](https://bliptext.com/articles/bruno-walter) conducting.\nMahler had died six months earlier, on 18 May.\nOne of the earliest performances in London (possibly the first) occurred in January 1913 at the [Queen's Hall](https://bliptext.com/articles/queen-s-hall) under conductor [Henry Wood](https://bliptext.com/articles/henry-wood), where it was sung by [Gervase Elwes](https://bliptext.com/articles/gervase-elwes) and Doris Woodall.\nWood reportedly thought that the work was \"excessively modern but very beautiful\".\n\n# Instrumentation\nMahler had already included movements for voice and orchestra in his [Second](https://bliptext.com/articles/symphony-no-2-mahler), [Third](https://bliptext.com/articles/symphony-no-3-mahler), [Fourth](https://bliptext.com/articles/symphony-no-4-mahler) and [Eighth](https://bliptext.com/articles/symphony-no-8-mahler) Symphonies.\nHowever, Das Lied von der Erde is the first complete integration of [song cycle](https://bliptext.com/articles/song-cycle) form with that of the [symphony](https://bliptext.com/articles/symphony).\nThe form was afterwards imitated by other composers, notably by [Shostakovich](https://bliptext.com/articles/dmitri-shostakovich) and [Zemlinsky](https://bliptext.com/articles/alexander-von-zemlinsky).\nThis new form has been termed a \"song-symphony\", a hybrid of the two forms that had occupied most of Mahler's creative life.\nDas Lied von der Erde is scored for a large orchestra, consisting of the following:\nOnly in the first, fourth and sixth songs does the full orchestra play together.\nThe celesta is only heard at the end of the finale, and only the first movement requires all three trumpets, with two playing in the fourth movement and none playing in the sixth.\nIn many places the texture resembles chamber music, with only a few instruments being used at one time.\nThe score calls for [tenor](https://bliptext.com/articles/tenor) and [alto](https://bliptext.com/articles/alto) soloists.\nHowever, Mahler includes the note that \"if necessary, the alto part may be sung by a baritone\".\nMahler also arranged the work for piano accompaniment.\n\n# Movements\n\n## 1. \"Das Trinklied vom Jammer der Erde\"\nThe first movement, \"The Drinking Song of Earth's Misery\" (in [A minor](https://bliptext.com/articles/a-minor)), continually returns to the refrain, Dunkel ist das Leben, ist der Tod (literally, \"Dark is life, is death\"), which is pitched a [semitone](https://bliptext.com/articles/semitone) higher on each successive appearance.\nLike many drinking poems by [Li Bai](https://bliptext.com/articles/li-bai), the original poem \"Bei Ge Xing\" (The Song of Sorrow) (悲歌行) mixes drunken exaltation with a deep sadness.\nThe singer's part is notoriously demanding, since the tenor has to struggle at the top of his range against the power of the full orchestra.\nThis gives the voice its shrill, piercing quality, and is consistent with Mahler's practice of pushing instruments, including vocal cords, to their limits.\nAccording to musicologist [Theodor W. Adorno](https://bliptext.com/articles/theodor-w-adorno), the tenor should here create the impression of a \"denatured voice in the Chinese ([falsetto](https://bliptext.com/articles/falsetto)) style\".\nThe movement begins with a three-note horn call which recurs throughout the song, most notably at the climax in which the singer describes an ape calling \"into the sweet fragrance of life.\"\nThe climax also marks the first of the three whole-tone passages that occur in the symphony.\n\n## 2. \"Der Einsame im Herbst\"\n\"The lonely one in Autumn\" (for alto, in [D minor](https://bliptext.com/articles/d-minor)) is a much softer, less turbulent movement.