As new in Vienna (seven years) and learning about Viennas history, both Alma and this song is hilarious. It is "so Vienna". I got some good lessons about "old Vienna" when working a couple of years in a museum. Let us not mention Klimt... :)
I once sat beside him at the piano at the house of some friends of mine and his as he played and sang "The Vatican Rag" at my request. I was and still am a very big fan.
This song was the only impression I had of Alma Mahler from childhood until fairly recently. She was actually a very smart and accomplished woman, worth looking up on Wikipedia.
"God knows how many between" - Alexander Zemlinsky (composer) - Gustav Klimt (painter) (Granted, they were before Mahler) - Oskar Kokoschka (painter) - Franz Schreker (composer) - Joseph Fraenkel (doctor) - Paul Kammerer (biologist) - (Possibly) Lili Leiser (socialite) - Johannes Hollnsteiner (priest) ...And those are just the ones I'm aware of.
Actually she never had anything going with Kammerer. Kammerer was obsessed with Gustav Mahler, and after his death became obsessed with Alma as she was Gustav's widow. Alma said that when she stood up from a chair Paul would crouch/kneel beside it and stroke and sniff at her seat, and he repeatedly made advances on Alma but she rejected him every time. In response to her rejections, Paul threatened su*cide. This only ended when Alma told Paul's wife, Felicitas, what was happening, and when Alma talked to Felicitas she assured her that she had no interest in Paul, and was telling Felicitas what Paul had been up to so Felicitas could get her husband back in line. They were never lovers as Alma had no interest in him, given how soon after Gustav's death Paul had begun his advances.
Happy 94th B-day to Tom Lehrer! I'm binging on his songs today in his honor. He was my first idol. My parents had his original album, which I inherited post mortem.
A great paisan youtube creator called TRUKINI here in argentina made a video called "10 years without making it", 'making it' of course meaning after 10 years of developing his animated show it still hadn't become mainstream popular. I commented, to great accolade, "don't worry, mozart didn't make it at 10 years old"
A few years ago I went to Vienna and booked a hotel room somewhat hastily through a website. It wasn’t until checkin that I realized the happy coincidence: I was staying at the Hotel Alma! The desk clerk had never heard of the song, so I played this for him.
I was lucky to have a friend play Tom Lehrer records when we were just hanging out as teenagers. I was pretty shocked by the songs (as a wee lad), but they were so hilarious and educational that I can’t imagine being denied such genius. The story behind “The Song of Bernadette” is worthy of being made into a movie, and I’m surprised no one has. The book itself inspired several movies, but I think the story behind what inspired Franz Werfel to write it is extremely compelling.
TheTooginator The” Song of Bernadette” WAS made into a movie in 1943 with Jennifer Jones in the title role. It was (obviously) in black and white. Research may bring it to light for you.
@@wotan9630 he mentioned that the book had several movies, saying he thought the story of how the book came to be, not just the book itself, deserves a movie.
Sadly only about 17 song of hers survive. When they began their relationship Mahler insisted that she stop composing, but around 1910 he encouraged her to compose again. Cate Haste wrote a very good biography of Alma.
@@sophiatalksmusic3588 I bet the Tiktok damsels are gonna tell her in 21st century vernacular:"Slay Kween!" If only Tom Lehrer could write a satirical ditty of Tiktok before he reaches too far into senility, I'm having my composer+lyricist's block trying exactly that!
SILLY!!! LMBO still from the time I first heard this which was on an airliner stereo compilation, Probably 1993 returning home from Panama(USAF). And with the rest I've heard from Tom Lehrer.....the guy was a NUT!! What's not to ADORE?
To be fair, she didn’t really ‘cheat’ on any of them, she took them on one at a time. And the loss of several children was not easy; I know both Mahler and Gropius would be mourning together for them to this day, if indeed love, and loss, stretches beyond our mortal lifespans. Everybody loved Alma. FUN FACT: when she (and Werfels) escaped Nazi-occupied Europe, the last stage was hiking through a difficult pass in the Pyranees from France into Spain, with only as much as they could carry on their backs. Alma left behind quite a few things of her first husband’s, saving instead the autograph score of Bruckner’s Symphony #3. If she knew Bruckner, she certainly did not have an affair with him!! (She was quite a talented composer in her own right, btw. And she loved Mahler’s brother Otto-platonically, of course-almost as much as the composer, who thought he was his equal talent.)
