Gustav Mahler: Volume 4: A New Life Cut Short (1907-1911) [Hardcover]

This final installment of Henry-Louis de La Grange's massive four volume biography advances the idea that Mahler was not a death-driven broken man in his final years; rather he was about to embark on a "new life" that was cut short by an unexpected illness. Thus the unfinished 10th Symphony should be heard as a new beginning whose final bars are a paean to love, not a farewell.
I will not pretend that I've read the entire book so soon after publication (it is actually 1758 pages! not the 1072 that Amazon lists). I will focus on the chapter that describes Alma Mahler's "betrayal": by doing so I will hopefully give an idea of rest of the book. The style of writing and presentation is identical to previous volumes. De La Grange assembles what seems to be every fact he could discover about Mahler and weaves them into a chronological narrative. The chapter covers July and August 1910 and is 118 small print pages long, including 411 footnotes of even smaller print. De La Grange quotes extensively from recently unearthed letters between Alma Mahler and the budding architect Walter Gropius (the lover with whom she betrayed Mahler) to further show how willfully deceiving Alma's published memoirs were about the affair. These give insight into the depth of Mahler's despair when he discovered what had happened through a letter that Gropius, in writing to Alma, mistakenly addressed to Mahler himself. De La Grange attempts to give an in-depth analysis of Alma's personality, quoting from unpublished diaries and letters. He also spends 40 pages on Mahler's interview with Sigmund Freud, quoting extensively from all the available sources in which Freud discussed the meeting, as well as present-day psychologists and analysts who have commented on it. Though the psychologist sources he quotes apparently disagree, this does not prevent de La Grange from advocating his belief that Mahler emerged from this crisis a stronger, more life-affirming artist - not as many would like to believe, a broken man.
Following de La Grange's narrative, filled as it is with what one might describe as excruciating detail and exhaustive psychological analysis, can be daunting, but he does manage to keep the narrative flowing. The recitation of fact after detailed fact, as in the other volumes, can be numbing, but one is drawn completely into Mahler's world during the process. This kind of total immersion may not be what the average reader wants, but it is exactly suited to a Mahler freak. And a Mahler freak is whom this book is for.
The bulk of the book (1277 pages) is devoted to the narrative of Mahler's life during these final years. There are 440 pages of appendices and a 35 page index. The appendices include 236 pages of detailed analysis of Das Lied von der Erde and the 9th and 10th Symphonies, an updated catalogue of works, a list of all of all the performances of non-operatic repertoire conducted by Mahler (one wonders why the operas weren't included), essays on the Mahler piano rolls, the order of movements in the 6th symphony, Mahler myths, and the recipe for Mahler's favorite dessert (to list just a few).
While this is the long awaited volume IV of the biography, de La Grange assures us in his introduction that the revision to volume I (published in 1973 and out-of-print) is soon forthcoming: "readers of this biography may be confident that they will not have to wait as long for the new Volume I as they have had to for Volume IV."
My only negative comment regarding this long anticipated volume is the price - nearly 10 times more than what I paid in 1973 for the first volume.

Mahler devotees (and I'm certainly one of them)--people who have come to see Mahler as more than a great composer and conductor, have an almost religious reverence for all things related to Gustav Mahler. For many of us, his music contains a view of mankind, life and the universe that goes beyond what science and art can tell us.

Although technically, he spoke German, Mahlerians know that he "spoke music." He used his music to go beyond what words say, and carry listeners to a higher level of feeling for, and understanding of, life.
This can be undertaken just by listening to his music. Yet many of us believe that appreciation for it can be enhanced by knowing more about Mahler the man, the people around him, and his world.

This is where Henry-Louis de la Grange enters the picture. Imagine yourself as one of those who wants to know more and more about Mahler and his world. You can read any of the various books on Mahler; some by his wife, some by scholars. Often, these books merely raise more questions. Where do you go for the facts and well-thought-out opinions and theories?

From an early age, Henry-Louis was captivated by Mahler's music. Most fortunately for Mahler devotees, he has enjoyed the extremely rare and felicitous conjunction of gifted scholarly diligence and financial independence that gave him the time and opportunity to pursue his deep interest in Mahler.

As you may have read in the descriptions of this volume, it concerns the last four years of Mahler's life, and it corrects the popular and mistaken notion that a neurotic Mahler died a broken-hearted man in despair over the setbacks he had faced. The 1758 pages in this volume thoroughly support La Grange's contention that Mahler's death was "a new life cut short." The book is not only a treasure trove of facts and commentaries from numerous sources that elucidate Mahler's life; it is also a model for academic scholarship. La Grange does not just make statements of opinion; he buttresses them with direct quotes from numerous sources that illustrate his conclusions. For example, he does not just state that a particular concert was a success. He includes reviews from critics and musically-knowledgeable persons who attended the particular concert. He even includes remarks that do not fit his template, and further explains why their authors may have come to such conclusions. This is scholarship in its finest hour.

Imagine for a moment, your most interesting person or event in the history of the world. Imagine that you have read every book you could find on the subject, investigated every possible source--yet you still crave more. Just about your only remaining hope would be to wait for the afterlife, and to talk to God with all your remaining questions. Well, reading Henry-Louis de la Grange's books is almost like talking to God. He has assembled and organized so much information, and has formed such cogently valid conclusions that you have access to virtually all that is known about Gustav Mahler and his world.

This is an indispensable reference work on Mahler, and a boon to all those with a thirst for knowledge.
He even includes, in Appendix 31, three recipes for Mahler's favorite, and very delicious dessert: Marillenknoedel (apricot dumplings). Thank you, Henry-Louis for your life's work. It has been a life well-spent, and we are so grateful to you.

I was very glad to see this final volume finally come out. It is extremely detailed, well researched, and interesting. You learn a lot about New York in this period and many of the people who Mahler was involved with one way or the other: JP Morgan, Oscar Hammerstein, Walter Damrosch, Toscanini...and many, many more. The huge amount of research in presenting critical opinions of the time of his symphonies is fascinating, as is the status of orchestral concerts -- which weren't any better attended than those today! So any Mahler fan will enjoy this, but for most readers there are shorter one-volume biographies that should do nicely.

I only give this four stars because of the production. I wish I had kept track, but it's amazing how many typos there are in it. The author also needs a map of the US, since he mentions on a tour with the NY Philharmonic that from Pittsburgh they continue going east to Cleveland! And he frequently uses the word "alto" when he was refering to the viola. Worst of all was a paragraph that suddenly stops midsentence with blank white at the bottom of the page. The paragraph is repeated in its entirety on the next page. Then, there are many time when you have a sense of deja-vu: sometime information, even quotes, appear then reappear many pages later. I realize this is a vast, even monumental, achievement that will likely never be equalled, and that the staggering amount of information and length is a to praised, but still, I would expect the Oxford Press would do a better job of editing and proofreading. Maybe they figure that the 25 of us in the world who will actually read the book are worth worrying about.

One last complaint: I find the old, original Doubleday vol. 1 much easier to read. Why? It's on off-white paper. I don't know what color it is, but it's much easier on the eyes. The Oxford printing is severe black ink on extremely white paper and tires the eyes faster. On the other hand, I do like the Oxford presentation of footnotes being on the bottom of the pages rather than at the end, like Doubleday.

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