Abstract
This article analyzes the use of classical Chinese poems in Gustav Mahler’s song cycle The Song of the Earth, which is almost unanimously deemed as a musical work with a number of Chinese motifs. After elaborating on these texts, especially the original poem in the second and third movement, the author examines the background to Mahler’s adaptation. This includes his personal physical and mental crisis, the context of the prevailing Chinese cultural influences in Europe, especially the utilization of Taoism in light of the epistemology of death, and the social context of anti-Semitism in fin-de-siècle Vienna.
Recommended Citation
He, Jun.
"Ancient Chinese Poetry as a Trans-lingual and Cross-cultural Textual Resource in Gustav Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde."
CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture
26.2
(2024):
<https://doi.org/10.7771/1481-4374.3934>
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