\nMarked \"somewhat dragging and exhausted\", it begins with a repetitive shuffling in the strings, followed by solo wind instruments.\nThe lyrics, which are based on the first part of a [Tang dynasty](https://bliptext.com/articles/tang-dynasty) era poem by [Qian Qi](https://bliptext.com/articles/qian-qi), lament the dying of flowers and the passing of beauty, as well as expressing an exhausted longing for sleep.\nThe orchestration in this movement is sparse and [chamber music](https://bliptext.com/articles/chamber-music)-like, with long and independent contrapuntal lines.\n\n## 3. \"Von der Jugend\"\nThe third movement, \"Of Youth\" (for tenor, in [B♭ major](https://bliptext.com/articles/b-flat-major)), is the most obviously [pentatonic](https://bliptext.com/articles/pentatonic) and faux-Asian.\nThe form is [ternary](https://bliptext.com/articles/ternary-form), the third part being a greatly abbreviated revision of the first.\nIt is also the shortest of the six movements, and can be considered a first [scherzo](https://bliptext.com/articles/scherzo).\n\n## 4. \"Von der Schönheit\"\nThe music of this movement, \"Of Beauty\" (for alto, in [G major](https://bliptext.com/articles/g-major)), is mostly soft and legato, meditating on the image of some \"young girls picking lotus flowers at the riverbank.\"\nLater in the movement there is a louder, more articulated section in the brass as the young men ride by on their horses.\nThere is a long orchestral postlude to the sung passage, as the most beautiful of the young maidens looks longingly after the most handsome of the young men.\nThe original text used in this movement derives from another poem by the [Tang dynasty](https://bliptext.com/articles/tang-dynasty) poet [Li Bai](https://bliptext.com/articles/li-bai), known as the \"Lotus-collecting Song\" (Chinese: [采莲曲](https://bliptext.com/articles/undefined))\n\n## 5. \"Der Trunkene im Frühling\"\nThe second [scherzo](https://bliptext.com/articles/scherzo) of the work is provided by the fifth movement, \"The drunken man in Spring\" (for tenor, in [A major](https://bliptext.com/articles/a-major)).\nLike the first, it opens with a horn theme.\nIn this movement Mahler uses an extensive variety of key signatures, which can change as often as every few measures.\nThe middle section features a solo violin and solo flute, which represent the bird the singer describes.\n\n## 6. \"Der Abschied\"\nThe final movement, \"The Farewell\" (for alto, from [C minor](https://bliptext.com/articles/c-minor) to [C major](https://bliptext.com/articles/c-major)), is nearly as long as the previous five movements combined.\nIts text is drawn from two different poems, both involving the theme of leave-taking.\nMahler himself added the last lines.\nThis final song is also notable for its [text-painting](https://bliptext.com/articles/word-painting), using a [mandolin](https://bliptext.com/articles/mandolin) to represent the singer's lute, imitating [bird calls](https://bliptext.com/articles/bird-calls) with woodwinds, and repeatedly switching between the major and minor modes to articulate sharp contrasts in the text.\nThe movement is divided into three major sections.\nIn the first, the singer describes the nature around her as night falls.\nIn the second, she is waiting for her friend to say a final farewell.\nA long orchestral interlude precedes the third section, which depicts the exchange between the two friends and fades off into silence.