“Song of the Earth” interprets Mahler’s “Chinese Story”
The fourth concert of the Mahler Series by Xiamen Philharmonic Orchestra last night
Xiamen Evening News (Reporter Lin Xiaoyun) Since the performance of composer Mahler’s “First Symphony”, “Third Symphony” and “Sixth Symphony” in 2022, last night, the fourth concert of the Xiamen Philharmonic Mahler Series ——The “Song of the Earth” concert was staged in the concert hall of Xiamen International Conference Center, presenting Mahler’s unique “Chinese story” in the form of “song-symphony”.
The concert was conducted by Fu Renchang, the artistic director and chief conductor of the Xiamen Philharmonic Orchestra. Young mezzo-soprano singer Cai Jingwen and tenor singer Han Peng were specially invited to join in the concert. Let the audience appreciate the Chinese artistic conception and Chinese feelings of this masterpiece in a combination of Chinese and Western, ancient and modern.
Mahler’s “Song of the Earth” was inspired by a collection of Chinese poetry. In 1907 Mahler was intrigued by a collection of Chinese poetry, published by a Leipzig publishing house and “translated” by Hans Bethge into German verse, called The Chinese Flute . Betheger is neither a sinologist nor understands Chinese. This collection of poems is actually a compilation of “legendary Chinese poems”. Betheger collected relevant materials such as French, German, and English and “reprocessed” them. Mahler soon became fascinated by this collection of poems, and composed the six-movement “Song of the Earth”. Interestingly, the seven poems selected by Mahler are all Tang poems, and four of them are marked as “Li Bai”.
Because of this, no matter what language the work is sung in, ancient Chinese poems are quoted in almost every movement. For example, the first movement “Elegy Songs” quotes Li Bai’s poem: “Sadness comes, sorrow comes! The master has wine, don’t pour it, listen to me. Sorrow comes and sings. No one in the world knows when sorrow comes. My heart. You have a few buckets of wine, and I have a three-foot qin. The sound of the qin and the music of the wine are both, and a cup is worth a thousand gold.”
However, Mahler repeatedly adjusted and rewritten the text at that time, and even considered it word by word. From a certain point of view, the lyrics of “Song of the Earth” are actually Mahler’s own poems.
In order to let the audience “do their homework” before listening to the concert, the orchestra specially invited Professor Yang Yandi, a famous musicologist, vice chairman of the Chinese Musicians Association, and dean of the Harbin Conservatory of Music, to interpret Mahler’s “Land of the Earth” on Thursday night. Song”.
It is known that the Xiamen Philharmonic Orchestra has signed a contract with the famous record company Naxos, and will soon release a record of Mahler’s Third Symphony.