Having Mahler actually playing in you apartment, about 110 years after his death, is mind boggling! Somehow more intimate than any form of audio recording. These are his (mediated) fingers triggering the strings.
I listen to this again and realize this is the closest physical touch we have with the great man but it little matters because he is immortal because of his work.
This is priceless. Mahler himself playing these his own pieces. With amazing sound. Piano Rolls are priceless. I'm sitting here with my jaw open. Really just the concept that he's playing these massive orchestral works on solo piano is awe inspiring in itself!!
Mahler was an excellent pianist in his youth, playing concerts and picking up income giving lessons. His busy career later on as a conductor left little time for regular practice. By the time these rolls were made, the piano was primarily a composing tool, though he often played at gatherings and for his own enjoyment. Even so, vestiges of his youthful skills remain apparent. It should be noted that the Welte-Mignon system used to make the rolls reproduced here was a sophisticated technology for its time and vastly superior to other "player piano" methods. Others besides Mahler, including Debussy, Grieg and Ravel, were curious enough to check it out.
מוסקט מנדלסון I once sang Ging heut’ Morgen at this tempo and was roundly criticised. I then played this recording, commenting on the performer, then added that it was a piano roll by Mahler.
@@dboyen I like that song sung at a slower tempo. Perhaps if Mahler had lived long enough to record his symphonies as a conductor, I might think his tempo was too fast.
I get his music now more than ever after listening to this. Something just clicked and I think I finally truly unlocked what his music truly is. Hearing his fingers to the piano and his emotion to it makes it all make sense. More composers need to be conductors or players of their works. Nothing gets the point across better.
Mahler seldom spent time practicing the piano after his student days. He used it as a tool for working out his ideas. As he said "my instrument is not the piano but the orchestra".
@PhilipReesMelody I love orchestras so much, but I, to some extent, understand your feeling. I love almost everything about classical music, except sopranos. I love female voices in pop, rock n roll, jazz, hip hop...but just not in bel canto, too harsh! That stops me enjoying almost any opera, although I love overtures of Wagner and lots of tenor, baritone and bass arias and art songs.
What an odd position. You should relax your pre conceived predjudices of instrument groupings and try a bit harder to enjoy.. Orchestral compositions exist to give voices to so many different emotions. Think of Rachmaninoff's Second Symphony. As a piano reduction it would be soulless. Try to break the bondage you have put your heart in and a world of beauty will open to you.
Thank you for posting this. You can hear he uses arpeggios in chords, and the melody does not synchronise the accompaniment, like all the greats in the early 1900s. And it also proves the conductors and composers of that time are able to play the piano very well.
I have come to know the existence of Mahler’s own recording where he pleyed the forth and the fifth symphonies as well as other couple of his works by the pianoroll. This is an extraordinary finding to me in recent several months. The sound of so-called pianoroll recording is much less hidious than I expected but rather miraclulously fantastic!!!! Thank you very, very and very much, Gustav, for your leaving this phenominal and cultual asset for musik lovers of later generation. May 2023 Yoshi Taniguchi (Japan)
So Owsome as in Awesome. Totally relaxed confidence and in mastery of his technique and expression, at certain moments, and those glimpses are all it takes me to believe what an ecstatic performer he was. A path to transcendence. Too cool for school.
@@TheLifeisgood72 yes but they might not be able to make it sound that way, and for more reasons than just ability to play an instrument. ive struggled with this w/ my own work as a composer.
@@anchihall8852 I still think they fare slightly better than a performer most of the time. But that’s interesting that it’s still hard for you. Definitely a testament to how hard piano is.
What I find most striking is how much faster his tempos are than most conductors take. Even allowing for the greater breadth a full orchestra has than a piano, it’s clear to me that most conductors simply conduct Mahler too slowly.
The only one that is at all fast is "Ging heut morgen..." Not surprising, given that he's playing the piano version of the song. His use of the melody in Symphony 1, 1st movement, is an extrapolation, within which the tempo varies from slower in early exposition to more rapid further on and in the closing. The other pieces are played fairly close to the tempi taken in most of the multitude of recordings I've heard.
Creio que não: muito provavelmente a gravação tinha limite de tempo, logo ele deve ter acelerado o passo. Claro que Mahler deve ter pensado muito bem o repertório em que ele faria isso, mesmo assim, imagino Mahler ainda mais lento do que muitos regentes o executam. Aí sim Mahler se mostra como aqui se mostra: despreocupado, cantando livremente, sem pressa, aproveitando cada brecha de musicalidade. Fora que, uma coisa é o tema do 1° movimento da 1° Sinfonia ao piano sem cantor, e outra coisa é com uma orquestra que faz uma introdução que não está presente no Lied original. Enfim, muita coisa se muda na percepção da obra, são contextos muito diferentes
This is "spooky good". Almost like going back in time and being in the same room with Mahler while he plays this. Sometimes as soothing background music, it is actually nicer to hear this piano only version as it doesn't have the big cymbal crashes and full orchestra crescendos, which are great, but for background music, I really like this piano only version. How amazing it is for us, 100+ years later, to be able to go "back in time" to share in this nearly incredible experience. What I would like to know is why is there no footage of Mahler actually conducting? I would have loved to have seen that and heard him speak to the orchestra. I suspect since the Hindenberg footage in 1937 was so low quality, I am guessing they didn't yet have video recording capability in Mahler's time since filmmaking was likely in its infancy stage. What a shame. Imagine being able to see him conduct a full symphony such as his 5th. What about pictures of him conducting? I have only seen 1 or 2.
Unfortunate for us all that even silent motion pictures were still in their infancy at the time of Mahler's death in 1911. Movies with sound didn't come along until almost 20 years later. Sadly, this is as close as we can get, though even this is wonderful. Had he lived another 20 years he likely would have done some acoustic and early electrical recordings, like his colleague Richard Strauss and a number of others.
They did have the possibility - I mean - I have heard a reasonable recording of Joseph Joachim from 1903 and there is a recording with Brahms from the 1880es, but that was too early.
@@metteholm4833 The recordings you mention certainly are interesting in a historical context, but do not approach the excellent sonic richness preserved by the Welte-Mignon system. In that era, this was by far the best way to capture and reproduce piano music, which is why it was of interest to some of the great pianists and composers of that time.
@@leestamm3187 The distinction between talkies and silent motion pictures is of a great value, here. Filming came along from the middle of the 1890s, but it would certainly have meant a ridicule to film an important composer conducting without something being heard.
@@allwinds3786 A composer from Bonn, Germany, often considered as the greatest of all time. He lived from 1770 to 1827 and lent some additional grandiosity to the style of Mozart (1756-1791).
