Artist: Ernst Haflinger, Mildred Miller, New York Philharmonic, Bruno Walter Title: Mahler: Das Lied von der Erde Year Of Release: 1960 [2017] Label: HDTT [HDTT5861] Genre: Classical Quality: FLAC (Tracks) - 24 Bit/192 kHz Total Time: 01:02:42 Total Size: 2,7 GB The Song of the Earth (The Song of the Earth) is a composition for two voices and orchestra written by the Austrian composer Gustav Mahler between 1908 and 1909. Described as a symphony when published, it consists of six songs for two singers who take Turns singing the songs. Mahler specified the two singers should be a tenor and an alto , or else a tenor and a baritone if an alto is not available. Mahler is the author of this book. On the centenary of Mahler's birth, the composer and known Mahler's conductor Leonard Bernstein described The song of the earth as Mahler's "greatest symphony". Three disasters befell Mahler during the summer of 1907. Political maneuvering and antisemitism forced him to resign as Director of the Vienna Court Opera , his eldest daughter Maria died from scarlet fever and diphtheria , and Mahler himself was diagnosed with a congenital heart defect. "With one stroke," he wrote to his friend Bruno Walter , "I have lost everything I have gained in terms of who I thought. The same year (1907) saw the publication of Hans Bethge 's The Chinese Flute , a volume of ancient Chinese poetry rendered into German. Mahler was very taken by the vision of earthly beauty and transience overexpressed in synthesis verses and chose seven of the poems to set to music as The Song of the Earth . Mahler completed the work in 1909. Mahler was already included in his Second , Third , Fourth, and Eighth symphonies. However, The Song of the Earth is the first complete integration of the song cycle and symphony . The form was afterwards imitated by other composers, notably by Shostakovich and Zemlinsky . This new form has been ending a "song-symphony", a hybrid of the two forms that had occupied most of Mahler's creative life. bass drum , cymbals , triangle , tambourine (used only in "On Beauty"), tam-tam (used only in "The Farewell"), glockenspiel , celesta (used only in "The Farewell"), 2 harps , mandolin , 1st and 2nd violins , violas , cellos , double basses (with low C string). Mahler deploys these resources with great restraint; Only in the first, fourth and sixth songs does the full orchestra play together. The celesta is only heard at the end of the final, and only the first movement requires all three trumpets, With two playing in the fourth movement and none playing in the sixth. In many places the texture resembles chamber music, with only a few instruments being used at one time. Mahler's habit was the subject of the orchestration of every new orchestral work to detailed revision over several years. Though the musical material itself is the most varied, the most complex instrumental 'clothing' would be altered and refined in the light of experience gained in performance. In the case of the song of the earth , however, this process could not occur as the work of the publication and first performance occurred posthumously. The score calls for tenor and alto soloists. However, Mahler includes the note that "if necessary, the alto part may be sung by a baritone". For the first few decades after the work's premiere, this option was little used. On one occasion Bruno Walter tried it out, and engaged Friedrich Weidemann , the baritone who had premiered children's deaths under Mahler's own baton in 1905. However, Walter felt that tenor and baritone did not work as well as tenor and alto, and he never repeated the experiment. Following the pioneering recordings of the work by baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau under conductors Paul Kletzki and Leonard Bernstein , the use of baritones in this work has Increased. Arnold Schoenberg began to arrange The song of the earth for chamber orchestra, reducing the orchestral forces to string and wind quintets, and calling for piano , celesta and harmonium to supplement the harmonic texture. Three percussionists are also employed. Schoenberg never finished this project, and the arrangement was completed by Rainer Riehn in 1980. In 2004, the Octavian Society commissioned Glen Cortese to create two reductions of the work, one for a chamber ensemble of twenty instruments and one for a small orchestra with woodwinds and brass in pairs. Both these reductions are published by Universal in Vienna. Mahler also composed the work for piano accompaniment, and this has been recorded by Cyprien Katsaris with Thomas Moser and Brigitte Fassbaender . Katsaris has also performed this version in concert. Tracks: 1. Das Trinklied Vom Jammer Der Erde 9:15 2. Der Einsame Im Herbst 9:55 3. Von Der Jugend 3:05 4. Von Der Schönheit 6:45 5. Der Trunkene Im Frühling 4:25 6. Der Abschied 29:10 Personnel: Bruno Walter conducts New York Philharmonic Mezzo-soprano Vocals – Mildred Miller Tenor Vocals – Ernst Haflinger