Lot 296
  • 296

Mahler, Gustav.

Estimate
100,000 - 150,000 GBP
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Description

  • The composer's own copy of the first edition of the Third Symphony, containing his extensive autograph revisions and performance markings, the full score:
  • ink on paper
3. Symphonie...Partitur [full score], Vienna: Josef Weinberger, [July 1902], first edition, first issue, 231 pages, folio (c.33 x 26cms), plate no.9, priced at 40 marks, later half calf, title repaired at inner margin, a few pages working loose, occasional tears and staining to corners and margins (pp.103/104)



Mahler's autograph additions and revisions to most of the pages, including new music written into the staves and in the margins, in red ink, in blue and brown crayon and in pencil, a working manuscript in places, with successive layers of alterations and revisions, some reconsidered, with copious autograph performance markings and notes, dynamics and articulation markings throughout;  together with minor corrections (mainly to omissions, wrong notes, dynamics and articulation) added in another hand in pink crayon.

Literature

Peter Franklin, Mahler: Symphony no.3, (Cambridge, 1991); H.-L. de La Grange, Gustav Mahler, volume 2. Vienna: The Years of Challenge (1897-1904), (Oxford, 1995). G. Mahler, Dritte Symphonie, small 4to (c.23.5 x 17cms), (Vienna: "in die 'Universal-Edition' aufgenommen", c.1906)

Condition

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, where appropriate
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Catalogue Note

Mahler's autograph additions and alterations constitute his full-scale revision of the orchestration of his symphony, entered into the first issue of the orchestral full score, in effect establishing the definitive form of the symphony: almost all (but not quite all) of Mahler's revisions are incorporated in later editions.  However, one striking alteration regarding the Posthorn in the third movement, made later on, is not recorded here at all.

Mahler has used a copy of the original issue of the full score, itself a very rare edition by Weinberger of Vienna, published shortly after the first complete performance, which was conducted by Mahler at  Krefeld on 9 June 1902 (see Franklin, p.91; La Grange, ii, 85n). The present copy therefore contains Mahler's autograph revisions, made in the light of directing the first few performances. Not surprisingly, Mahler's revisions are more extensive in the first and fifth movements, than in those movements (2, 3 & 6) that had already been given separately at Berlin, Budapest and Leipzig in 1896-1897. 

Mahler makes his most extensive alterations, by writing new music directly onto the staves and margins, mainly in red ink, but also frequently in brown crayon. This is a working manuscript in places, where Mahler reconsiders these alterations, striking some out in blue crayon and occasionally reinstating the original readings. Many pages are visually striking: the various colours revealing the successive stages of revision.  In a substantial passage of over 20 bars, (p.73-77) Mahler transforms the pages with new parts for oboes and clarinets in red ink, subsequently deleting these new parts in blue crayon, with new parts for trumpets and timpani in red ink and blue crayon, then deleting the entire staves for percussion parts in brown crayon. The great majority of Mahler's alterations (at least those he does not delete) are then found in later printings by Weinberger or in Universal's editions. However, not all his revisions were subsequently included: On page 48, Mahler has written parts for Oboe 3 & 4, Oboe 1 & 2, and 3 Clarinets and added a tremolo for the 1.Violins, all in brown crayon. The oboe parts are included in later editions, but not the clarinet parts. He also adds parts for Trumpets 2 & 3 in thirds: however, these trumpets play in unison in later editions.

The original Weinberger score is very rare: outside Austria and Germany, we have traced copies only in the British Library, the Pierpont Morgan Library and the Library of Congress. One of the most striking points in the Weinberger score is that the famous solo in the third movement is given to a Flügelhorn (marked "Wie die Weise eines Posthorns), rather than to a Posthorn.  Mahler does not alter that here, suggesting that his revision dates from before Weinberger's reprinting of the score in smaller study-score format (c.1906). In Mahler's first orchestral draft (in the Morgan Library), the melody is played by the trumpet (as in the eight bars preceding Figure 14 on page 154: see Franklin, p.112 n.13). However, Mahler revised a great deal of the rest of the orchestration. There is also another copy of this edition in the Austrian National Library, containing revisions by Mahler; apparently these were prepared for the Universal-Edition study score published in 1906. The present copy, however, is evidently Mahler's early conducting score: the fact that the Flügelhorn part remains here unchanged suggests that this score represents the earliest stage of Mahler's revisions after directing the work complete in performance. The composer refers to the Flügelhorn still being used at Frankfurt in December 1903 (La Grange, ii, 648) .