This is a wonderful document, many thanks for posting ! At one time, Mahler was a good enough pianist to perform, among other things, Chopin's "Heroic" Polonaise Op.53, which is no small feat. Here, you can definitely hear a more than competent pianist, as he does not put a foot wrong, and perfectly conveys the feeling of the music. But he was evidently out of practice, the fingers just a little stiff and searching. I admire his courage to set down these recordings, and once more lament the fact he did no write any piano music.
It was the piano roll that was imperfect. It had an unsteady rhythm, could not capture any trills or tremelos, and threw the pedal, the SOUL of the piano, out into the trash. Despite all that, Mahler's playing was very clean and precise.
@@needtoknowbasis3499 I disagree. I think The sound is typical of how people played at that time. You can hear it in early recordings of musicians who were taught by romantic era composers who clearly expected tempo and expression marks to be treated as guidelines and not the chains with which we bind our performance today. The clicking sound which detracted part-way through the recording sounded to me like a scratch on a CD (Was this uploaded from a CD?) In any case I think it was a rare treat.
he wrote a piano quartet in A minor which we still have a movement of today. It's actually his earliest surviving work. It's great, I especially recommend Christoph Eschenbach's recording which is on the same album as his Sixth with the Philadelphia Orchestra
0:00 Ich ging mit Lust durch einen grünen Wald 3:03 Ging heut morgen überr's Feld 10:41 Symphony No.4 (Das himmlische Leben) 14:15 Symphony No.5 (Trauermarsch)
@@plekkchand No, it is not absurd-it is quite true. Dirk Honders is merely describing what is plainly evident to the ear of educated musicians, particularly pianists- his fingers are pretty stiff, so there are many uneven passages and missed notes and stumbles, most noticeably in his transcription of the finale of the Fourth Symphony ( starts at 6.08). But you don't need to feel outraged on Mahler's behalf- this is still a wonderful document! We have all come here to bow down before the Master!
@@paulybarrI’m a pianist and I think it’s fine. It’s a piano roll so there’s little/no dynamics. If there were dynamics you would retract your statement.
Historical ! I have a CD with the piano rolls themselves bought some 5 years ago or so, and I was naturally thrilled. Having them now "piano-converted" is a major plus. Thank you, I am really pleased ! Warmest greetings (and thanks) from Portugal.
That is the key to this. There are a few things he aces, but if occasionally a little stiff, we are hearing music from the hands of a great immortal, and a gift like that is what I tune into, the spirit and meaning more than all the rest. His knowledge of the instrument's soul is what shines through. I'm untethered to the rest, in simple worship, as my first listen.
@@johnervin8033 Are you certain that he is immortal? I'm currently under the impression that he has been reborn as Michael Giacchino, so that would mean that he must have died.
@@HansDunkelberg1 YES , a 1000 times YES: I suspect that music THAT great made him immortal, even though he was already alive, at the time he penned it; so, in so many words, absolutely no need for yet another body, so cumbersome and stiff at times. (My recommendation to Signor Giacchino is a strong cup of coffee. That will help him absorb this news.)
@@johnervin8033 Be cautious... I'm just investigating such issues biometrically... From the musical point of view, a certain adaptation to time-bound factors (new instruments, new styles, new technical possibilities) can appear as of some interest likewise. Just imagine that we still were only listening to Gregorian chants or to Palestrina, however magnificent such tonal art might be! A William Byrd or a Claudio Monteverdi could be turning in their graves with anger at having lived before the invention of the computer, if they heard how a Hans Zimmer today begins to surpass a Bruckner, on occasion, how a John Williams revives tendencies of Bach and of Brahms or a James Newton Howard such of Dvořák and of Handel, with a help of the newest equipment.
@@HansDunkelberg1 Salvador Dali said it best, "It is not necessary for the public to know whether I am serious or joking, just as it is not necessary for me to know it myself." And elsewhere, ibid. "Take me, I am the drug. Take me, I am the hallucinogen." That should answer a multitude of questions. If not, take more Dali and text me in the morning.
Fascinating document. We sang the 2nd Sym. just over 24 years ago, with Dohnanyi and Cleveland as our backups (LOL) and CvD released it a few years later as part of a 10 CD box set of his favorite live performances. Bernstein had done it with TCO and Chorus 26 years before that with my all-time favorite, Christa Ludwig, recently RIP, the genius, and he told the instrumentalists famously, just like Lenny, "You people are just so EFFING good!" But that was out at the countrified Blossom Festival, which uses microphones in a rural setting. Today is the first time I heard the immortal Mahler at the keyboard, and it is a deeply fascinating event for me, to hear his expression as absolutely true to what I expected: a musical "ecstatic" and so like what my ear imagined him as when we sang, only, also as I expected: even more so! Thanks for this great gift.
This seems to be the CD funded and published by the late Gilbert Kaplan about 20 years ago. Any doubts about these rolls are addressed in the copious notes.
everyone on this thread saying he isn't so good should make a video, playing this score. I hear his fingers taking a little long to complete the phrase, and his left and right brain doing something different. Isn't that how composers are? I can feel it, and that's what matters.
+Klaus Miehling yes, now I hear it. But i believe you could hear each person play this like it is their own and feel it. That is if they could play it or the second half. The for reply
You should read the IGMG record's notice, they explain all in details. First , at this time, they used to play piano not the same way as today : the style was anyway diifferent : large rubato , huge changes of tempo ...chords were arpeggiated. Then, there were large differences between brands of piano... there was no standard. Last thing to consider : an accurate speed is extremely difficult to adjust and to maintain , because, the roll tends to make the music faster and faster, etc ... you need to be a expert/
then you would no more listen to Mahler, .This is'nt the same roll as for Joplin, but a pneumatic-system able to give back the touch of the player , it's a high sophisticated machine.
The greatest virtue of these piano rolls is to show how much Mahler owed to Chabrier. It is not well known, but Mahler adored Chabrier (so did Stravinsky--bet you didn't know that). Mahler saw himself as a bit of an Auvergnat. He was also a salon composer, which he also got from Chabrier. Listen to Le roi malgre lui and then listen to Mahler. Chabrier is, far and away, the most underrated composer--his influence was vast and is unknown, a Dada precursor (remember the bun in the drawer?). Of course, today no one would dream linking Mr. Cosmic (whose music is actually a bit klezmer and kitschy) with Mr. Champagne, but that is because very few people today understand music. Mahlerians are this gloomy ridiculous crew, who wouldn't dream of lowering themselves to the "light" Chabrier. But Stravinsky, Ravel (as, of course, we know), Mahler and Debussy, all adored Chabrier. But our Mahlerians know better, right? Idiots. Here would be a good program, which of course will never be programmed: Lamento (this is a glorious piece by Chabrier, which you have never heard) Espagna Selections from Le roi Intermission Symphony 4, Mahler
Any reasonably knowledgeable Mahler devotee is aware of his high regard for Chabrier. You portray Mahler fans in very broad and sarcastic terms. I would hope you realize that not all are gloomy, ignorant cultists.
