Re: Mahler/smahler

[robert wiener <wiener...>]

Trudi,

I have attended a lecture on Mahler and Judaism, but I am no expert on
the topic.  I posted information on the article because I thought that
it might interest list members.

There is no question that conversion was beneficial to Mahler's
career.  But just as Christians make sincere conversions to Judaism, I
suppose that it is conceivable that a Jew might make a sincere
conversion to Christianity.

I am not sure that the appearance of Jewish melodies in his later work
would be proof positive that a conversion was not sincere.  Such use
might not be a bread crumb trail to such a conclusion, but the musical
use of effective melodies that were familiar to Mahler.  After all, we
would not claim that the use of similar melodies by Shostakovich and
Prokofiev are signs of their allegiance to Judaism.

Sometimes one's motivations are a complicated matter.

Bob

-----Original Message-----
From: Trudi Goodman <goobietheg (at) hotmail(dot)com>
To: World music from a Jewish slant <jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org>
Date: Tuesday, August 03, 1999 6:10 PM
Subject: Re: Mahler/smahler


>
>To which I retort--
>Horsemanure!
>There are at least half a dozen treatis on the subject of Mahler's
Jewish
>themes and phraselogy in his lieder---specifically Der
Kindertotenlieder.
>I'm not saying that he wasn't spiritual, just that he had a desire to
be
>published and performed and at the time, being"Jewish" would have
been a
>"detriment" to him.
>Trudi the G
>
>>From: "robert wiener" <wiener (at) mindspring(dot)com>
>>Reply-To: jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org
>>To: World music from a Jewish slant <jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org>
>>Subject: Mahler
>>Date: Sun, 1 Aug 1999 09:26:07 -0400
>>
>>Today's New York Times Arts & Leisure section, p.27-28, has an
article
>>by Nancy Raabe, "Mahler's Testament To the Abiding Unity of God and
>>Nature."   Raabe writes that Mahler's conversion from Judaism to
>>Christianity was one more of faith than of political convenience.
And
>>that his Third Symphony  "may harbor the strongest musical statement
>>of the composer's allegiance to the Christian faith: more, even than
>>in the last movement of the Second Symphony."
>>
>>Bob
>>
>>
>>
>
>
>_______________________________________________________________
>Get Free Email and Do More On The Web. Visit http://www.msn.com
>
>----------------------
jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org ---------------------+
>