\nLines 1–3, 17–19, and 26–28 are all sung to the same music, with a [pedal point](https://bliptext.com/articles/pedal-point) in the low strings and soft strokes of the [tam-tam](https://bliptext.com/articles/tam-tam); in the first two of these sections, a [countermelody](https://bliptext.com/articles/counter-melody) in the flute imitates the song of a bird, but the third of these sections is just the bare [pedal point](https://bliptext.com/articles/pedal-point) and [tam-tam](https://bliptext.com/articles/tam-tam).\nThe singer repeats the final word of the song, ewig (\"forever\"), like a [mantra](https://bliptext.com/articles/mantra), accompanied by sustained chords in the orchestra, which features [mandolin](https://bliptext.com/articles/mandolin), [harps](https://bliptext.com/articles/harp), and [celesta](https://bliptext.com/articles/celesta).\nEwig is repeated as the music fades into silence, the final [sixth chord](https://bliptext.com/articles/sixth-chord) \"printed on the atmosphere\" as [Benjamin Britten](https://bliptext.com/articles/benjamin-britten) asserted.\nIt is also worth noting that throughout Das Lied von der Erde there is a persistent message that \"The earth will stay beautiful forever, but man cannot live for even a hundred years.\"\nAt the end of \"Der Abschied,\" however, Mahler adds three original lines which repeat this, but purposefully omit the part saying that \"man must die\".\nConductor and composer [Leonard Bernstein](https://bliptext.com/articles/leonard-bernstein) asserts that this ties in with the Eastern idea of [Nirvana](https://bliptext.com/articles/nirvana), in that the \"soul\" of the singer, as she or he dies, becomes one with the everlasting earth.\nThe last movement is very difficult to conduct because of its [cadenza](https://bliptext.com/articles/cadenza)-like writing for voice and solo instruments, which often flows over the barlines.\nMahler specifically instructed the movement to be played Ohne Rücksicht auf das Tempo (Without regard for the tempo).\nBruno Walter related that Mahler showed him the score of this movement and asked about one passage, \"Can you think of a way of conducting that? Because I can't.\"\nMahler also hesitated to put the piece before the public because of its relentless negativity, unusual even for him.\n\"Won't people go home and shoot themselves?\"\nhe asked.\n\n# Text\nMahler's source for the text was Hans Bethge's Die chinesische Flöte (1907).\nBethge's poems were free adaptations (\"Nachdichtungen\") of classical Chinese poetry based on prior prose translations into German (Hans Heilmann Chinesische Lyrik, 1905 ) and French ([Marquis d'Hervey de Saint Denys](https://bliptext.com/articles/marie-jean-l-on-marquis-d-hervey-de-saint-denys)' Poésies de l'époque des Thang, 1862 and [Judith Gautier](https://bliptext.com/articles/judith-gautier)'s Livre de Jade, 1867/1902 ).\nFour of the songs—\"Das Trinklied vom Jammer der Erde\", \"Von der Jugend\", \"Von der Schönheit\" and \"Der Trunkene im Frühling\"—were derived from poems written by [Li Bai](https://bliptext.com/articles/li-bai), the wandering poet of the [Tang dynasty](https://bliptext.com/articles/tang-dynasty).\n\"Der Einsame im Herbst\" is based on a poem \"[After Long Autumn Night](https://bliptext.com/articles/long-autumn-night)\" by [Qian Qi](https://bliptext.com/articles/qian-qi), another poet of the Tang dynasty.\n\"Der Abschied\" combines poems by Tang dynasty poets [Meng Haoran](https://bliptext.com/articles/meng-haoran) and [Wang Wei](https://bliptext.com/articles/wang-wei-tang-dynasty), with several additional lines by Mahler himself.\nThese attributions have been a matter of some uncertainty, and around the turn of the 21st century, Chinese scholars extensively debated the sources of the songs following a performance of the work in China in 1998.