Gustav Mahler composed the first of his settings of poems from Des Knaben Wunderhorn (“The Boy’s Magic Horn,” a collection of German folk poems published during the first decade of the 19th century, between 1887 and 1890. Nine poems in all were set for voice and piano and formed the majority of the songs published in 1892 as part of the collection Lieder und Gesänge. That same year, however, Mahler returned to the Wunderhorn collection to set twelve more poems to music. Unlike the previous songs, Mahler conceived these new songs with orchestral accompaniment, though he first produced effective settings for voice and piano. The collection was published in 1899 under the title Humoresken (“Humoresques”), though it is sometimes referred to as Mahler’s “Songs from Des Knaben Wunderhorn.” Following Mahler’s death, the publisher replaced the original piano versions that Mahler composed by “piano reductions” of his orchestral rendition, and thereby obscuring the manner in which Mahler treated the vastly differing mediums. However, the original piano accompaniments were restored in the 1993 critical edition.
The seventh song of the set, Rheinlegendchen (“Little Rhein Legend”), tells of a young man, reaping by the Neckar and Rhine Rivers, who finds and then loses his sweetheart. He throws the ring he gave her into the Rhine, and imagines it eaten by a fish. The fish, then, becomes the meal of a king, who finds the ring inside, and asks to whom it belongs. The man’s sweetheart rises and claims the ring, then hurriedly returns to him. Mahler’s setting is quaint, with a lilting accompaniment that pervades throughout the song. The vocal melody, likewise, at first brims with the confidence of the young man’s hopes, but is ultimately undercut by a shift from the opening tonality of A major to that of the parallel minor. However, his hopes remain resolved towards his sweetheart’s return as the song comes to a cheerful close.Joseph DuBose
Gustav Mahler: Rheinlegendchen Live recording Wiebke Hoogklimmer, Contralto - Patrick Walliser, Piano Text: Des Knaben Wunderhorn Album "Schubert - Schumann - Le Beau - Mahler" available on itunes: http://itunes.apple.com/de/album/schu...
Classical Music | Contralto
Gustav Mahler
Rheinlegendchen Play
Recorded on 07/20/2013, uploaded on 07/20/2013
Musician's or Publisher's Notes
Gustav Mahler composed the first of his settings of poems from Des Knaben Wunderhorn (“The Boy’s Magic Horn,” a collection of German folk poems published during the first decade of the 19th century, between 1887 and 1890. Nine poems in all were set for voice and piano and formed the majority of the songs published in 1892 as part of the collection Lieder und Gesänge. That same year, however, Mahler returned to the Wunderhorn collection to set twelve more poems to music. Unlike the previous songs, Mahler conceived these new songs with orchestral accompaniment, though he first produced effective settings for voice and piano. The collection was published in 1899 under the title Humoresken (“Humoresques”), though it is sometimes referred to as Mahler’s “Songs from Des Knaben Wunderhorn.” Following Mahler’s death, the publisher replaced the original piano versions that Mahler composed by “piano reductions” of his orchestral rendition, and thereby obscuring the manner in which Mahler treated the vastly differing mediums. However, the original piano accompaniments were restored in the 1993 critical edition.
The seventh song of the set, Rheinlegendchen (“Little Rhein Legend”), tells of a young man, reaping by the Neckar and Rhine Rivers, who finds and then loses his sweetheart. He throws the ring he gave her into the Rhine, and imagines it eaten by a fish. The fish, then, becomes the meal of a king, who finds the ring inside, and asks to whom it belongs. The man’s sweetheart rises and claims the ring, then hurriedly returns to him. Mahler’s setting is quaint, with a lilting accompaniment that pervades throughout the song. The vocal melody, likewise, at first brims with the confidence of the young man’s hopes, but is ultimately undercut by a shift from the opening tonality of A major to that of the parallel minor. However, his hopes remain resolved towards his sweetheart’s return as the song comes to a cheerful close. Joseph DuBose
Gustav Mahler: Rheinlegendchen
Live recording
Wiebke Hoogklimmer, Contralto - Patrick Walliser, Piano
Text: Des Knaben Wunderhorn
Album "Schubert - Schumann - Le Beau - Mahler" available on itunes:
http://itunes.apple.com/de/album/schu...
and CDBaby:
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/hoogklimmer2
More informations http://www.wiebkehoogklimmer.de
More music by Gustav Mahler
Symphony No. 5, Part III, Adagietto. Sehr langsam
Symphony no. 6
Symphony No. 5 (Adagietto)
Symphony No. 4
Symphony no. 2, 5th movement
Symphony No. 4
3rd movement, Feierlich und gemessen, ohne zu schleppen, Symphony no. 1
Symphony no. 6, 1st movement
Symphony No. 5, Part III, Rondo-Finale
Symphony no. 6, 3rd movement
Performances by same musician(s)
Der Leiermann (Winterreise)
Wenn die Nachtigallen schlagen
Kornblumen und Heidekraut
Lili Boulanger: Clairières dans le ciel Nr. 7
Hör ich das Liedchen klingen, from Dichterliebe
Der Leiermann, from Winterreise
Der Einsame - Wiebke Hoogklimmer, Alt - Patrick Walliser, Klavier (live)
Dichterliebe - Allnächtlich im Traume seh ich Dich (Wiebke Hoogklimmer, Contralto)
Weihnachtslieder - Christkindelein, Christkindelein - Wiebke Hoogklimmer, Altstimme
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