Rückert-⁠Lieder

1. 0:00
   Opening, English horn

   The English horn opens with a quiet rising phrase, with long spaces between the notes. Mahler marks the opening extremely slow and restrained. Richard Reed is the instrumental soloist, and his melody is the one Susan Kavinski later sings to the first words.

2. 0:25
   First draft, Maiernigg, 1901

   Mahler dated the first draft 16 August 1901, at Maiernigg by the Wörthersee. He wrote the song in the summer before he met Alma.

3. 0:57
   Vocal entry, rehearsal 1

   “Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen”: I have slipped away from the world. Kavinski takes up the English horn’s melody, marked “ruhevoll” (peaceful). Rückert’s first stanza explains a long absence.

4. 1:20
   Fuga between voice and bass

   At “mit der ich sonst viele Zeit verdorben” (with which I once wasted so much time), voice and bass move in a “fuga”, the old rhetorical figure of flight. Their rhythms are offset. Reinhold Kubik read this as tempus fugit, the loss of time itself.

5. 1:56
   Second stanza

   The singer has not been heard from by the world, which may suppose her dead, and she is content that it should think so. At rehearsal 4, marked Etwas fließender, aber nicht eilen, Mahler gives the second stanza a little more movement. The vocal line stays close to the rhythm of speech.

6. 3:16
   English horn phrase, rehearsal 6

   The voice stops after “gestorben der Welt” — dead to the world. During the vocal rest the English horn plays a rising phrase heard earlier in the song. The passage, at rehearsal 6, is marked Wieder zurückhaltend, and the tempo slows again before the last stanza.

7. 3:36
   Final stanza, Tempo I

   “Und ruh’ in einem stillen Gebiet”: and rest in a quiet place. The opening tempo returns, and the voice enters low. Rückert’s final stanza moves from the world’s commotion to the singer’s own heaven, love and song.

8. 4:12
   Final lines, rehearsal figures 7–⁠8

   “Ich leb’ allein in meinem Himmel” — I live alone in my heaven. Mahler marks the voice “innig” — intimate — and “Ohne Steigerung”, without increase, as the line reaches “Himmel”. The words “in meinem Lieben” — in my loving — are sung twice before the final mention of song.

9. 4:45
   Manuscript for Guido Adler, 1905

   Mahler gave Guido Adler the orchestral manuscript for his fiftieth birthday in 1905, writing on the title page that he hoped he would “never lose” his friend. Under the Nazis Adler lost his library and titles. The manuscript, thought lost, resurfaced when a lawyer’s son tried to sell it.

10. 5:20
    Final vocal phrase and close

    Kavinski’s last words are “in meinem Lied” (in my song). The English horn continues and takes up the singer’s rising phrase. Mahler marks the final notes morendo, and the closing chord is held under a fermata.

Joins

1. 0:57
   English horn phrase passes to soprano

   The soprano’s low entrance repeats the English horn’s opening phrase. “Ich bin der Welt” moves at the same tempo, marked ruhevoll.

2. 1:56
   First stanza into Etwas fließender

   At the end of the first stanza the word “gestorben” is stretched across several notes. The next line begins more freely at Etwas fließender, with the words “Es ist mir auch gar nichts daran gelegen”. In Mahler’s orchestral score this change comes between rehearsal figures 3 and 4, marked Etwas fließender, aber nicht eilen.

3. 3:16
   The English horn returns between stanzas

   The voice repeats “Gestorben” before coming to rest on “der Welt”. The English horn returns in the silence that follows. Wieder zurückhaltend slows its rising phrase before the opening tempo returns.

4. 3:36
   Soprano re-enters at Tempo I

   The English horn finishes its phrase and the soprano begins low at Tempo I. The opening words, “Ich bin”, are repeated and now lead to “gestorben dem Weltgetümmel” (dead to the world’s commotion). The vocal line then rises.

5. 5:20
   Vocal close and English horn return

   The voice ends the final “Lied” on a long note. The English horn then plays the singer’s rising phrase. Mahler marks the closing pages morendo, and the last chord is held under a fermata.