The Universal Mystery of 1906: the Spiritual Conception of Gustav Mahler’s Eighth Symphony
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Abstract
The philosophical, poetical and musical conception of the most difficult musical score by Gustav Mahler – that of
the Eighth Symphony – is examined from the positions of the composer’s putting into practice of the earliest type of
modernist aesthetics and realization of the idea of Universal mystery. The choice of the texts (the medieval prayer
“Veni, Creator Spiritus” and the final scene from Goethe’s “Faust”), which upon first encounter may appear as
arbitrary, places into one conceptual and symbolic set the triad of the Divine, the Human and the Divine-Human. The
majestic prayer in the first movement takes place in the sacred mystery-related domain of Paradiso. The mystery act
in the symphony’s second movement seems to be carried out on the boundary between Paradise and a deserted spot
on which the attending people have gathered. The main protagonist turns out to be Goethe’s Margarete, who along
with the other arrived initiates welcomes and acknowledges Faust’s soul. Through the image of Goethe’s Margarete,
who accompanies Faust’s soul into the Celestial world, the composer demonstrates the mystical and triumphant
entrance of earthly humanity into Paradise. The article shows all the details of the manifestation of Gustav Mahler’s
mystery-based conception.
Thereby the musical realization of the symphony turns out to be much broader than either the text of the poem
“Veni, creator spiritus” or the conclusive scene of “Faust” by themselves. The composer applies the principle of
monothematicism, providing unity to the entire mystery by means of a common intonational texture, which becomes
conducive to the consistent and convincing embodiment of the philosophical and cosmogonic conception.
Keywords: Gustav Mahler’s Eighth Symphony, symphony-mystery, Mahler and musical modernism.
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