There is a video of Richard Strauss playing the piano and his technique is also sloppy. It is understandable as these men did not practice the piano at all and only used it as a tool for composing.
They are REPRODUCING ROLLS which differ greatly from standard piano rolls. If you knew how the Welte Mignon reproducing rolls were made, and replayed, your comment might be a little different. Mahler recorded four rolls in a single session on November 9, 1905 at the Welte-Mignon studios in Leipzig. According to texts published by the Welte company, The artist was seated before a grand piano equipped with the Recording apparatus. It automatically captured, the tempo, phrasing, dynamics and pedaling of each particular performance, and not just the notes of the music, as was the case with other player pianos of the time. Mahler’s comments in Welte’s Visitors’ Book show that he was deeply impressed.. “ In astonishment and admiration, I joined those who have proceeded me [in this book] . Gustave Mahler.” These rolls would never have been released if he had not been thoroughly content with their playback veracity.. they were approved by him as authentic to his playing.
...and considering that Mahler (as a 'non-Aryan') became an anathema to the demons who ruled Germany, Austria, and Czechia at the time, the Nazis would have destroyed any Mahler works that they ever got their hands on. Had the Nazis tried to do rescue work of great music in Dresden they would have saved obscure works by obscure (and mostly third-rate) composers while selecting works of such 'non-Aryan') masters as Mendelssohn and Mahler for prompt destruction. The same problem of wartime destruction exists with other composers because Dresden and Leipzig were centers of composition and musicology. As an example, Albinoni's Adagio is all that remains of a longer work. Albinoni was not a 'racial' problem to the Nazis. ...Let's remember that Gustav Mahler was one of the earliest-blooming of composers. His First Symphony is already a masterpiece; if Mahler had died at age 31 as did Schubert, that work alone would establish him as a great master. (OK, there was Schubert, Beethoven did write his First Symphony and his Opus 18 string quartets, Brahms wrote his string sextets of great sonic richness, and Wagner wrote his opera Flying Dutchman -- and there of course were Chopin, Schumann, Bizet, Rossini, and Sibelius, let alone Mozart). But all great masters in every field build from something. Nobody in any field of artistic achievement begins his career with great masterworks at age 25 -- or 60.
Piano rolls are quite precise, almost like recordings, sometimes better on the best ones. They are more mechanical, like mimeograph machines, but authentic in reproducing things. Check out the technology at Wikipedia articles, and you'll see they're rather faithful documents. Hey, these capture Mahler SOUL. Good enough?
Fascinating. I’m on a Mahler tour right now and just back from the maernigg composing house and en route to a performance at the staatsoper.. to “hear” the master play is quite a treat and one id never explored before. Anyone know if the piano arrangement (mahler’s own presumably) of these works are available ?
I’m not sure about Mahler’s own arrangement. But if you’re interested in solo piano transcription of Mahler, Iain Farrington really did a great job on it. You can check out his channel here. www.youtube.com/@iainfarrington/featured
There are piano rolls and there are reproducing rolls. These are Welte Mignon reproducing rolls Mahler recorded four rolls of them in a single session on November 9, 1905 at the Welte-Mignon studios in Leipzig. According to texts published by the Welte company, The artist was seated before a grand piano equipped with the Recording apparatus. It automatically captured, the tempo, phrasing, dynamics and pedaling of each particular performance, and not just the notes of the music, as was the case with other player pianos of the time. Mahler’s comments in Welte’s Visitors’ Book show that he was deeply impressed.. “ In astonishment and admiration, I joined those who have proceeded me [in this book] . Gustave Mahler.” These rolls would never have been released if he had not been thoroughly content with their playback quality.. they were approved by him as authentic to his playing.
I am surprised that his Lieder have not been turned into concert pieces -- at the least as encores -- for pianists. That might have taken a Liszt (who made opera paraphrases and adapted Schubert Lieder into concert pieces) -- OK, there were Rachmaninoff and Ravel, and perhaps like other contemporaries of Mahler they disliked him. For so great a composer as Mahler, solo works for piano are conspicuously lacking. Maybe he quit doing them once he decided that his juvenile works were no longer valuable. But they would be Mahler, and they would be interesting as such.
Does anyone notice the d natural Instead of printed d sharp at 13:18-19 in finale of 4th Symphony. Very evident in error but not evident if it is not Mahler’s intention? Problem is no D natural sign is printed but key demands the sharp. Or he just played a mistake? Comments?
Either Bruno Walter or Otto Klemperer commented on the piano rolls and said, in so many words, that this is how Mahler played on this particular occasion in 1905. Also, that he made the recording out of curiosity, not out of a compulsion to preserve his piano skills forever.
@@goodmanmusica it was NOT difficult to correct a dud note before issue, and Welte Mignon did correct minor grace notes and off notes but no other ‘doctoring was permitted. An artist had to re-record if unhappy. Mahler himself approved these before issue and wrote in the Welte Vistors’s Book how ‘Astonished and amazed’ he was at the results of the recording process.
From 10:00 to 14:00, there is a noise (sounds like a fan), which I assume is from the recording being that old. Anybody have any suggestions on how to denoise it (eg. some AI tool)? It should be doable because the noise is pretty regular.
Aside from the obvious difficulty of understanding "how Mahler played" by a Welte-Mignon, it seems we can determine two things: 1) that Mahler, in 1905, was no longer an impeccable pianist, and 2) that he had an "ecstatic" interpretative style, similar to that we can can argue from Zemlinsky's recordings.
Giorgio Galli I don't recall Mahler as being known for being a performing soloist, hence my respect for concert pianists the world over modern and historical who have to be" impeccable" each and every time they are heard! ( obviously their careers depend on it ) A whole level above even many composers!
Richard Last I simply know by my favourite biofraphy (Quirino Principe, "Mahler") that in his youth Mahler performed as a piano soloists, even giving -according to himself- proofs of transcendental virtuosity. It is quite difficult to argue any piano virtuosity from this roll, so a) or he exaggerated his merits as a young pianist, b) or he did not practise any more, using the piano only as an help for composing.
Giorgio Galli It´s not the point how much of a piano virtuoso he was or not. He didn't try to make a career of it, his intention on recording this was to leave an impression of how he wanted to be interpreted regarding tempo and dynamics.
