Program Notes

Gustav Mahler (1860-1911)
Piano Quartet in A Minor (1876)

Notes for: July 26, 2011

Mahler is associated in our minds with massive symphonies and vocal music with a large orchestral accompaniment. His initial musical training, however, was as a pianist, and he gave his first public concert as a pianist at the age of 10. Sent to the Vienna Conservatory at 15, he was still considered a pianist, winning several student competitions at the keyboard. It was not until he was 17 that he abandoned the idea of being a concert pianist in favor of composition.

Mahler’s earliest compositions, consequently, were chamber music involving the piano. Thus, while still a teenage student at the Vienna Conservatory, he produced a violin and piano sonata, a piano quintet (piano plus four string instruments), the scherzo for another piano quintet, and the first movement of a piano quartet (piano plus three strings). The sonata and piano quintet were subsequently lost, but the manuscript of the piano quartet movement somehow survived, and we hear it this evening.

After the composition of the piano quartet movement in 1876, there was no public performance of the work until 1962 when it was broadcast over New York City radio station WBAI. It turned out to be a warm and melodious piece, in the mid-19th century romantic tradition of Mendelssohn or Schumann, composers whom Mahler was studying at the Conservatory at the time of its composition. The movement was subsequently published, and it received its first concert performance in London in 1968. It is now an occasional piece in the chamber-music repertory.

Following 19th century models, the movement is cast in traditional sonata form, with the presentation of two main themes followed by their development and restatement. The piano states the first theme, marked by a three-note pattern encompassing an upward jump of a sixth with a return to the fifth. The strings pick up and extend this pattern, which then dominates the movement. The second theme, presented by the strings, complements the pattern with a rapid descending series of notes.

The development combines the two themes, rising to a climax of some intensity. Perhaps the movement’s most imaginative passage is the return of the first theme, now in a subdued, even mysterious mood. Near the end, a cadenza for the first violin leads to a quiet conclusion.

Copyright © 2011 by Willard J. Hertz

Notes for: July 28, 2015

Mahler was born to a Jewish family in Bohemia, in what was then the Austrian Empire and now is in the Czech Republic. His father, the son of a peddler, had elevated himself to the ranks of the petite bourgeoisie by becoming a coachman and then an inn keeper. The family was not particularly religious, and as an inn-keeper his father had to associate mainly with his non-Jewish clientele rather than with fellow Jews. As a result of this early upbringing, Mahler was a life-long agnostic in his personal beliefs.

In recent years, Mahler’s “Jewishness” has become a matter of some debate in the press and in scholarly literature. On the one hand, in Vienna of the 1890s, Mahler suffered intensely from the anti-Semitism of the day, and he converted to Catholicism to secure his position as director of the Vienna Court Opera rather than as expression of his personal beliefs. On the other hand, some of his greatest music - for example, the Second Symphony, called “The Resurrection” - was inspired by Jesus and his sufferings.

Beyond such specific references, to what extent is Mahler’s Jewish background reflected more generally in his music? As he himself stated, he developed a permanent sense of exile, “always an intruder, never welcomed.” He frequently compared himself to Ahasuerus, the so-called Wandering Jew, whose legend spread in Europe starting in the 13th century. It is the theme of isolation and homeless wandering that is reflected in most of his music rather than any sense of Jewish identity.

Turning now to the Piano Quartet, Mahler is associated in our minds with massive symphonies and vocal music with a large orchestral accompaniment. His initial musical training, however, was as a concert pianist, and his earliest compositions were chamber music involving the piano. Thus, while still a teenage student at the Vienna Conservatory, he produced a violin and piano sonata, a piano quintet (piano plus four string instruments), the scherzo for another piano quintet, and the first movement and start of the second movement of a piano quartet (piano plus three strings). The sonata and piano quintet were subsequently lost, but the manuscript of the piano quartet somehow survived.

After the piano quartet’s composition in 1876, there was no public performance of the work for 86 years until the completed first movement was broadcast over New York City radio station WBAI. It turned out to be a warm and melodious piece, in the mid-19th century romantic tradition of Mendelssohn or Schumann, composers whom Mahler was studying at the Conservatory at the time of its composition. The movement was subsequently published, and it received its first concert performance in London in 1968. It is now an occasional piece in the chamber-music repertory.

Following 19th century models, the movement is cast in traditional sonata form, with the presentation of two main themes followed by their development and restatement. The piano states the first theme, marked by a three-note pattern encompassing an upward jump of a 6th with a return to the 5th. The strings extend this pattern, which then dominates the movement. The second theme, presented by the strings, complements the pattern with a rapid descending series of notes.

The development combines the two themes, rising to a climax of some intensity. Perhaps the movement’s most imaginative passage is the return of the first theme, now in a subdued, even mysterious mood. Near the end, a cadenza for the first violin leads to a quiet conclusion.

Copyright © 2015 by Willard J. Hertz