I mean just this to say: Mahler suspected the affair, and she told him of it, and she gave birth to a soul everyone loved (and still missus still so o o you can’t know) and it is not my place here to just yump out of mysel fand say on behalf of Mahler anything in defense of Alma but ... I know, I KNOW, her infidelity to him truly would be the last thing he would want her to be remembered for, if it were the only thing she were remembered for... and that sel 🔊für todag adoo doggy dig a doo dah day wit my own twine 🔵 We2bern/Berg... Manon Angela... ruclips.net/video/aTYAm0BXkxs/видео.html Revel/GeisterZing/OyNerdele/VonDorado/ElReyshzzBboi ...Oyoyoy... ruclips.net/video/Y0bvYbu-mCU/видео.html
On an earlier upload of this song that was removed by RUclips, I remember reading this comment that I would like to repost: Here is one modern woman who is not jealous of Alma. People should be defined by what they do, not who they screw.
admittedly though, she was able to screw some people with extreme skills and status, and married multiple, and she did a lot apparently outside of just sleeping around. So her life does garner credit, whether you think her actions were good or not isn’t relevant to that.
Actually, she was a very talented composer as well!! Unfortunately, she lived at a time when it was hard for women to get into that field. (Not that things have changed ALL that much).
Hi. Tom Lehrer put all of his songs on his website and put them in "public domain" meaning you can download any or all with no copyright infringement issues. A genius and a generous man! I hope this helps.
Apologies but 2 Years Late. It’s original for the most part, but according to the sheet music it has some variations of Das Lied von der Erde. For an example: 1:33: Das Lied von der Erde Intro 2:15 Symphony No. 2 2:55 Symphony No. 4 3:35 Symphony No. 9 I think this is a nod to Gustav Mahler (composer of Das Lied von der Erde) considering Alma was married to him
Tom Lehrer was so far ahread of his time. The album name "That Was the Year That Was" is similar to people nowadays saying "that was certainly the ___ of all time"
In his book, Bernadette was a saint. If someone "isn't a saint" it just means that they have flaws. So he should be careful of his marriage because she had already had two.
Alma's daughter Anna, the only one of her children to outlive her, commented on this: "That was mother, all right."
As new in Vienna (seven years) and learning about Viennas history, both Alma and this song is hilarious. It is "so Vienna". I got some good lessons about "old Vienna" when working a couple of years in a museum. Let us not mention Klimt... :)
Anna married 5 times, her first at age 16! She was obviously a chip off the old block. ;)
I once sat beside him at the piano at the house of some friends of mine and his as he played and sang "The Vatican Rag" at my request. I was and still am a very big fan.
Carol omg u are kidding!! Lucky you! :)
@Rusty Shackleford Huh???
Carol, that song was too funny. Thanks for sharing that story...
ONe of the worlds greatest talent!
LUCKY!
This song was the only impression I had of Alma Mahler from childhood until fairly recently. She was actually a very smart and accomplished woman, worth looking up on Wikipedia.
For Lehrer this is a remarkably pleasant tribute
"God knows how many between"
- Alexander Zemlinsky (composer)
- Gustav Klimt (painter)
(Granted, they were before Mahler)
- Oskar Kokoschka (painter)
- Franz Schreker (composer)
- Joseph Fraenkel (doctor)
- Paul Kammerer (biologist)
- (Possibly) Lili Leiser (socialite)
- Johannes Hollnsteiner (priest)
...And those are just the ones I'm aware of.
😲
An absolute Queen, as they say
Actually she never had anything going with Kammerer. Kammerer was obsessed with Gustav Mahler, and after his death became obsessed with Alma as she was Gustav's widow. Alma said that when she stood up from a chair Paul would crouch/kneel beside it and stroke and sniff at her seat, and he repeatedly made advances on Alma but she rejected him every time. In response to her rejections, Paul threatened su*cide. This only ended when Alma told Paul's wife, Felicitas, what was happening, and when Alma talked to Felicitas she assured her that she had no interest in Paul, and was telling Felicitas what Paul had been up to so Felicitas could get her husband back in line. They were never lovers as Alma had no interest in him, given how soon after Gustav's death Paul had begun his advances.
good for her!
Gawd how I admire her!
Happy 94th B-day to Tom Lehrer! I'm binging on his songs today in his honor. He was my first idol. My parents had his original album, which I inherited post mortem.
Tom is the only one who can write classy songs about sluts, massochism, porn, STD's, drugdealers, and killing animals for fun.
So true!
Not to mention his nuclear holocaust songs.
@@williammasselink True, they're real bangers...
Wait which ones were STD’s and drug dealers?
STDs: "I Got It From Agnes" (although it's not *explicitly* about STDs)
Drug dealers: "The Old Dope Peddler"
I have carried that Mozart line w me since I was 18 & it is always & still as good as when I first heard it.