\nAccording to the musicologist [Theodor W. Adorno](https://bliptext.com/articles/theodor-w-adorno), Mahler found in Chinese poetry what he had formerly sought after in the genre of German folk song: a mask or costume for the sense of rootlessness or \"otherness\" attending his identity as a Jew.\nThis theme, and its influence upon Mahler's tonality, has been further explored by John Sheinbaum.\nIt has also been asserted that Mahler found in these poems an echo of his own increasing awareness of mortality.\nThe [Universal Edition](https://bliptext.com/articles/universal-edition) score of 1912 for Das Lied von der Erde shows Mahler's adapted text as follows.\n\n## 1. \"Das Trinklied vom Jammer der Erde\" (\"The Drinking Song of Earth's Sorrow\")\n Schon winkt der Wein im gold'nen Pokale,\nDoch trinkt noch nicht, erst sing' ich euch ein Lied!\nDas Lied vom Kummer\nSoll auflachend in die Seele euch klingen.\nWenn der Kummer naht,\nLiegen wüst die Gärten der Seele,\nWelkt hin und stirbt die Freude, der Gesang.\nDunkel ist das Leben, ist der Tod.\nHerr dieses Hauses!\nDein Keller birgt die Fülle des goldenen Weins!\nHier, diese Laute nenn' ich mein!\nDie Laute schlagen und die Gläser leeren,\nDas sind die Dinge, die zusammen passen.\nEin voller Becher Weins zur rechten Zeit\nIst mehr wert, als alle Reiche dieser Erde!\nDunkel ist das Leben, ist der Tod!\nDas Firmament blaut ewig und die Erde\nWird lange fest steh'n und aufblüh'n im Lenz.\nDu aber, Mensch, wie lang lebst denn du?\nNicht hundert Jahre darfst du dich ergötzen\nAn all dem morschen Tande dieser Erde!\nSeht dort hinab!\nIm Mondschein auf den Gräbern\nHockt eine wild-gespenstische Gestalt –\nEin Aff' ist's! Hört ihr, wie sein Heulen\nHinausgellt in den süßen Duft des Lebens!\nJetzt nehmt den Wein!\nJetzt ist es Zeit, Genossen!\nLeert eure gold'nen Becher zu Grund!\nDunkel ist das Leben, ist der Tod!\n The wine beckons in golden goblets\nbut drink not yet; first I'll sing you a song.\nThe song of sorrow\nshall ring laughingly in your soul.\nWhen the sorrow comes,\nblasted lie the gardens of the soul,\nwither and perish joy and singing.\nDark is life, dark is death!\nMaster of this house,\nyour cellar is full of golden wine!\nHere, this lute I call mine.\nThe lute to strike and the glasses to drain,\nthese things go well together.\nA full goblet of wine at the right time\nis worth more than all the kingdoms of this earth.\nDark is life, dark is death!\nThe heavens are ever blue and the Earth\nshall stand sure, and blossom in the spring.\nBut you O man, what long life have you?\nNot a hundred years may you delight\nin all the rotten baubles of this earth.\nSee down there!\nIn the moonlight, on the graves\nsquats a wild ghostly shape;\nan ape it is!\nHear you his howl go out\nin the sweet fragrance of life.\nNow!\nDrink the wine!\nNow it is time comrades.\nDrain your golden goblets to the last.\nDark is life, dark is death!\n(Chinese original version of this poem: 悲歌行.\n\n## 2. \"Der Einsame im Herbst\" (\"The Solitary One in Autumn\")\n Herbstnebel wallen bläulich überm See;\nVom Reif bezogen stehen alle Gräser;\nMan meint, ein Künstler habe Staub von Jade\nÜber die feinen Blüten ausgestreut.\nDer süße Duft der Blumen ist verflogen;\nEin kalter Wind beugt ihre Stengel nieder.\nBald werden die verwelkten, gold'nen Blätter\nDer Lotosblüten auf dem Wasser zieh'n.\nMein Herz ist müde.\nMeine kleine Lampe\nErlosch mit Knistern, es gemahnt mich an den Schlaf.\nIch komm' zu dir, traute Ruhestätte!\nJa, gib mir Ruh', ich hab' Erquickung not!\nIch weine viel in meinen Einsamkeiten.\nDer Herbst in meinem Herzen währt zu lange.\nSonne der Liebe willst du nie mehr scheinen,\nUm meine bittern Tränen mild aufzutrocknen?