Donald Mitchell
A monument in Mahler studies, this volume concentrates on the composer’s vocal music and, in particular, on some of his most famous, most original, and best-loved compositions: the late Rueckert orchestral songs and Kindertotenlieder; Das Lied von der Erde, one of the composer’s supreme masterpieces, and the vast Eighth Symphony.
Much new ground is broken but the author bases his conclusions on a meticulous examination of the principal manuscript sources, especially those for Das Lied.
He offers an unprecedented exploration of the original Chinese texts for that work and indeed of the whole Oriental dimension of Mahler’s last and greatest song-cycle.