PSYCHOANALYTICAL INQUIRES ON MUSIC. GUSTAV MAHLER’S ORCHESTRAL SONGS
Keywords:
psychoanalysis of art, Sigmund Freud, Gustav Mahler, orchestral songsAbstract
Psychoanalysis represented a turning point in science, being also the origin for some of the most controversial ideological changes at the late 19th century. Its father, Sigmund Freud, was not satisfied with the therapeutic practice, applying it instead to various products of human thinking and spirit, such as literature, painting or sculpture. Although much later and with many more difficulties, music also became an instrument used by some psychoanalysts to verify their theories. Together with Ludwig van Beethoven and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Gustav Mahler is one of the most analyzed composers in the history of music. The notes he wrote on his manuscripts, rich in extramusical meanings, allowed the clinicians and musicologists to analyze both the man and the musician. The controversies built around his personality reached a level almost without precedent. The permanent conflict that one can feel in Mahler’s music has been explained in terms of the struggle between his activity as a conductor and the necessity for creation. Furthermore, his music reflects the turbulent socialcultural environment typical for the last days of the AustroHungarian Empire, as well as the tensions of his childhood and youth.
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References
Bachelard, G. (2003). Poetica spaţiului [The Poetics of Space]. Bucureşti: Paralela 45.
Killian, H. (Hrsg., 1984). Gustav Mahler in den Errinerungen von Natalie Bauer-Lechner. Hamburg: Verlag der Musikalienhandlung Karl Dieter Wagner.
Mitchell, D. (2003). Gustav Mahler: The Early Years. Woodbridge, Suffolk: Boydell Press.
Redlich, H. F. (1955). Bruckner and Mahler. London: J. M. Dent and Sons.
Reik, T. (1953). The Haunting Melody. Psychoanalytic Experiences in Life and Music. New York: Grove Press, 1960.
Stefan, P. (1913). Gustav Mahler. A Study of His Personality and Work. New York: G. Schirmer.
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Books:
Bachelard, G. (2003). Poetica spaţiului [The Poetics of Space]. Bucureşti: Paralela 45.
Baudouin, C. (1929). Psychanalyse de l’art. Paris: Librairie Félix Alcan.
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Ewen, D. (1962). The World of Great Composers. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: PrenticeHall, Inc.
Feder, S. (2004). Gustav Mahler: A Life in Crisis. New Haven: Yale University Press.
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Hansen, M. (Hrsg., 1985). Gustav Mahler Briefe. Leipzig: Verlag Philipp Reclam jun.
Imberty, M. (2005). La musique creuse le temps. De Wagner à Boulez: musique, psychologie, psychanalyse. Paris: L’Harmattan.
Killian, H. (Hrsg., 1984). Gustav Mahler in den Errinerungen von Natalie Bauer-Lechner. Hamburg: Verlag der Musikalienhandlung Karl Dieter Wagner.
Leibowitz, R. (1951). L’évolution de la musique, de Bach à Schönberg. Paris: Éditions Corrêa.
Mitchell, D. (2003). Gustav Mahler: The Early Years. Woodbridge, Suffolk: Boydell Press.
Rank, O. (1989). Art and Artist: Creative Urge and Personality Development. New York, London: W. W. Norton & Company.
Redlich, H. F. (1955). Bruckner and Mahler. London: J. M. Dent and Sons.
Reik, T. (1953). The Haunting Melody. Psychoanalytic Experiences in Life and Music. New York: Grove Press, 1960.
Stefan, P. (1913). Gustav Mahler. A Study of His Personality and Work. New York: G. Schirmer.
Translated sources:
Bauer-Lechner, N. (1923). Erinnerungen an Gustav Mahler. Trans. by D. Newlin and E. P. Franklin as: Recollections of Gustav Mahler. London: Faber Music, 1980.
Mahler, A. (1940). Gustav Mahler: Erinnerungen und Briefe. Trans. by B. Creighton as: Gustav Mahler: Memories and Letters. New York: The Viking Press, 1946.