The Welte Mignon system is very efficient to provide the impression,I think. It's quite different from mechanical systems ( as used for Joplin's rags) . But the question is about the piano itself too.. The IGMG has recorded a rendition played on Mahler's piano ( at least , one of Mahler's ) . It wasn't a Steinway but a Southern-Eastern brand ... There are three various CD, not on the sale piano. Some provide interviews of musicians who had played with Mahler. They tell anecdots upon him. Wonderful !!
Sorry I should have been more specific. I really wanted to know whether what Mahler actually played on these piano rolls had been transcribed in sheet music form. Thanks anyway!
Penelope M Of course it does. It's from a set of four songs, Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (Songs of a Wayfarer) in addition to being heard in his symphony. It's the second song in the set. It was the complete published piano accompaniment that Mahler played. It almost makes me want to cry that the person who composed this masterpiece is actually playing it. I can tell that if he were accompanying a singer he would accommodate them interpretively. I believe all great composers for the voice want their music to be heard through different voices and interpretations. There's no one set way for tempi and phrasing. Thus many singers might say he played it quite fast in the beginning! Of course we need to honor the composer and remain in the style and time that it was written. That being said, the greatness in his music will be there for the world to admire and be moved by for years to come.
Reproducing rolls - and most particularly Welte Mignon play at strictly regulated speed. These are not ordinary piano rolls.. please dont confuse them. Look up the references which distinguish them. Mahler recorded four rolls in a single session on November 9, 1905 at the Welte-Mignon studios in Leipzig. According to texts published by the Welte company, The artist was seated before a grand piano equipped with the Recording apparatus. It automatically captured, the tempo, phrasing, dynamics and pedaling of each particular performance, and not just the notes of the music, as was the case with other player pianos of the time. Mahler’s comments in Welte’s Visitors’ Book show that he was deeply impressed.. “ In astonishment and admiration, I joined those who have proceeded me [in this book] . Gustave Mahler.” These rolls would never have been released if he had not been thoroughly content with their playback veracity.. they were approved by him as authentic to his playing.
@@ianwilliamson531They did accurately record the pacing of the performance, but when the modern person gets their hands on a piano roll and they have to set the tempo it plays back, there’s no instructions, it’s completely at the discretion of the pianola operator. In this regard welte is no different than other piano roll manufacturers.
@@TheLifeisgood72 NO! You have that quite wrong! Welte Mignon instruments played back FULLY automatically. YES the instrument could be recalibrated faster or slower but once calibrated correctly there was NO human interaction required or expected.
why does this sound different (in terms of attack) than this?: ruclips.net/video/uGw1BMCBRMc/видео.html (e.g. listen to the first few notes of "Ging heut morgen übers Feld")
This is the correct answer to conduct his 1st, 4th and 5th symphonies, priceless treasure.
Having Mahler actually playing in you apartment, about 110 years after his death, is mind boggling! Somehow more intimate than any form of audio recording. These are his (mediated) fingers triggering the strings.
Well... _to a degree,_ it anyway _is_ an audio recording! At least concerning the rhythm.
@@HansDunkelberg1 It's not only rhythm but dynamics as well. The Welte Mignon system recorded both (unlike standard player pianos).
I listen to this again and realize this is the closest physical touch we have with the great man but it little matters because he is immortal because of his work.
particulay touching symphony 4, we love our greatest Maestro even more,he is playing in my room now....
This is priceless. Mahler himself playing these his own pieces. With amazing sound. Piano Rolls are priceless. I'm sitting here with my jaw open. Really just the concept that he's playing these massive orchestral works on solo piano is awe inspiring in itself!!
Master, Master, Master... Mahler is the best!
Incredible to hear Mahler playing V symphony
Mahler was an excellent pianist in his youth, playing concerts and picking up income giving lessons. His busy career later on as a conductor left little time for regular practice. By the time these rolls were made, the piano was primarily a composing tool, though he often played at gatherings and for his own enjoyment. Even so, vestiges of his youthful skills remain apparent. It should be noted that the Welte-Mignon system used to make the rolls reproduced here was a sophisticated technology for its time and vastly superior to other "player piano" methods. Others besides Mahler, including Debussy, Grieg and Ravel, were curious enough to check it out.
3:06 - Ging heut morgen uber's Feld
symphony no. 4, mvt 4- 6:09
14:14- symphony no. 5, mvt 1
מוסקט מנדלסון
I once sang Ging heut’ Morgen at this tempo and was roundly criticised. I then played this recording, commenting on the performer, then added that it was a piano roll by Mahler.
@@dboyen I like that song sung at a slower tempo. Perhaps if Mahler had lived long enough to record his symphonies as a conductor, I might think his tempo was too fast.
Thank you!..:)
I get his music now more than ever after listening to this. Something just clicked and I think I finally truly unlocked what his music truly is. Hearing his fingers to the piano and his emotion to it makes it all make sense. More composers need to be conductors or players of their works. Nothing gets the point across better.
I wish technology could've allowed earlier composers to do this, too. Just imagine hearing Liszt, Chopin, Beethoven, Mozart, etc playing their works.
I would sacrifice a child to hear Mahler conducting one of his symphonies.
At 19:09...the wild section of the Trauermarsch, it sounds like three or four hands playing the piano!
Mahler seldom spent time practicing the piano after his student days. He used it as a tool for working out his ideas. As he said "my instrument is not the piano but the orchestra".
@PhilipReesMelody How come someone dislike the sound of an orchestra?
@PhilipReesMelody I love orchestras so much, but I, to some extent, understand your feeling. I love almost everything about classical music, except sopranos. I love female voices in pop, rock n roll, jazz, hip hop...but just not in bel canto, too harsh! That stops me enjoying almost any opera, although I love overtures of Wagner and lots of tenor, baritone and bass arias and art songs.
What an odd position. You should relax your pre conceived predjudices of instrument groupings and try a bit harder to enjoy.. Orchestral compositions exist to give voices to so many different emotions. Think of Rachmaninoff's Second Symphony. As a piano reduction it would be soulless. Try to break the bondage you have put your heart in and a world of beauty will open to you.
@PhilipReesMelody You could compose better compositions.
@PhilipReesMelody You've piqued my curiosity. I tend to hear lot of orchestral sounds when I'm at the piano. How does the flute sound to you?
he was truly a genius
Thank you for posting this. You can hear he uses arpeggios in chords, and the melody does not synchronise the accompaniment, like all the greats in the early 1900s. And it also proves the conductors and composers of that time are able to play the piano very well.
