An integration of ancient Chinese poetry and Western post-Romantic music: A study of Gustav Mahler's 'Das Lied von der Erde' (Austria)

Gustav Mahler (1860–1911) developed and expanded Ludwig van Beethoven's (1770–1827) concept of a symphony using voices along with the orchestra. Of Mahler's ten symphonies, four employ voices: Symphony no. 2, C minor (Resurrection); Symphony no. 3, D minor; Symphony no. 4, G major, and Symphony no. 8, E-flat major (Symphony of a Thousand). Mahler also developed the tradition of the Romantic orchestral song cycle to compose several orchestral song cycles and collections of his own: Kindertotenlieder (Songs on the Death of Children), Lieder aus Des Knaben Wunderhorn (The Youth's Magic Horn), and Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (Songs of a Wayfarer). Compared to the pieces mentioned above, Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde (1907–08) is distinct in many aspects, including the sources of its texts, its musical structures, its scale systems, orchestration, and symphonic tone colors.; Although Mahler had never been to China, nor was he familiar with Chinese poetry or Chinese music, he was the first influential Western composer to use ancient Chinese poems as the texts for an epoch-making symphonic composition. With respect to Das Lied von der Erde, Mahler was not only the composer but in some respects the lyricist as well. He edited and added to the texts chosen from Hans Bethge's Die chinesische Flöte: Nachdichtungen chinesischer Lyrik. By comparing Mahler's texts with Bethge's versions and other translations of these poems, this thesis shows that Mahler's love for life and nature, along with his desire to leave behind the vexations and loneliness of the earth, can be traced back through generations of artists of the same spirit. Though melancholy, sorrow, and pessimism became the basic keynotes for Mahler's compositions after he suffered a personal crisis in 1907, Mahler's music is still full of lyrical passion and innermost expectancy of life on the earth.; So inspired was Mahler by the spirit, philosophy, and styles of ancient Chinese poets that he tried to apply new symphonic structures to express them. These new music structures were influenced by Chinese Tang poetic structures in the pattern of Qi (introduction), Cheng (elucidation of the theme), Zhuan (transition to another viewpoint), and He (summing up).; This thesis answers some of the questions regarding the identities of the Chinese poets, which have been lost for over a century. It also seeks to illustrate the universality of musical language not only through Mahler's understanding of the music and poetry of a foreign culture, but also through the admiration of his Chinoiserie by Chinese musicians and audiences.