\n Autumn fog creeps bluishly over the lake.\nEvery blade of grass stands frosted.\nAs though an artist had jade-dust\nover the fine flowers strewn.\nThe sweet fragrance of flower has passed;\nA cold wind bows their stems low.\nSoon will the wilted, golden petals\nof lotus flowers upon the water float.\nMy heart is tired.\nMy little lamp\nexpired with a crackle, minding me to sleep.\nI come to you, trusted resting place.\nYes, give me rest, I have need of refreshment!\nI weep often in my loneliness.\nAutumn in my heart lingers too long.\nSun of love, will you no longer shine\nGently to dry up my bitter tears?\n\n## 3. \"Von der Jugend\" (\"Of Youth\")\n Mitten in dem kleinen Teiche\nSteht ein Pavillon aus grünem\nUnd aus weißem Porzellan.\nWie der Rücken eines Tigers\nWölbt die Brücke sich aus Jade\nZu dem Pavillon hinüber.\nIn dem Häuschen sitzen Freunde,\nSchön gekleidet, trinken, plaudern.\nManche schreiben Verse nieder.\nIhre seidnen Ärmel gleiten\nRückwärts, ihre seidnen Mützen\nHocken lustig tief im Nacken.\nAuf des kleinen Teiches stiller\nWasserfläche zeigt sich alles\nWunderlich im Spiegelbilde.\nAlles auf dem Kopfe stehend\nIn dem Pavillon aus grünem\nUnd aus weißem Porzellan;\nWie ein Halbmond steht die Brücke,\nUmgekehrt der Bogen.\nFreunde,\nSchön gekleidet, trinken, plaudern.\n In the middle of the little pond\nstands a pavilion of green\nand white porcelain.\nLike the back of a tiger\narches the jade bridge\nover to the pavilion.\nFriends sit in the little house\nwell dressed, drinking, chatting.\nsome writing verses.\nTheir silk sleeves glide\nbackwards, their silk caps\nrest gaily at the napes of their necks.\nOn the small pond's still\nsurface, everything shows\nwhimsical in mirror image.\nEverything stands on its head\nin the pavilion of green\nand white porcelain.\nLike a half-moon is the bridge\nits arch upturned.\nFriends\nwell dressed, drinking, chatting.\n\n## 4. \"Von der Schönheit\" (\"Of Beauty\")\n Junge Mädchen pflücken Blumen,\nPflücken Lotosblumen an dem Uferrande.\nZwischen Büschen und Blättern sitzen sie,\nSammeln Blüten in den Schoß und rufen\nSich einander Neckereien zu.\nGold'ne Sonne webt um die Gestalten,\nSpiegelt sie im blanken Wasser wider,\nSonne spiegelt ihre schlanken Glieder,\nIhre süßen Augen wider,\nUnd der Zephir hebt mit Schmeichelkosen\nDas Gewebe Ihrer Ärmel auf,\nFührt den Zauber\nIhrer Wohlgerüche durch die Luft.\nO sieh, was tummeln sich für schöne Knaben\nDort an dem Uferrand auf mut'gen Rossen?\nWeithin glänzend wie die Sonnenstrahlen;\nSchon zwischen dem Geäst der grünen Weiden\nTrabt das jungfrische Volk einher!\nDas Roß des einen wiehert fröhlich auf\nUnd scheut und saust dahin,\nÜber Blumen, Gräser wanken hin die Hufe,\nSie zerstampfen jäh im Sturm die hingesunk'nen Blüten,\nHei!\nWie flattern im Taumel seine Mähnen,\nDampfen heiß die Nüstern!\nGold'ne Sonne webt um die Gestalten,\nSpiegelt sie im blanken Wasser wider.\nUnd die schönste von den Jungfrau'n sendet\nLange Blicke ihm der Sehnsucht nach.\nIhre stolze Haltung ist nur Verstellung.\nIn dem Funkeln ihrer großen Augen,\nIn dem Dunkel ihres heißen Blicks\nSchwingt klagend noch die Erregung ihres Herzens nach.\n Young girls picking flowers,\nPicking lotus flowers at the riverbank.\nAmid bushes and leaves they sit,\ngathering flowers in their laps and calling\none another in raillery.\nGolden sun plays about their form\nreflecting them in the clear water.\nThe sun reflects back their slender limbs,\ntheir sweet eyes,\nand the breeze teasing up the warp of their sleeves,\ndirects the magic\nof perfume through the air.\nO see, what a tumult of handsome boys\nthere on the shore on their spirited horses.