A remarkable copy of Mahler’s letters inscribed by his widow Alma Mahler to a close friend of the couple, the bass-baritone (under Gustav’s baton in Budapest in the 1880s) turned Viennese musicologist Ludwig Karpath who has gone on to annotate the book, drawing upon his personal knowledge of the composer. 17 of Gustav Mahler’s letters to Ludwig Karpath written between 1897-1905 are printed in this edition and this presentation copy was given in recognition of Karpath’s contribution to the book. More importantly Karpath has left dozens of handwritten corrections and emendations to the text, explaining and elucidating decisions made in editing the letters, clarifying details of Mahler’s biography and music, all drawing on his long personal experience of his friend’s life.
Karpath’s notes begin in Alma Mahler’s introduction, taking issue with an interpretation she has made of a phrase used by Gustav: ‘ich glaube es soll heissen das Schweigen ist’ - ‘I believe it means that silence is....’ Reading with great care and frequently initialling his annotations, ‘LK’, Karpath has added marginal lines and emphases, mini glosses - ‘Schon’ (beautiful, p22) - and sometimes much longer interventions such as his substantial note about the genesis of the First Symphony (p147) and an even longer memo relating to Mahler’s relationship with Diosy Bela. Interestingly Karpath also draws attention to textual changes made during the editing of these letters, notably an alteration to the printed text relating to Richard Strauss made ‘auf mein betreiben’ - ‘at my instigation’ - presumably bowdlerising some critical mention of Strauss made by Mahler (p186).
DESCRIPTION: Handsome black cloth; Alma Mahler has written using purple ink in very large letters on the front flyleaf: ‘Meinem lieber... Ludwig Karpath - Alma - Wien 1924’. Several dozen annotations at least.
Ludwig Karpath (1866-193) was a bass singer who was engaged by Mahler in 1888 in Budapest; he published extensively after he moved to Vienna, including a memoir with anecdotes about Mahler in 1929, Lachende Musiker, and was gifted by Alma Mahler the autograph manuscript of the 3rd Symphony in 1915.