The only reason I want to be somewhat old is to use that line
A great paisan youtube creator called TRUKINI here in argentina made a video called "10 years without making it", 'making it' of course meaning after 10 years of developing his animated show it still hadn't become mainstream popular. I commented, to great accolade, "don't worry, mozart didn't make it at 10 years old"
me too.The problem is now when mozart was my age, he'd been dead for 32 years!
@@thomasoconnor Just gotta be older than 35, then you can say "he'd been dead for X - 35 years".
Das Lied von der Erde and other light classics is not bad either!
A few years ago I went to Vienna and booked a hotel room somewhat hastily through a website. It wasn’t until checkin that I realized the happy coincidence: I was staying at the Hotel Alma! The desk clerk had never heard of the song, so I played this for him.
The piano intro quotes the tenor entry in "Von der jugend" from Das Lied. This is absolutely brilliant.
How brilliant of you to let us know you noticed it.
And the last note in the intro transforms it instantly into an Irving Berlin opener.
There are also quotes from a few of the symphonies in there
I was lucky to have a friend play Tom Lehrer records when we were just hanging out as teenagers. I was pretty shocked by the songs (as a wee lad), but they were so hilarious and educational that I can’t imagine being denied such genius.
The story behind “The Song of Bernadette” is worthy of being made into a movie, and I’m surprised no one has. The book itself inspired several movies, but I think the story behind what inspired Franz Werfel to write it is extremely compelling.
TheTooginator The” Song of Bernadette” WAS made into a movie in 1943 with Jennifer Jones in the title role. It was (obviously) in black and white. Research may bring it to light for you.
@@wotan9630 he mentioned that the book had several movies, saying he thought the story of how the book came to be, not just the book itself, deserves a movie.
@@thomasoconnor agreed. Yeah, sorry @Wotan, but you are a shmuck
Superb. Can't believe that today is the first time I heard this song... I was brought up with Tom's songs
Only the one-and-only Tom Lehrer could write this. Marvellous - funny, satirical and vicious at the same time. Wonderful.
Bloody brilliant! Where have the geniuses of music gone? I'm actually glad to be old enough to remember!
Cavit Schempp Try Jay Foreman.
Cavit Schempp many of his songs are at some point about sex or drugs or the like. He’s just classier and funnier about it.
@Cavit Schempp he still does show's he alive
Ohhhh man I loved this album as a kid. My mom used to play it a lot, otherwise I would have had no idea. ;) Thanks for sharing!!
This is the first time that I have heard this song. I was doing a residency, and had no time
for anything. I'm so pleased to catch up. Many thanks!
Thanks for this. I've been a great fan of Tom Lehrer for a very long time, but this is one song that I missed.
Evidently Alma was also a great composer in her own right. I’ve looked up one of pieces and it was very good
Sadly only about 17 song of hers survive. When they began their relationship Mahler insisted that she stop composing, but around 1910 he encouraged her to compose again. Cate Haste wrote a very good biography of Alma.
Fabulous pianism again!
I love this song, one of my absolute favourite of his 😄
How have I missed this for so long? Many thanks for posting.
Alma was the OG egirl.
As a music history researcher, I can tell you she really gaslit, gatekept, girlbossed her way across turn-of-the-century Austria
@@sophiatalksmusic3588 I bet the Tiktok damsels are gonna tell her in 21st century vernacular:"Slay Kween!" If only Tom Lehrer could write a satirical ditty of Tiktok before he reaches too far into senility, I'm having my composer+lyricist's block trying exactly that!
SILLY!!! LMBO still from the time I first heard this which was on an airliner stereo compilation, Probably 1993 returning home from Panama(USAF). And with the rest I've heard from Tom Lehrer.....the guy was a NUT!! What's not to ADORE?
i have the best friend alma she is the prettiest person ive ever met!!!!
The brilliant thing about this song is that the piano solos in the song are taken from Gustav Mahler’s works.
To be fair, she didn’t really ‘cheat’ on any of them, she took them on one at a time. And the loss of several children was not easy; I know both Mahler and Gropius would be mourning together for them to this day, if indeed love, and loss, stretches beyond our mortal lifespans.
Everybody loved Alma.
FUN FACT: when she (and Werfels) escaped Nazi-occupied Europe, the last stage was hiking through a difficult pass in the Pyranees from France into Spain, with only as much as they could carry on their backs. Alma left behind quite a few things of her first husband’s, saving instead the autograph score of Bruckner’s Symphony #3. If she knew Bruckner, she certainly did not have an affair with him!! (She was quite a talented composer in her own right, btw. And she loved Mahler’s brother Otto-platonically, of course-almost as much as the composer, who thought he was his equal talent.)
Well, she did cheat on Mahler, my friend, and that's a fact. Gropius was the guy.