\nYonder shining like the sun's rays\nbetween the branches of green willows\ntrot along the bold companions.\nThe horse of one neighs happily on and shies and rushes there,\nhooves shaking down blooms, grass,\ntrampling wildly the fallen flowers.\nHei!\nHow frenzied his mane flutters,\nand hotly steam his nostrils!\nGolden sun plays about their form\nreflecting them in the clear water.\nAnd the most beautiful of the maidens sends\nlong looks adoring at him.\nHer proud pose is but a pretense;\nin the flash of her big eyes,\nin the darkness of her ardent gaze\nbeats longingly her burning heart.\n(Chinese original version of this poem: [采莲曲 (李白)](https://bliptext.com/articles/undefined) ( [Wikisource](https://bliptext.com/articles/wikisource)).\n# [12px | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg]\n\n## 5. \"Der Trunkene im Frühling\" (\"The Drunkard in Spring\")\n Wenn nur ein Traum das Leben ist,\nWarum denn Müh' und Plag'!?\nIch trinke, bis ich nicht mehr kann,\nDen ganzen, lieben Tag!\nUnd wenn ich nicht mehr trinken kann,\nWeil Kehl' und Seele voll,\nSo tauml' ich bis zu meiner Tür\nUnd schlafe wundervoll!\nWas hör' ich beim Erwachen?\nHorch!\nEin Vogel singt im Baum.\nIch frag' ihn, ob schon Frühling sei,\nMir ist als wie im Traum.\nDer Vogel zwitschert: Ja!\nDer Lenz ist da, sei kommen über Nacht!\nAus tiefstem Schauen lauscht' ich auf,\nDer Vogel singt und lacht!\nIch fülle mir den Becher neu\nUnd leer' ihn bis zum Grund\nUnd singe, bis der Mond erglänzt\nAm schwarzen Firmament!\nUnd wenn ich nicht mehr singen kann,\nSo schlaf' ich wieder ein.\nWas geht mich denn der Frühling an!?\nLaßt mich betrunken sein!\n If life is but a dream,\nwhy work and worry?\nI drink until I no more can,\nthe whole, blessed day!\nAnd if I can drink no more\nas throat and soul are full,\nthen I stagger to my door\nand sleep wonderfully!\nWhat do I hear on waking?\nHark!\nA bird sings in the tree.\nI ask him if it's spring already;\nto me it's as if I'm in a dream.\nThe bird chirps Yes!\nThe spring is here, it came overnight!\nFrom deep wonderment I listen;\nthe bird sings and laughs!\nI fill my cup anew\nand drink it to the bottom\nand sing until the moon shines\nin the black firmament!\nAnd if I can not sing,\nthen I fall asleep again.\nWhat to me is spring?\nLet me be drunk!\n(Chinese original version of this poem: [春日醉起言志](https://bliptext.com/articles/undefined) ( [Wikisource](https://bliptext.com/articles/wikisource)).\n# [12px | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg]\n\n## 6. \"Der Abschied\" (\"The Farewell\")\n Die Sonne scheidet hinter dem Gebirge.\nIn alle Täler steigt der Abend nieder\nMit seinen Schatten, die voll Kühlung sind.\nO sieh!\nWie eine Silberbarke schwebt\nDer Mond am blauen Himmelssee herauf.\nIch spüre eines feinen Windes Weh'n Hinter den dunklen Fichten!\nDer Bach singt voller Wohllaut durch das Dunkel.\nDie Blumen blassen im Dämmerschein.\nDie Erde atmet voll von Ruh' und Schlaf.\nAlle Sehnsucht will nun träumen,\nDie müden Menschen geh'n heimwärts,\nUm im Schlaf vergess'nes Glück\nUnd Jugend neu zu lernen!\nDie Vögel hocken still in ihren Zweigen.\nDie Welt schläft ein!\nEs wehet kühl im Schatten meiner Fichten.\nIch stehe hier und harre meines Freundes;\nIch harre sein zum letzten Lebewohl.\nIch sehne mich, o Freund, an deiner Seite\nDie Schönheit dieses Abends zu genießen.\nWo bleibst du?\nDu läßt mich lang allein!\nIch wandle auf und nieder mit meiner Laute\nAuf Wegen, die von weichem Grase schwellen.\nO Schönheit!\nO ewigen Liebens – Lebens – trunk'ne Welt!\nEr stieg vom Pferd und reichte ihm den Trunk\nDes Abschieds dar.