Yes. I love that the chords are played with a slight arrpegiation which makes it sound more human
My goodness - the playing of his fifth symphony's "Trauermarsch" - mind-blowing!
chilling to think it's him actually playing. Ich ging mit Lust durch einen grünen Wald so delightful
I have come to know the existence of Mahler’s own recording where he pleyed the forth and the fifth symphonies as well as other couple of his works by the pianoroll. This is an extraordinary finding to me in recent several months. The sound of so-called pianoroll recording is much less hidious than I expected but rather miraclulously fantastic!!!! Thank you very, very and very much, Gustav, for your leaving this phenominal and cultual asset for musik lovers of later generation. May 2023 Yoshi Taniguchi (Japan)
So Owsome as in Awesome. Totally relaxed confidence and in mastery of his technique and expression, at certain moments, and those glimpses are all it takes me to believe what an ecstatic performer he was. A path to transcendence. Too cool for school.
this guy is a good Mahler interpreter
I laughed out loud
Haha often times composers are not good interpreters of their work though.
@@danieltkach2330 When? They wrote the bloody thing, they usually have a fairly good idea of how it’s supposed to sound.
@@TheLifeisgood72 yes but they might not be able to make it sound that way, and for more reasons than just ability to play an instrument. ive struggled with this w/ my own work as a composer.
@@anchihall8852 I still think they fare slightly better than a performer most of the time. But that’s interesting that it’s still hard for you. Definitely a testament to how hard piano is.
I never knew Mahler made piano rolls. I'm sure it's significantly better than trying to hear it if it were recorded on a wax cylinder.
The Trauermarsch was so thrilling to here......♥♥♥
What I find most striking is how much faster his tempos are than most conductors take. Even allowing for the greater breadth a full orchestra has than a piano, it’s clear to me that most conductors simply conduct Mahler too slowly.
The only one that is at all fast is "Ging heut morgen..." Not surprising, given that he's playing the piano version of the song. His use of the melody in Symphony 1, 1st movement, is an extrapolation, within which the tempo varies from slower in early exposition to more rapid further on and in the closing. The other pieces are played fairly close to the tempi taken in most of the multitude of recordings I've heard.
Stokowski takes fast tempos in the Resurrection Symphony. You should have a listen. I'm reserving judgement. Perhaps his tempos reveal something new.
Creio que não: muito provavelmente a gravação tinha limite de tempo, logo ele deve ter acelerado o passo. Claro que Mahler deve ter pensado muito bem o repertório em que ele faria isso, mesmo assim, imagino Mahler ainda mais lento do que muitos regentes o executam. Aí sim Mahler se mostra como aqui se mostra: despreocupado, cantando livremente, sem pressa, aproveitando cada brecha de musicalidade. Fora que, uma coisa é o tema do 1° movimento da 1° Sinfonia ao piano sem cantor, e outra coisa é com uma orquestra que faz uma introdução que não está presente no Lied original. Enfim, muita coisa se muda na percepção da obra, são contextos muito diferentes
This is "spooky good". Almost like going back in time and being in the same room with Mahler while he plays this. Sometimes as soothing background music, it is actually nicer to hear this piano only version as it doesn't have the big cymbal crashes and full orchestra crescendos, which are great, but for background music, I really like this piano only version. How amazing it is for us, 100+ years later, to be able to go "back in time" to share in this nearly incredible experience. What I would like to know is why is there no footage of Mahler actually conducting? I would have loved to have seen that and heard him speak to the orchestra. I suspect since the Hindenberg footage in 1937 was so low quality, I am guessing they didn't yet have video recording capability in Mahler's time since filmmaking was likely in its infancy stage. What a shame. Imagine being able to see him conduct a full symphony such as his 5th. What about pictures of him conducting? I have only seen 1 or 2.
Unfortunate for us all that even silent motion pictures were still in their infancy at the time of Mahler's death in 1911. Movies with sound didn't come along until almost 20 years later. Sadly, this is as close as we can get, though even this is wonderful. Had he lived another 20 years he likely would have done some acoustic and early electrical recordings, like his colleague Richard Strauss and a number of others.
They did have the possibility - I mean - I have heard a reasonable recording of Joseph Joachim from 1903 and there is a recording with Brahms from the 1880es, but that was too early.
@@metteholm4833 The recordings you mention certainly are interesting in a historical context, but do not approach the excellent sonic richness preserved by the Welte-Mignon system. In that era, this was by far the best way to capture and reproduce piano music, which is why it was of interest to some of the great pianists and composers of that time.
@@leestamm3187 The distinction between talkies and silent motion pictures is of a great value, here. Filming came along from the middle of the 1890s, but it would certainly have meant a ridicule to film an important composer conducting without something being heard.
Background music? Mahler?
I bet you also use fireworks as a soft bedtime reading light.
Listening on this July 7, in celebration of Mahler's birthday
This is wonderful. I recently read about these recordings in the biography of *Bruno Walter: A World Elsewhere* by Ryding and Pechefsky.
This is so exciting to listen to... almost as close to if we were listening to Beethoven play.
Who's Beethoven?
@@allwinds3786 A composer from Bonn, Germany, often considered as the greatest of all time. He lived from 1770 to 1827 and lent some additional grandiosity to the style of Mozart (1756-1791).
@@allwinds3786 Please take notice of my correction of Mozart's death to 1791! I've erroneously given you 1795, in an earlier answer.
This is a wonderful document, many thanks for posting ! At one time, Mahler was a good enough pianist to perform, among other things, Chopin's "Heroic" Polonaise Op.53, which is no small feat. Here, you can definitely hear a more than competent pianist, as he does not put a foot wrong, and perfectly conveys the feeling of the music. But he was evidently out of practice, the fingers just a little stiff and searching. I admire his courage to set down these recordings, and once more lament the fact he did no write any piano music.
It was the piano roll that was imperfect. It had an unsteady rhythm, could not capture any trills or tremelos, and threw the pedal, the SOUL of the piano, out into the trash.
Despite all that, Mahler's playing was very clean and precise.
@@needtoknowbasis3499 I disagree. I think The sound is typical of how people played at that time. You can hear it in early recordings of musicians who were taught by romantic era composers who clearly expected tempo and expression marks to be treated as guidelines and not the chains with which we bind our performance today. The clicking sound which detracted part-way through the recording sounded to me like a scratch on a CD (Was this uploaded from a CD?) In any case I think it was a rare treat.
he wrote a piano quartet in A minor which we still have a movement of today. It's actually his earliest surviving work. It's great, I especially recommend Christoph Eschenbach's recording which is on the same album as his Sixth with the Philadelphia Orchestra
@@needtoknowbasis3499 Yes, you ‘need to’ also up on reproducing piano rolls - Welte Mignon in particular - your opinion is unsubstantiated by fact.
It sounds pretty Viennese to me…
0:00 Ich ging mit Lust durch einen grünen Wald
3:03 Ging heut morgen überr's Feld
10:41 Symphony No.4 (Das himmlische Leben)
14:15 Symphony No.5 (Trauermarsch)
This is incredible. To be able to listen to the master composer play the piano, and not very well at that. But still incredible.
not very well? how absurd.