Rafael Willems (allrite I know.. I do knot and I DO know... I mowamo... I
not my place
I mean just this to say:
Mahler suspected the affair, and she told him of it, and she gave birth to a soul everyone loved (and still missus still so o o you can’t know) and it is not my place here to just yump out of mysel fand say on behalf of Mahler anything in defense of Alma but ...
I know, I KNOW, her infidelity to him truly would be the last thing he would want her to be remembered for, if it were the only thing she were remembered for...
and that sel 🔊für todag adoo
doggy dig a doo dah day
wit my own twine
🔵
We2bern/Berg... Manon Angela...
ruclips.net/video/aTYAm0BXkxs/видео.html
Revel/GeisterZing/OyNerdele/VonDorado/ElReyshzzBboi ...Oyoyoy...
ruclips.net/video/Y0bvYbu-mCU/видео.html
She cheated on Mahler with someone
She certainly did cheat on Mahler. And how do you presume to "know" of this joint mournfest? Sentimental garbage.
what a genious!!
On an earlier upload of this song that was removed by RUclips, I remember reading this comment that I would like to repost:
Here is one modern woman who is not jealous of Alma. People should be defined by what they do, not who they screw.
Screwing is doing too.
admittedly though, she was able to screw some people with extreme skills and status, and married multiple, and she did a lot apparently outside of just sleeping around. So her life does garner credit, whether you think her actions were good or not isn’t relevant to that.
Ankit Tyagi what they do, WHO they do
Actually, she was a very talented composer as well!! Unfortunately, she lived at a time when it was hard for women to get into that field. (Not that things have changed ALL that much).
@@power9k470 So what?
Brilliant!
I wish this song was on ITunes; the only version I can find, is a cover in German.
Unfortunately I don’t speak German haha.
Hi. Tom Lehrer put all of his songs on his website and put them in "public domain" meaning you can download any or all with no copyright infringement issues. A genius and a generous man! I hope this helps.
The melody is incredibly pleasant. Is it original by Tom Lehrer or from classical music?
Apologies but 2 Years Late.
It’s original for the most part, but according to the sheet music it has some variations of Das Lied von der Erde.
For an example:
1:33: Das Lied von der Erde Intro
2:15 Symphony No. 2
2:55 Symphony No. 4
3:35 Symphony No. 9
I think this is a nod to Gustav Mahler (composer of Das Lied von der Erde) considering Alma was married to him
The only way this song could be better is if it made mention of Oskar Kokoschka and Alban Berg.
I am still surprised that this gal really existed lol.
Tom Lehrer was so far ahread of his time. The album name "That Was the Year That Was" is similar to people nowadays saying "that was certainly the ___ of all time"
Based on the Friday night tv show "That Was the Week That Was" that he wrote many of these songs for.
bravo!
bellissima canzone !!!! GROPIUS UNICO AMORE , UNO DI NOI (Chiara e Bea)
AND the complete (according to RUclips ) catalog of Mz. Mahler's compositions
ruclips.net/video/b0uh-MPPiDg/видео.html
Sorry but lehrer being unaccomplished he was a lecturer at harvard whilst simultaneously being a satirist who pleased many with his hilarity
Its easiest to be your own largest critic.
@@Sara3346
It's compulsory umong those with talent..
But most still don't understand the true meaning of the Mozart comment.
Oh well
he also invented the jello shot
Though you didn't even use ponds? Can someone explain this to me?
ruclips.net/video/uGAkoSmfz3Y/видео.html
Ponds is a brand of cold cream.
1:33 for the start!
Actually 0:00 for the start - the intro is important!
Sounds like she saw more ceilings than Michelangelo!
🎹🎶
The first Gold Digger.
Gus:)
Reminds me of jack stauber :3
Que significa "carefel"?
It's a punning form of "careful" (cuidadoso). He changed the word to make it rhyme with Werfel. Werfel - carefel - get it?
Entonces la frase "but he was carefel" se refiere a que era cuidadoso ¿y si era asi porque el sentido de los versos?(se entiente?)
Werfel se estaba cuidadoso porque Alma no fue una Bernadette. Eso responde tu pregunta?
entonces creo que no entiendo esa estrofa XD
In his book, Bernadette was a saint. If someone "isn't a saint" it just means that they have flaws. So he should be careful of his marriage because she had already had two.
Zelda
I want to hear Tom Lehrer, not your silly intro. Fading them across each other is neither clever nor funny. Who told you it was a good idea?
What's up with the stupid jingle in the beginning? Way to ruin a good song.
awful. shoulda stopped while he was ahead
I think it's great. Perhaps you shouldn't have started.
1:11
1:33