Anne Sofie von Otter: The complete "Kindertotenlieder" (Mahler)

Kindertotenlieder (1901-04):
I. Nun will die Sonn’ so hell aufgeh’n 00:00
II. Nun seh’ ich wohl, warum so dunkle Flammen 05:44
III. Wenn dein Mütterlein tritt zur Tür herein 10:35
IV. Oft denk’ ich, sie sind nur ausgegangen 15:32
V. In diesem Wetter, in diesem Braus! 18:33

Mahler, Gustav (1860-1911) -composer
Rückert, Friedrich (1788-1866) -poet
Anne Sofie von Otter -mezzosoprano
Pierre Boulez -conductor
Wiener Philharmoniker

Scores: Available for free at imslp.org

For more of Austrian songs check out my "The art of Austrian song: Haydn, Mozart, Schubert, Mahler, Berg" playlist.

Description by Steven Coburn:
The heartbreaking poems that Mahler used here were written by Friedrich Rückert out of grief after the loss of his own two children. Although one of Mahler's own daughters died three years after their completion, it is absurd to make any connection. The songs were more likely set in memory of Mahler's beloved younger brother (lost in childhood), who shared the same name as Rückert's son-Ernst.

These songs, unconditionally specified as a set to be performed together, are a far cry from the Wunderhorn songs of the previous decade. In anticipation of his later style, Mahler reduced the orchestral texture to thin, solo, contrapuntal lines, only rarely combining for dynamic effect. The voice part is no longer the scalar and triadic folk style, but now has become part of the contrapuntal fabric. The range of emotion is extreme, as before, but now it is distilled, becoming all the more poignant and effective. The entire cycle is almost unremitting in its anguish and darkness, relieved only twice by way of consolation.

"Nun will die Sonn' so hell aufgeh'n" (Now will the sun rise as brightly). This deeply moving and bleak song tells of a sunrise that can no longer bring comfort. The barren and chromatic lines perfectly capture stunned grief, the interplay between minor and major offers only irony.

"Nun seh'ich wohl, warum so dunkle Flammen" (Now I see well why such dark flames). Here, the grief-stricken father remembers his children's eyes as premonitions of their death. The bitter sadness of the opening is offset by the gentle consolation of the lush accompaniment of the central phrase, only to return to the opening music at the end.

"Wenn dein Mütterlein" (When your dear mother). Set in an ironic imitation of folk song style, the large intervals and repetitive patterns of the vocal line portray the painful memories that habitual actions provoke.

"Oft denk' ich, sie sind nur ausgegangen" (Often I think they have only gone out). Mahler uses the subtle interplay between major and minor to illustrate the illusion that the children have only gone out for a walk. The final stanza, set to stunningly beautiful music, offers the consolation that they have gone to another place, where they will one day be reunited with their parents.

"In diesem Wetter, in diesem Braus" (In this weather, in this torrent). Here in the final song, the father recalls the storm on the day of the funeral, set to the only fast and aggressive music of the set. This turbulence gives way in the final stanza to the realization that the children have found rest, set to the only really gentle music in the entire cycle.

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