\nEr fragte ihn, wohin er führe\nUnd auch warum es müßte sein.\nEr sprach, seine Stimme war umflort.\nDu, mein Freund,\nMir war auf dieser Welt das Glück nicht hold!\nWohin ich geh'?\nIch geh', ich wand're in die Berge.\nIch suche Ruhe für mein einsam Herz.\nIch wandle nach der Heimat, meiner Stätte.\nIch werde niemals in die Ferne schweifen.\nStill ist mein Herz und harret seiner Stunde!\nDie liebe Erde allüberall\nBlüht auf im Lenz und grünt aufs neu!\nAllüberall und ewig blauen licht die Fernen!\nEwig... ewig...\n The sun departs behind the mountains.\nIn all the valleys the evening descends\nwith its shadow, full cooling.\nO look!\nLike a silver boat sails\nthe moon in the watery blue heaven.\nI sense the fine breeze stirring\nbehind the dark pines.\nThe brook sings out clear through the darkness.\nThe flowers pale in the twilight.\nThe earth breathes, in full rest and sleep.\nAll longing now becomes a dream.\nWeary men traipse homeward\nto sleep; forgotten happiness\nand youth to rediscover.\nThe birds roost silent in their branches.\nThe world falls asleep.\nIt blows coolly in the shadows of my pines.\nI stand here and wait for my friend;\nI wait to bid him a last farewell.\nI yearn, my friend, at your side\nto enjoy the beauty of this evening.\nWhere are you?\nYou leave me long alone!\nI walk up and down with my lute\non paths swelling with soft grass.\nO beauty!\nO eternal loving-and-life-bedrunken world!\nHe dismounted and handed him the drink\nof farewell.\nHe asked him where he would go and why must it be.\nHe spoke, his voice was quiet.\nAh my friend,\nFortune was not kind to me in this world!\nWhere do I go?\nI go, I wander in the mountains.\nI seek peace for my lonely heart.\nI wander homeward, to my abode!\nI'll never wander far.\nStill is my heart, awaiting its hour.\nThe dear earth everywhere\nblossoms in spring and grows green anew!\nEverywhere and forever blue is the horizon!\nForever ... Forever ...\n\n# Recordings\n\n## Orchestra, female and male soloists\n\n## Two male soloists\nFor the first few decades after the work's premiere, the option to perform it with two male soloists was little used.\nOn one occasion, [Bruno Walter](https://bliptext.com/articles/bruno-walter) tried it out and engaged [Friedrich Weidemann](https://bliptext.com/articles/friedrich-weidemann), the baritone who had premiered [Kindertotenlieder](https://bliptext.com/articles/kindertotenlieder) under Mahler's own baton in 1905.\nHowever, Walter felt that tenor and baritone did not work as well as tenor and alto, and he never repeated the experiment.\nFollowing the pioneering recordings of the work by baritone [Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau](https://bliptext.com/articles/dietrich-fischer-dieskau) under conductors [Paul Kletzki](https://bliptext.com/articles/paul-kletzki) and [Leonard Bernstein](https://bliptext.com/articles/leonard-bernstein), the use of baritones in this work has increased.\n\n## One male soloist\n\n## Piano accompaniment\n\n## Other versions\n\n### Schoenberg and Riehn arrangement\n[Arnold Schoenberg](https://bliptext.com/articles/arnold-schoenberg) began to arrange Das Lied von der Erde for chamber orchestra, reducing the orchestral forces to string and wind quintets, and calling for piano, [celesta](https://bliptext.com/articles/celesta) and [harmonium](https://bliptext.com/articles/pump-organ) to supplement the harmonic texture.\nThree percussionists are also employed.\nSchoenberg never finished this project, but the arrangement was completed by [Rainer Riehn](https://bliptext.com/articles/rainer-riehn) in 1980.\n\n### 21st-century versions\n\n# Sources","revisionCount":0},"hasMore":false,"nextCursor":null}