古斯塔夫马勒 古斯塔夫.马勒:音乐的新世纪之声

　　奥地利音乐家古斯塔夫・马勒(1860-1911)被视为新音乐的开路先锋。有人评价说,马勒的音乐是一面镜子,折射出上一个世纪之交,那个为新世纪来临的喜悦和对未来的恐惧所撕裂的时代。然而,这样一位音乐天才在其生活的年代更多被视为指挥家而不是作曲家。马勒去世50年后,他的大部分作品都不再为人所注意,只受到一小群人的推崇,直到一些著名指挥家的大力提倡,马勒的作品才重新受到关注。
　　2010年是马勒诞辰150周年,2011年是马勒逝世100周年,因此2010年-2011年被定为奥地利的马勒年。在这个纪念日里,就让文字带领我们寻找马勒的生命轨迹。
　　
　　Gustav Mahler was born in Kaliště, Bohemia (in the southwestern corner of what is now the Czech
　　Republic), in 1860. He was the second child, and the first of fourteen to survive. After his birth, his family moved to the nearby town of Jihlava, where his father ran a tavern[酒馆] and distillery[酿酒厂]. He began learning the piano at age six, and gave his first public recital[独奏会] in 1870. He studied briefly in Prague, before entering the Vienna Conservatory[音乐学校] in 1875.
　　
　　The Vienna Conservatory
　　While at the Conservatory, he studied piano under Julius Epstein, harmony[和声] under Robert Fuchs, and composition with Franz Krenn. He became one of the earliest supporters of Anton Bruckner注1, declaring his music the most original to have appeared in many years. During his stay at the Conservatory, Mahler composed and played in performances of his piano quintet[五重奏] and violin sonata[奏鸣曲].
　　
　　Early Conducting Success
　　After leaving the Conservatory, Mahler began his career as a conductor in 1880 in a series of provincial opera houses[歌剧院]: Ljubljana, Olomouc, Kassel, Prague, Leipzig, Budapest, and Hamburg.
　　During his post at Kassel in 1883-5 he had an unhappy love affair recorded in his song cycle[联篇歌曲] Songs of a Wayfarer[旅行者]. He moved to Prague in 1885, and in the next year to Leipzig. During his period at Leipzig, he accepted an invitation from Weber注2’s descendents[后裔] to reconstruct Weber’s unfinished opera The Three Pintos[杂色马]. The opera was a big success when it was first performed in 1888.
　　
　　Triumphs and Downfall
　　After his conversion[改变信仰] to Roman Catholicism[天主教], he became conductor of the Vienna Court Opera (known today as the Vienna State Opera) in 1897. He revolutionized the way opera was staged, and under his directorship, the Vienna Court Opera reached unprecedented[空前的] heights of excellence.
　　In 1902, he married Alma Schindler (1879-1964), a musician 19 years his junior. They had two daughters, Maria Anna, who died at the age of five, and Anna, who later became a sculptor. Immediately following the loss of his daughter, Mahler learned that his heart was defective[有缺陷的], which cast a shadow over his activities.
　　Mahler described himself as “three times homeless: a Bohemian amongst Austrians, an Austrian amongst Germans, and a Jew throughout the world.” Indeed, his enemies in the anti-Semitic[反对犹太人的] press eventually led to his resignation[辞职] from the Vienna Court Opera in 1907.
　　Late in his life, Mahler went to New York, first to conduct the New York Metropolitan Opera and then to lead the newly re-formed New York Philharmonic. He was not successful in America. The audiences did not like him and he was not able to rule his orchestras[管弦乐队] as he had in Vienna. He left the city without completing his last season and died from bacterial endocarditis[细菌性心内膜炎] shortly thereafter.
　　
　　Mahler’s Music
　　Mahler’s conducting career was mainly concerned with opera, but his main compositional output consists of lieder[德国民谣], song cycles, and ten monumental symphonies, the last left uncompleted at his death. He accomplished[完成] most of his composition during his summer holidays spent at a villa[别墅] he had built at Maiernigg on the Worthersee.
