This is a singular work by Bernstein: a televised essay on Mahler, which explores both Mahler's songs from a very Jewish perspective, as they served as the basis for interludes within his symphonies; and from a regional perspective--Eastern Europe in particular--which Bernstein's calls the Jewish Diaspora as "international Borscht, " or "Goulash." The visual essay also explores a great deal of spiritual torment that Mahler endured in his short life (he died at age 51 in 1911) because of the increasingly vile anti-Semitism that was rife in Mahler's lifetime. Explored also is the pain of Mahler's barely voluntary conversion to Christian Catholicism. The cartoons below attest to the personal anti-Semitic treatment that he endured during his lifetime in the press.
His symphonies do indeed have folk songs woven into them, and in very many cases they are based on popular Jewish songs, in one case as an example the Jewish wedding song. It's completely recognizable as Yiddish song. All of this was considered very, very wrong by the music community and the snobs that supported it. A mean, who is this little Jewish man that has the chutzpah to actually weave Jewish/Yiddish song into a symphony?? Certainly, these are not "proper" symphonies!!
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| Mahler as a young man, looking very properly Jewish |
It is a very musical essay, and highly recommended. The aim is not to simply deconstruct Mahler's symphonic music through song, or to harp endlessly on the Jewish nature of the music (because, of course, Mahler used many, many song motifs from all over Europe); rather Bernstein tries to pin down what makes the music specifically Jewish from the Yiddish perspective, and that is not as easy at it seems. I mean we have all sorts of songs and movements ranging from black humor, not phobic fear of death. The liner notes to the film say it better than I: "...Mahler's greatness was not something to be guyed or taken on trust. The aim was not to deconstruct the music but rather to show how Mahler's genius lay in building symphonic structures from below-stairs material." (quote by David Gutman)
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| Mahler's Deathmask |
OK, this You Tube clip below...well I just had to!....
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