Des Knaben Wunderhorn (Mahler)

Des Knaben Wunderhorn is the main source of Gustav Mahler collection of art songs. Mahler set to music 12 poems from the poetry collection Des Knaben Wunderhorn, which was published 1805-1808 by Clemens Brentano and Achim von Arnim.

Also composed the music of this collection in the narrow sense Mahler various texts from Des Knaben Wunderhorn. A total of 24 Wunderhorn texts are available in settings of Gustav Mahler.

Piano songs

Even before the emergence of the twelve songs that are now commonly referred to as Mahler's "Wunderhorn songs ," Mahler had written 1887-1891 nine piano songs, the texts from Des Knaben Wunderhorn for the foundation. This appeared in 1892 as the No. 2 and 3 by Gustav Mahler Collection " songs and chants " (sometimes erroneously cited as " songs and chants from the youth ").

Orchestral Songs

From 1892 to 1898, the composition of the 12 songs ( ballads and songs ) from the collection of poems for voice and orchestra was performed.

Originally belonged primordial light and Three angels sang to these orchestral songs; Primordial light but felt in the fourth movement of Mahler's Symphony No. 2 use, Three angels sang again in the 5th set of Mahler's Symphony No. 3. Mahler replaced primordial light and it sang three angels in Des Knaben Wunderhorn then Revelge (formed 1899) and The Tamboursg'sell (1901 ).

The premiere of the orchestral songs in cyclic form took place only in 1970.

In addition to the orchestral versions the Wunderhorn songs also exist in versions for voice and piano by the composer's hand, which differ materially from the orchestral versions in part. This fact has long been hardly known, as the publisher Universal Edition for decades had only applied piano reductions of orchestral versions. Only in 1993 the original piano versions of Renate Hilmar - Voit and Thomas Hampson were reissued as part of the Critical Edition of Mahler's works.