　　In 1889 he conducted the first performance of what is now known as his Symphony No. 1 � Titan � then described as a “symphonic poem.” His second Symphony, Resurrection, was completed in 1894, and first performed in Berlin in 1895. During the years 1896-1907, he composed the Symphonies 3 to 8, and the song cycle Songs on the Death of Children. His massive song-symphony Song of the Earth注3 was first performed under Bruno Walter in Munich 1911. Walter also premiered[初次公演] the 9th symphony in Vienna 1912.
　　Although Mahler left his 10th symphony unfinished, he left extensive sketches[草稿] and formal outlines for the work, allowing it to be completed by Deryck Cooke in 1960.
　　Mahler’s symphonies were greeted with hostility[敌意] at first, but thanks to the advocacy[拥护] of conductors such as Mengelberg and Walter, they are now recognized as the very height of the Austro-German symphonic tradition. His genius can be seen in the way he takes completely unrelated elements � post-Wagnerian注4 harmony, Austrian folk, child-like innocence, and a curiosity about death � and blends them into musical masterpieces. He supported the music of the younger generation of composers, and had a profound[深刻的] influence on modernist[现代主义者]
　　composers such as Shostakovich and Schoenberg. In Mahler’s music, the 20th century has found expression of its hopes and fears.
　　
　　古斯塔夫・马勒于1860年出生于波希米亚地区的卡里希特村(位于现捷克共和国的西南角)。他是家里的第二个孩子,也是十四个孩子中第一个存活下来的。在他出生后,全家就搬到了临近的小镇伊赫拉瓦,他父亲在那里开了一家小酒馆和酿酒厂。他6岁开始学钢琴,在1870年举行了第一场公开独奏会。他在布拉格进行过短暂的学习,于1875年入读维也纳音乐学院。
　　
　　维也纳音乐学院
　　在维也纳音乐学院求学时,他师从尤里乌斯・爱泼斯坦学习钢琴,跟罗伯特・富赫斯学习和声学,并跟弗朗茨・克伦学习作曲。他成为了安东・布鲁克纳最早的支持者之一,并宣称布鲁克纳的音乐是多年以来最有独创性的作品。在音乐学院学习的那段日子里,马勒不仅作曲,还多次演奏其钢琴五重奏和小提琴奏鸣曲。
　　
　　早期指挥成就
　　离开音乐学院后,马勒在1880年开始了指挥家的职业生涯。他在许多地方歌剧院担任指挥,如卢布尔雅那(斯洛文尼亚首都)、奥洛穆茨(捷克东部城市)、卡塞尔(德国中部城市)、布拉格、莱比锡、布达佩斯和汉堡等。
　　1883至1885年在卡塞尔任职期间,他有过一段不美满的爱情,后来被记录在其联篇歌曲《旅人之歌》中。1885年,他搬到了布拉格,第二年又移居莱比锡。在莱比锡的那段时间,他接受了韦伯后人的邀请,重新编写韦伯未完成的歌剧《三只花斑马》。这部歌剧于1888年首演,并
　　大获成功。
　　
　　人生起落
　　在改信罗马天主教后,马勒于1897年成为维也纳皇家歌剧院(即今天的维也纳国家剧院)的指挥。他革新了歌剧的演出方式。在他的引领下,维也纳皇家歌剧院取得了前所未有的盛誉。
　　1902年,他和比自己年轻19岁的女音乐家阿尔玛・辛德勒(1879-1964)结婚。他们生下了两个女儿:玛利亚・安娜(5岁时夭折了)以及安娜(后来成为了一名雕刻家)。失去女儿后没多久,马勒得知自己的心脏有缺陷,这给他日后的活动蒙上了阴影。
　　马勒将自己描述为“三重意义上的无家可归者――奥地利人当中的波希米亚人、德国人当中的奥地利人,以及浪迹天涯的犹太人”。实际上,来自反犹太势力的敌人最终于1907年迫使他辞去维也纳皇家歌剧院的职位。
　　晚年的马勒去到纽约,先后在纽约大都会歌剧院和重组不久的纽约爱乐乐团担任指挥。但他在美国并不成功。观众不喜欢他,他也未能像在维也纳那样指挥自己的管弦乐队。在没有完成最后一个表演季之前,他离开了这个城市,不久后就因细菌性心内膜炎去世。
　　
　　马勒的音乐
　　马勒的指挥事业主要集中在歌剧方面,但他的主要作曲包括民谣、联篇歌曲和十部意义深远的交响曲,其中最后一部在他去世时尚未完成。他在(奥地利)沃尔特湖的迈尔尼希建了一间小别墅,其大多数作曲都是在夏季到此度假期间完成的。
