Alma Mahler's "Die stille Stadt", from "Fünf Lieder", sung by the WDR Rundfunkchor and the Rundfunkchor Berlin under the direction of Cristian Măcelaru. Recorded live on 04.11.2023 in the Kölner Philharmonie.

Alma Mahler - The silent city, from "Five songs" for eight-part choir transcribed by Clytus Gottwald

Berlin Radio Choir
WDR Radio Choir
Cristian Măcelaru, conductor

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Introduction to the work:
The relationship between Alma and Gustav Mahler is an eventful story of hopes and disappointments. Of two complex characters who were highly fascinated by each other and spent ten years trying to make sense of each other.

It began with furor: the two met at an evening party on November 7, 1901. Exactly three weeks later, Gustav Mahler proposed to Alma Schindler, who was 19 years his junior. And the furor continued: Mahler's infamous letter, in which he spent 20 devastating pages explaining to the young bride how he envisioned their marriage, was a single invitation to self-sacrifice. At this time, Alma lived primarily for her own work. She had been taking composition lessons with Alexander von Zemlinsky since 1900 - and even envisioned a future for herself and him together. But then came Mahler.

His memorable letter did not deter Alma Schindler, however. On the contrary: she threw herself into the marriage like an adventure. The early 20-year-old had completely underestimated the force with which the degrading everyday life would sober her up. She felt misunderstood, unseen - no: she was misunderstood, unseen. As an understandable consequence of her instinct for self-preservation, she began an affair with the future Bauhaus founder Walter Gropius. When Mahler got wind of this, he recognized the signs of the times. He sought help in a detailed conversation with Sigmund Freud - and he ensured that five of Alma's songs were published. However, this could not heal the inner rift between the two.

The first of the five songs, "Die stille Stadt", is based on the poem of the same name by Richard Dehmel. Like Mahler's "Resurrection Symphony" on a large scale, it describes the idea of "Per aspera ad astra" ("Through hardship to the stars") on a small scale. The idea of redemption in the final lines was not granted to Alma and Gustav Mahler's relationship: "and through the smoke and fog began a quiet song of praise from the mouth of a child".

Text: Otto Hagedorn