Haunting Images Mahler arranged by Schoenberg - heard by GERALD FENECH 'An unusual interpretation of "Das Lied" in excellent sound and presentation ...'

Gustav Mahler composed Das Lied von der Erde ('The Song of the Earth') during, maybe, the most tormented period of his life. In 1907 he was forced to resign from the Vienna Court Opera, was diagnosed with serious heart disease and his eldest daughter died from scarlet fever aged five. Amidst all these hammer blows, the composer found solace in a collection of Chinese poems collected by Hans Bethge that resonated profoundly with his terrible plight. For his projected symphony/song cycle Mahler chose specific texts that evoke haunting images of nature, dreams, wandering, parting, intoxication and eternity; all significant themes that were rife in the European poetry and music of Mahler's time, and all recurring obsessively in the composer's late works, his Ninth Symphony in particular...

GUSTAV MAHLER

ARNOLD SCHOENBERG

MSR CLASSICS

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

CHAMBER MUSIC