This is a list of Mahler's main additions to the music, leaving aside the many alterations to dynamics and articulation:

I. Abtheilung
p.9. Mahler writes extra parts for the oboes and clarinets in red ink: only the oboes parts are retained in later editions
p.15 Mahler adds a bassoon part and deletes the line for the Cor Anglais, all in blue crayon
p.17 Mahler adds two bars for the triangle in red ink, which he then deletes in pencil ("Bleibt wie früher"); he then deletes the tambourine part in red ink (although it is retained in later editions).
p.22 Mahler adds parts for 8 horns, which are not included in later editions
p.25 Mahler adds the piccolo part in blue crayon ("3. Fl. nimmt Piccolo", "ohne Rücksicht auf dem Takt"); the phrase had originally been assigned to the E-flat clarinet
p.29 Mahler deletes the part for second bassoon and makes significant alterations to note-lengths throughout the wind parts
p.41 Mahler adds a part for the second trumpet in grey pencil,
pp.42-43 Mahler revises the horn parts and adds glissandi for the violin & viola parts in grey pencil
p.44 Mahler adds the oboe and clarinet triplets, in brown crayon
p.48 Mahler has marked Fig 32 "Vorwärts" and written parts for Oboe 3 & 4, Oboe 1 & 2, and 3 Clarinets and added a tremolo for the 1.Violins, all in brown crayon. The oboes parts are included in later editions, but not the clarinet parts. He also adds parts for Trumpets 2 & 3 in thirds: they are unison in the final Universal editions.
p.54 Mahler heavily deletes parts for cor anglais, E-flat clarinet and 1.bassoon, in red ink, and also changing the notes of the B-flat clarinet parts.
p.64 Mahler adds new parts for 4 flutes in blue crayon and then more in red ink
p.65 Mahler deletes the parts for 4 flutes in red ink and writes parts for 3 B-flat clarinets
p.68 Mahler adds a part for the 3 B-flat clarinets in red ink,
p.73-77 Mahler re-writes the orchestration of a substantial passage (over 20 bars), with new parts for 4 oboes and four clarinets in red ink, subsequently deleting these new parts in blue crayon; he also writes new parts for trumpets 3 & 4 in red ink and blue crayon, and for the triangle in red ink, and for the timpani in blue crayon, deleting parts for side drum and tambourine in brown crayon. These revisions are in the main incorporated in later editions.
pp.100-102 Mahler adds a glissando in the harp part in red ink and re-writes the upbeat "glissandi", in the wood-wind and strings, all in red ink, deleting the down-beat appoggiaturas in ink and blue crayon,
pp.102-103 Mahler adds notes in the E-flat clarinet, bassoon, contrabassoon, trombone and timpani parts, in red ink (deleting held notes, in these parts and in the wood-wind)

Zweite Abtheilung,
p.105 Mahler writes a note in blue crayon asking for the whole theme to be played by an oboe d'amore, if one becomes available ("Noch besser könnte das ganze Thema von einer Oboe d'amour gebracht werden, wenn einer solche zur Verfügung steht!!"). This is not recorded in later editions.
pp.106-107 Mahler deletes parts for flutes, oboes, clarinets, horns and violins in red ink and blue crayon
p.109 Mahler adds three bars to the 1st Flute part in red ink, subsequently deleting the last in blue crayon.
p.137 Mahler revises the triplets for violins, violas and cellos, adding notes for the 2nd violin and deleting others in the violin and cellos, all in red ink and pencil, and subsequently reinstating most of the original version using blue crayon, marking the violin and viola parts "bleibt", but leaving out the cello notes definitively.
p.151 Mahler makes a major revision to the instrumentation and layout in blue crayon, deleting parts for oboes 3 & 4, clarinets, violas and cellos, and recasting the staves for 6 horn parts
p.154 "Sehr gemächlich" in 6/8: the solo part is for Flügelhorn in B-flat.  Mahler does not alter this here, but the Universal-Edition (1906) calls for the Posthorn.
p.170 & pp.177-178 Mahler deletes the trumpet line in red ink, and oboe, E-flat clarinet and contrabassoon parts in brown crayon
p.190 Mahler changes the rhythm of the horn quavers (in another hand: "...nicht verbessern"]
p.191 Mahler adds the marking "Drägend" in brown crayon, and changes the words for the Alto solo in red ink
pp.192-193, 195 and 204-205 Mahler adds the word and music for the "mittlere" and "tiefe" parts in the women's chorus, in brown ink and red ink; an early version of this song was for soprano only. 
p.196 Mahler deletes the marking "grob" for the Alto soloist's line "Was steht du denn hier?"

this lot is also illustrated on the catalogue cover