Lot 37
  • 37

Mahler, Gustav

Estimate
60,000 - 80,000 GBP
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Description

  • Mahler, Gustav
  • The original autograph composition draft of the chorus "Aufersteh’n!" [Resurrection Chorale], from the Finale of the Second Symphony in C minor
  • ink on paper
notated in short score, on six systems, in black ink and pencil, with revisions, deletions and cues, additions in pencil, and annotations in pencil ("aus dem I. Satz") and ink ("volles Orchst ff"); in this manuscript Mahler departs from Klopstock's text in a few places, whilst also differing from his own final version:

"Aufersteh'n! Ja aufersteh'n wirst du
mein Staub, aus kurzer Ruh
Unsterblich's Leben
wird der dich liebt dir geben.



"Wieder aufzublüh'n wirst du gesät!
der Herr der Ernte geht
und sammelt Garben
uns ein, die sterben"



1 page, large folio (35.5 x 26.8cm), 28-stave paper ("Joh. Aug. Bohme, Hamburg, no. 20."), [Hamburg, March-April  1894], light overall browning, some staining and creasing to corners, traces of of mounting and paper loss on verso

Literature

S. Hefling, 'Content and Context of the Sketches', in Mahler: The Resurrection Chorale, ed. Gilbert E. Kaplan (New York: Kaplan Foundation, 1994), pp.13-24.  D. Mitchell, The Wunderhorn Years: Chronicles and Commentaries (1975), p.282.

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

This is one of the most evocative autograph manuscripts by Mahler.  It is almost certainly Mahler's first composition draft of the celebrated chorus that marks the culmination of the Resurrection and emotional climax of the whole symphony.  Ultimately marked "very soft" (ppp) and "Misterioso", it is one of the most famous and crucial passages in any of Mahler's works.  

Mahler was inspired to compose this choral finale whilst attending the memorial service for the great pianist and conductor Hans von Bülow, in Hamburg on 29 March 1894.  A boys' choir sang Klopstock's Resurrection hymn 'Aufersteh'n! ja aufersteh'n' , which, according to the first edition of his Geistlicher Lieder (1758), should be sung to the chorale melody 'Jesus Christus unser Heiland, der den Tod überwand'.  The composer J.B. Foerster (1859-1951), who also attended, described both the service and seeking out Mahler later that afternoon: "I opened the door, and saw him sitting at the writing desk, head bent, hand holding pen over manuscript paper. I remained standing at the door. Mahler turned and said: 'Dear friend, I've got it!'...Klopstock's poem which we heard this morning in the mouths of children, will be the basis of the finale of the Second Symphony".  This may well be the very manuscript that Foerster describes; it may also be the first part of Mahler's great Finale to be composed. 

Mahler notates his own setting of the first verse of Klopstock's poem on the first three systems (staves 3-13) and the second verse on the fourth to sixth systems (staves 15-23).  Mahler's final versions are found at Figure 31 (bars 472-494) and Figure 35 (bars 512-536) of the printed editions.  Although the rhythms are different from the final version, and the soprano solos crowning each verse are absent, the distinctive harmonization and the modulation from G-flat major to E major are already almost exactly as Mahler eventually wrote them.  

Mahler had yet to compose the substantial passages for full orchestra that follow each verse, instead providing cues here for passages in the first and fourth movements.  The first verse eventually was followed by a version of the fanfares for horns and trumpets that recur throughout the Finale.   Mahler's reversion to the first movement here reflects the fact that he composed the fifth movement whilst still revising the first and suggests that this leaf was written before the fanfares.  Mahler's pencil annotation at the end of the first stanza (third system; staves 10 & 11) includes a quotation of the clarinet parts at bars 135-136 in the first movement, whilst, in ink to the right of the sixth system (stave 23), he quotes from the second subject in E major (bars 52-55 of the first movement).  Below that, also in ink (stave 24), Mahler indicates the entry of the full orchestra ("volles Orchst") but the music comes from the fourth movement 'Urlicht', at the words "Je lieber möcht ich" (bars 23-24, repeated at 59-60: "Gott wird mir ein Lichtchen geben").

The words in this early setting of "Aufersteh'n, Ja aufersteh'n" are slightly different from Klopstock's original sacred song: the second line reads "aus kurzer Ruh", rather than "Nach kurzer Ruh", and the fourth line reads "wird, der dich liebt", rather than Klopstock's "Wird, der dich schuf"; in Mahler's final version this becomes "Wird, der dich rief".

Sotheby's is grateful for the assistance and advice of Professor Stephen Hefling in preparing this description.