　　1889年,他为现在被称作其第一交响曲――《泰坦》的第一场演出担任指挥――人们后来形容它是一首“交响诗”。他的第二交响曲《复活》完成于1894年,于1895年在柏林首演。在1896至1907年间,他创作了第三至第八交响曲以及联篇歌曲《悼亡儿之歌》。他的大型交响声乐套曲《大地之歌》于1911年
　　在慕尼黑首演,由布鲁诺・瓦尔特指挥。瓦尔特还于1912年在维也纳为第九交响曲的首演担任指挥。
　　虽然马勒的第十交响曲并没有完成,但他留下了详细的草稿和正式大纲,德里克・库克在1960年得以将它补充完整。
　　一开始,马勒的交响曲并不受落,但多亏门盖尔伯格和瓦尔特等指挥家的支持,它们如今被认为是德奥交响乐传统的极高成就。马勒的天才在于他能够将迥然不同的元素――后瓦格纳风格的和声、奥地利民歌、孩子般的天真,以及对于死亡的好奇――融入到音乐杰作当中。他支持年青一代作曲家的音乐,并对肖斯塔科维奇和勋伯格等现代主义作曲家产生了深远的影响。马勒的音乐充分表现了二十世纪的希望和恐惧。
　　
　　Facts About Gustav Mahler
　　
　　Mahler’s 1st and 5th Symphonies
　　According to Naxos注5, Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 is the second most-recorded symphony of all his symphonies. In a survey taken of three traditional Mahler orchestras (Vienna, New York, and Amsterdam), it was found that Mahler’s
　　Symphony No. 1 was the most performed.
　　
　　Mahler’s Longest Symphony
　　Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 is one of the
　　longest symphonies ever created, clocking in at roughly 95 minutes. Composed between 1893 and 1896, it is still performed in symphony halls around the world to this day.
　　
　　Mahler’s Symphony No. 4
　　Many of the themes used throughout Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 were, in fact taken from previous compositions from Mahler’s The Youth’s Magic Horn.
　　
　　Mahler’s Symphony No. 8
　　Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 was nicknamed the “Symphony of a Thousand” by Mahler’s agent, because its premiere performance
　　featured over 150 orchestra members and over 800 choral[合唱队的] singers.
　　
　　Mahler’s The Song of the Earth
　　The Song of the Earth is unique to Mahler’s body of work. It is the only composition to use Chinese themes. It is based on German translations of ancient Chinese poetry.
　　
　　Mahler and the Vienna State
　　Opera
　　In 1897, in order to secure a position
　　as the artistic director of the Vienna Court Opera, Mahler converted from
　　Judaism[犹太教] to Catholicism as the opera company would not hire Jews.
　　
　　Mahler’s Quote About Music and Composing
　　Here’s a fascinating Mahler quote that sums up Mahler’s music. “It is always the same with me; only when I experience
　　something do I compose, and only when composing do I experience! After all, a musician’s nature can hardly be
　　expressed in words.”
　　
　　注1:安东・布鲁克纳(1824-1896),奥地利作曲家、管风琴家、浪漫乐派代表人物之一。
　　注2:韦伯(1786-1826),德国作曲家、钢琴演奏家、指挥家、音乐评论家。
　　注3:《大地之歌》是马勒最为重要的作品之一,分为六个乐章,歌词采用中国唐朝诗人李白、孟浩然、王维等人的七首诗。作品中既有对生活热情洋溢的高歌,也有对死亡恐惧的感怀,作品淋漓尽致地揭示了尽情享乐与预感死亡的矛盾和困惑。
　　注4:Wagnerian指“瓦格纳风的”。理查德・瓦格纳(1813-1883),德国作曲家,是德国歌剧史上一位举足轻重的人物。前面承接莫扎特、贝多芬的歌剧传统,后面开启了后浪漫主义歌剧作曲潮流,理查德・施特劳斯紧随其后。
　　注5:即拿索斯国际(远东)唱片有限公司。