@@plekkchand No, it is not absurd-it is quite true. Dirk Honders is merely describing what is plainly evident to the ear of educated musicians, particularly pianists- his fingers are pretty stiff, so there are many uneven passages and missed notes and stumbles, most noticeably in his transcription of the finale of the Fourth Symphony ( starts at 6.08). But you don't need to feel outraged on Mahler's behalf- this is still a wonderful document! We have all come here to bow down before the Master!
@@paulybarrI’m a pianist and I think it’s fine. It’s a piano roll so there’s little/no dynamics. If there were dynamics you would retract your statement.
Historical ! I have a CD with the piano rolls themselves bought some 5 years ago or so, and I was naturally thrilled. Having them now "piano-converted" is a major plus. Thank you, I am really pleased ! Warmest greetings (and thanks) from Portugal.
Thanks for uploading goodmanmusica..It is truly a joy hearing this again!
This was really great! Thank you!
Excellent! Thank you very much. Seems that I had an old recording of this decades ago. Much color, feeling and completeness. A Great Man.
That is the key to this. There are a few things he aces, but if occasionally a little stiff, we are hearing music from the hands of a great immortal, and a gift like that is what I tune into, the spirit and meaning more than all the rest. His knowledge of the instrument's soul is what shines through.
I'm untethered to the rest, in simple worship, as my first listen.
@@johnervin8033 Are you certain that he is immortal? I'm currently under the impression that he has been reborn as Michael Giacchino, so that would mean that he must have died.
@@HansDunkelberg1 YES , a 1000 times YES: I suspect that music THAT great made him immortal, even though he was already alive, at the time he penned it; so, in so many words, absolutely no need for yet another body, so cumbersome and stiff at times.
(My recommendation to Signor Giacchino is a strong cup of coffee. That will help him absorb this news.)
@@johnervin8033 Be cautious... I'm just investigating such issues biometrically...
From the musical point of view, a certain adaptation to time-bound factors (new instruments, new styles, new technical possibilities) can appear as of some interest likewise. Just imagine that we still were only listening to Gregorian chants or to Palestrina, however magnificent such tonal art might be! A William Byrd or a Claudio Monteverdi could be turning in their graves with anger at having lived before the invention of the computer, if they heard how a Hans Zimmer today begins to surpass a Bruckner, on occasion, how a John Williams revives tendencies of Bach and of Brahms or a James Newton Howard such of Dvořák and of Handel, with a help of the newest equipment.
@@HansDunkelberg1 Salvador Dali said it best, "It is not necessary for the public to know whether I am serious or joking, just as it is not necessary for me to know it myself."
And elsewhere, ibid. "Take me, I am the drug. Take me, I am the hallucinogen."
That should answer a multitude of questions. If not, take more Dali and text me in the morning.
Merci beaucoup pour cet extraordinaire document.
Mahler play Mahler~magic!
formidable document
これが聴きたかった
有難うございます
Thank you!
Wtffff , how is this posible? How i never heard this recording. Amazing.
Mahler was "recorded" live onto piano rolls. They were able to capture a very nuanced performance.
Nice! The name of the second piece is misspelled. It should be "Ging heut' morgen über's Feld".
Beautiful! Thank you for posting!
驚いた、100年以上前の録音がこれほどきれいに再現されるとは。一部周期的な雑音があるが、気になるほどではない。交響曲5番を除き全体としては、落ち着いた気分で演奏しているのが伝わる。ナーヴァスなマーラーの印象とは大分異なり、これはこれで重要な記録になるだろう。それにしても、さすがに上手い。
ピアノロールのプレーヤーピアノを使って録音されたもの
awesome. his pieces are definitely made for orchestra though.
Thank you.
The 5th symphony starts at 14:14.
Pol Gómez Riquelme Yeah...he went a bit south in that key 'a minor incident'
amazing... what an interesting testament
Fascinating document. We sang the 2nd Sym. just over 24 years ago, with Dohnanyi and Cleveland as our backups (LOL) and CvD released it a few years later as part of a 10 CD box set of his favorite live performances. Bernstein had done it with TCO and Chorus 26 years before that with my all-time favorite, Christa Ludwig, recently RIP, the genius, and he told the instrumentalists famously, just like Lenny, "You people are just so EFFING good!" But that was out at the countrified Blossom Festival, which uses microphones in a rural setting.
Today is the first time I heard the immortal Mahler at the keyboard, and it is a deeply fascinating event for me, to hear his expression as absolutely true to what I expected: a musical "ecstatic" and so like what my ear imagined him as when we sang, only, also as I expected: even more so!
Thanks for this great gift.
This seems to be the CD funded and published by the late Gilbert Kaplan about 20 years ago. Any doubts about these rolls are addressed in the copious notes.
Mahler Returns!
Quite a clear recording
the recording is not from 1905. Only the piano rolls are.
Really nice
Grazie mille!
Sweet lord... how many hands did this man have??
everyone on this thread saying he isn't so good should make a video, playing this score. I hear his fingers taking a little long to complete the phrase, and his left and right brain doing something different. Isn't that how composers are? I can feel it, and that's what matters.
+D.J. Solara It's no recording but a piano roll. There are often some slight distortions compared to the original playing.
+Klaus Miehling yes, now I hear it. But i believe you could hear each person play this like it is their own and feel it. That is if they could play it or the second half. The for reply
They can avoid all that by scanning the rolls to computer file, but it costs more than this direct method.
You should read the IGMG record's notice, they explain all in details.
First , at this time, they used to play piano not the same way as today : the style was anyway diifferent : large rubato , huge changes of tempo ...chords were arpeggiated.
Then, there were large differences between brands of piano... there was no standard.
Last thing to consider : an accurate speed is extremely difficult to adjust and to maintain , because, the roll tends to make the music faster and faster, etc ... you need to be a expert/
then you would no more listen to Mahler, .This is'nt the same roll as for Joplin, but a pneumatic-system able to give back the touch of the player , it's a high sophisticated machine.
olga belov- you should check out the Rachmanninof plays Rachmanninof recording they are exceptional performances.
Documento eccezionale e commovente. Grazie per avercelo messo a disposizione!
Imagine hearing Beethoven play a movement of one of his symphonies on the piano.. This is incredible!!
Nádherné! Díky!
Thanks for uploading these.
The greatest virtue of these piano rolls is to show how much Mahler owed to Chabrier. It is not well known, but Mahler adored Chabrier (so did Stravinsky--bet you didn't know that).
Mahler saw himself as a bit of an Auvergnat. He was also a salon composer, which he also got from Chabrier. Listen to Le roi malgre lui and then listen to Mahler. Chabrier is, far and away, the most underrated composer--his influence was vast and is unknown, a Dada precursor (remember the bun in the drawer?).
Of course, today no one would dream linking Mr. Cosmic (whose music is actually a bit klezmer and kitschy) with Mr. Champagne, but that is because very few people today understand music. Mahlerians are this gloomy ridiculous crew, who wouldn't dream of lowering themselves to the "light" Chabrier. But Stravinsky, Ravel (as, of course, we know), Mahler and Debussy, all adored Chabrier. But our Mahlerians know better, right? Idiots.
Here would be a good program, which of course will never be programmed:
Lamento (this is a glorious piece by Chabrier, which you have never heard)
Espagna
Selections from Le roi
Intermission
Symphony 4, Mahler
Any reasonably knowledgeable Mahler devotee is aware of his high regard for Chabrier. You portray Mahler fans in very broad and sarcastic terms. I would hope you realize that not all are gloomy, ignorant cultists.
Very few people understood music back then too. Musicians have always been complaining.
What excerpts of Le Roi do you recommend?
Commenter wants to tout Chabrier and for good measure makes vicious, unfounded attacks on people who like Mahler. The world of youtube.
A true 💎
Great!
wonderful
Magnificent !
Morning vibes🔆
wow
If nothing else, it should give conductors a lot of clues as to what tempi he had in mind!
Vunderbar!!!!!!
W. V is not spoken soft in german. V is as harsh in sound as f.
what a treasure!
Thaaanks!! :)
These are piano ROLLS. for PLAYER PIANO.
Mahler was an exceptional pianist. You can't tell with this
There is a video of Richard Strauss playing the piano and his technique is also sloppy. It is understandable as these men did not practice the piano at all and only used it as a tool for composing.
They are REPRODUCING ROLLS which differ greatly from standard piano rolls.
If you knew how the Welte Mignon reproducing rolls were made, and replayed, your comment might be a little different.
Mahler recorded four rolls in a single session on November 9, 1905 at the Welte-Mignon studios in Leipzig.
According to texts published by the Welte company, The artist was seated before a grand piano equipped with the Recording apparatus. It automatically captured, the tempo, phrasing, dynamics and pedaling of each particular performance, and not just the notes of the music, as was the case with other player pianos of the time.
Mahler’s comments in Welte’s Visitors’ Book show that he was deeply impressed.. “ In astonishment and admiration, I joined those who have proceeded me [in this book] . Gustave Mahler.”
These rolls would never have been released if he had not been thoroughly content with their playback veracity.. they were approved by him as authentic to his playing.
remarkable -thanks for posting -wonder if he ever did piano rolls for any bits from Symphonies 1 or 2...
jcalli66 He might have, but everything else was lost in the world war 2 bombings
...and considering that Mahler (as a 'non-Aryan') became an anathema to the demons who ruled Germany, Austria, and Czechia at the time, the Nazis would have destroyed any Mahler works that they ever got their hands on. Had the Nazis tried to do rescue work of great music in Dresden they would have saved obscure works by obscure (and mostly third-rate) composers while selecting works of such 'non-Aryan') masters as Mendelssohn and Mahler for prompt destruction.
The same problem of wartime destruction exists with other composers because Dresden and Leipzig were centers of composition and musicology. As an example, Albinoni's Adagio is all that remains of a longer work. Albinoni was not a 'racial' problem to the Nazis.
...Let's remember that Gustav Mahler was one of the earliest-blooming of composers. His First Symphony is already a masterpiece; if Mahler had died at age 31 as did Schubert, that work alone would establish him as a great master. (OK, there was Schubert, Beethoven did write his First Symphony and his Opus 18 string quartets, Brahms wrote his string sextets of great sonic richness, and Wagner wrote his opera Flying Dutchman -- and there of course were Chopin, Schumann, Bizet, Rossini, and Sibelius, let alone Mozart). But all great masters in every field build from something. Nobody in any field of artistic achievement begins his career with great masterworks at age 25 -- or 60.
@@Erickvazquezc No he did not. Written records of major reproducing roll companies survived both wars.
@@ianwilliamson531yeah, youre right
Beethoven reiminiscences are strong in the 4th's finale.
マーラー…人生色々あったんだなあ…実際にはどんな人だったんだろうか。
偉大な音楽家の指さばき、素晴らしい。
it's fantastic ~
wow wedding march symphony 👀
How sure are they about tempo of recording and of converting the rolls into audio?
Also sprach Leander That’s a very good question. The 5th symphony bit seems particularly rushed to me
I'm happy with what we have by this recording.
Piano rolls are quite precise, almost like recordings, sometimes better on the best ones. They are more mechanical, like mimeograph machines, but authentic in reproducing things. Check out the technology at Wikipedia articles, and you'll see they're rather faithful documents. Hey, these capture Mahler SOUL. Good enough?
The tempo is reproduced by the mechanism precisely. It's simple math, in correspondence to what was played.
@@johnervin8033 🙂 thank you
10:42 starts a repetitive disc noise until 14:13. A pitty.
true, but it's no worse than hearing a 78
13:35 This melody also appears in Schubert's Sonata in D major
Es hermoso y genial
Cool
This is priceless ..... did you hear the VIOLENCE .... at 19:09 ? This opens all gates to the most crazy conductors possible ....
Fascinating. I’m on a Mahler tour right now and just back from the maernigg composing house and en route to a performance at the staatsoper.. to “hear” the master play is quite a treat and one id never explored before. Anyone know if the piano arrangement (mahler’s own presumably) of these works are available ?
I’m not sure about Mahler’s own arrangement. But if you’re interested in solo piano transcription of Mahler, Iain Farrington really did a great job on it. You can check out his channel here.
www.youtube.com/@iainfarrington/featured
The score to these historical recordings, for anyone interested: ruclips.net/video/LkQ1TaXjY0Q/видео.html
Genius
Does anybody know the story behind these piano rolls? Were they generally known all along, or were recently discovered?
James Anello they have always been known
There are piano rolls and there are reproducing rolls. These are Welte Mignon reproducing rolls
Mahler recorded four rolls of them in a single session on November 9, 1905 at the Welte-Mignon studios in Leipzig.
According to texts published by the Welte company, The artist was seated before a grand piano equipped with the Recording apparatus. It automatically captured, the tempo, phrasing, dynamics and pedaling of each particular performance, and not just the notes of the music, as was the case with other player pianos of the time.
Mahler’s comments in Welte’s Visitors’ Book show that he was deeply impressed.. “ In astonishment and admiration, I joined those who have proceeded me [in this book] . Gustave Mahler.”
These rolls would never have been released if he had not been thoroughly content with their playback quality.. they were approved by him as authentic to his playing.
I am surprised that his Lieder have not been turned into concert pieces -- at the least as encores -- for pianists. That might have taken a Liszt (who made opera paraphrases and adapted Schubert Lieder into concert pieces) -- OK, there were Rachmaninoff and Ravel, and perhaps like other contemporaries of Mahler they disliked him.
For so great a composer as Mahler, solo works for piano are conspicuously lacking. Maybe he quit doing them once he decided that his juvenile works were no longer valuable. But they would be Mahler, and they would be interesting as such.
Best Part 25:05
Does anyone notice the d natural
Instead of printed d sharp at 13:18-19 in finale of 4th Symphony. Very evident in error but not evident if it is not Mahler’s intention? Problem is no D natural sign is printed but key demands the sharp. Or he just played a mistake? Comments?
john axelrod who knows. but at the time it could not be corrected, and recording again would have been complicated and expensive...
Hard to imagine Mahler would have approved a mistake. Listening to it is quite interesting. Who knows is right. Maybe he said: why not?
Either Bruno Walter or Otto Klemperer commented on the piano rolls and said, in so many words, that this is how Mahler played on this particular occasion in 1905. Also, that he made the recording out of curiosity, not out of a compulsion to preserve his piano skills forever.
@@goodmanmusica it was NOT difficult to correct a dud note before issue, and Welte Mignon did correct minor grace notes and off notes but no other ‘doctoring was permitted. An artist had to re-record if unhappy. Mahler himself approved these before issue and wrote in the Welte Vistors’s Book how ‘Astonished and amazed’ he was at the results of the recording process.
From 10:00 to 14:00, there is a noise (sounds like a fan), which I assume is from the recording being that old. Anybody have any suggestions on how to denoise it (eg. some AI tool)? It should be doable because the noise is pretty regular.
13.18!!!!!!!
Much of the Trauermarsch is played by more than two hands.
Aside from the obvious difficulty of understanding "how Mahler played" by a Welte-Mignon, it seems we can determine two things: 1) that Mahler, in 1905, was no longer an impeccable pianist, and 2) that he had an "ecstatic" interpretative style, similar to that we can can argue from Zemlinsky's recordings.
Giorgio Galli I don't recall Mahler as being known for being a performing soloist, hence my respect for concert pianists the world over modern and historical who have to be" impeccable" each and every time they are heard! ( obviously their careers depend on it ) A whole level above even many composers!
Richard Last I simply know by my favourite biofraphy (Quirino Principe, "Mahler") that in his youth Mahler performed as a piano soloists, even giving -according to himself- proofs of transcendental virtuosity. It is quite difficult to argue any piano virtuosity from this roll, so a) or he exaggerated his merits as a young pianist, b) or he did not practise any more, using the piano only as an help for composing.
Giorgio Galli It´s not the point how much of a piano virtuoso he was or not. He didn't try to make a career of it, his intention on recording this was to leave an impression of how he wanted to be interpreted regarding tempo and dynamics.
Indeed. But to what extent is it possible to have such impression from a Welte-Mignon?
The Welte Mignon system is very efficient to provide the impression,I think. It's quite different from mechanical systems ( as used for Joplin's rags) .
But the question is about the piano itself too.. The IGMG has recorded a rendition played on Mahler's piano ( at least , one of Mahler's ) . It wasn't a Steinway but a Southern-Eastern brand ...
There are three various CD, not on the sale piano.
Some provide interviews of musicians who had played with Mahler. They tell anecdots upon him. Wonderful !!
My friend... just in case do you have these scores please!!!!!??? So beautiful this muisic, I'd like to play them...
Good luck getting an extra hand or two !
🌷🌹
I wonder if we should take this as urtext as how to interpret his piece
no. also because the fidelity of reproduction of the rolls is relative
does anyone know if Mahler was using sheet music or was he improvise? if it is sheet music is it available?
i truly imagine he was not improvising, but was also wothout score.. i imagine
I wonder, does any of this exist in sheet music form, particularly "Ging Heut Morgen..."? Does anyone know?
Well some of it is from his symphonies. And those can all be bought in full scores.
Sorry I should have been more specific. I really wanted to know whether what Mahler actually played on these piano rolls had been transcribed in sheet music form. Thanks anyway!
Penelope M Probably not Penelope.
Stan Marshall Pity! Would be nice if someone did it - not sure I'm up to the task!
Penelope M Of course it does. It's from a set of four songs, Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (Songs of a Wayfarer) in addition to being heard in his symphony. It's the second song in the set. It was the complete published piano accompaniment that Mahler played. It almost makes me want to cry that the person who composed this masterpiece is actually playing it. I can tell that if he were accompanying a singer he would accommodate them interpretively. I believe all great composers for the voice want their music to be heard through different voices and interpretations. There's no one set way for tempi and phrasing. Thus many singers might say he played it quite fast in the beginning! Of course we need to honor the composer and remain in the style and time that it was written. That being said, the greatness in his music will be there for the world to admire and be moved by for years to come.
It really is a pity that the ripping of the cd created so much noise in the background. Or is it foreground….
6:10 I played this in orchestra
I was wondering if these are played at the actual tempo that Mahler recorded them, or does it depend in the way the rolls are playback?
yes, the playback speed can affect
@@goodmanmusica I believe the speed of piano roll recordings can be manipulated.
Reproducing rolls - and most particularly Welte Mignon play at strictly regulated speed. These are not ordinary piano rolls.. please dont confuse them. Look up the references which distinguish them.
Mahler recorded four rolls in a single session on November 9, 1905 at the Welte-Mignon studios in Leipzig.
According to texts published by the Welte company, The artist was seated before a grand piano equipped with the Recording apparatus. It automatically captured, the tempo, phrasing, dynamics and pedaling of each particular performance, and not just the notes of the music, as was the case with other player pianos of the time.
Mahler’s comments in Welte’s Visitors’ Book show that he was deeply impressed.. “ In astonishment and admiration, I joined those who have proceeded me [in this book] . Gustave Mahler.”
These rolls would never have been released if he had not been thoroughly content with their playback veracity.. they were approved by him as authentic to his playing.
@@ianwilliamson531They did accurately record the pacing of the performance, but when the modern person gets their hands on a piano roll and they have to set the tempo it plays back, there’s no instructions, it’s completely at the discretion of the pianola operator. In this regard welte is no different than other piano roll manufacturers.
@@TheLifeisgood72 NO! You have that quite wrong! Welte Mignon instruments played back FULLY automatically. YES the instrument could be recalibrated faster or slower but once calibrated correctly there was NO human interaction required or expected.
why does this sound different (in terms of attack) than this?: ruclips.net/video/uGw1BMCBRMc/видео.html (e.g. listen to the first few notes of "Ging heut morgen übers Feld")