Gustav Mahler: Jewish Identity and Nineteenth-Century Musical Culture

Did Gustav Mahler’s Jewish background influence his musical oeuvre—and if so, how? Much ink has been spilled over this question, without reaching a conclusive answer. This talk suggests that we take a step back if we wish to tackle the tantalizing question of Mahler’s Jewish identity. Instead of looking at Mahler as an isolated case, it might be more productive to embed the story of his life in a larger socio-cultural context—namely, the history of Jewish participation in nineteenth-century musical culture. This larger context elucidates not only the opportunities, but also the challenges that Jewish musicians in Mahler’s generation faced. Against this backdrop, it might be possible to cast a new light on the contours of Mahler’s Jewish identity.

For this program YIVO joins forces with the young, “intrepid” (New Yorker) vocal and instrumental chamber ensemble Cantata Profana to present Gustav Mahler’s epic song symphony, Das Lied von der Erde (The Song of the Earth) in Arnold Schoenberg and Rainer Riehn’s chamber orchestra arrangement. The program places this work in the context of its German and Jewish milieu pairing it with short works by Arnold Schoenberg, Johann Strauss II, Giacomo Meyerbeer, and Louis Lewandowski, as well as a new work by composer Alex Weiser. Alex Weiser will introduce the program with a brief discussion of Mahler’s Jewish identity, both from Mahler’s perspective and from that of those around him.

Daniel Jütte is a historian of early modern and modern Europe. He is an associate professor in the Department of History at New York University. His research interests lie in cultural history, urban history and material culture, history of knowledge and science, and Jewish history. He is currently working on a history of transparency from antiquity to modern times.

Jütte is the author of two monographs. His award-winning The Age of Secrecy: Jews, Christians, and the Economy of Secrets, 1400–1800 (Yale University Press, 2015; first German ed. 2011) offers a general history of secrecy in the early modern period, with particular attention to the role of secrecy and secret sciences in Jewish-Christian relations. His second book, The Strait Gate: Thresholds and Power in Western History (Yale University Press, 2015), explores how doors, gates, and related technologies such as the key and the lock have shaped notions about security, privacy, and shelter.

Before joining NYU, Jütte taught as lecturer in the History Department at Harvard University as well as at the University of Heidelberg, from which he earned his Ph.D. in 2010. He has also held a number of fellowships: Junior Fellow in the Harvard Society of Fellows (2011–2015); Fellow at the Wissenschaftskolleg, Berlin (2015–16); and Eurias Fellow at the University of Cambridge (2016–2017). In addition, his work has been supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG), the German National Academic Foundation (Studienstiftung), and the Daimler Benz Foundation.

Jütte has been recognized for excellence in teaching, but he also enjoys engaging non-academic audiences and readerships, e.g., as a contributor to media networks (such as the BBC and Deutschlandradio) and major daily newspapers, including the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Süddeutsche Zeitung, and Die Welt.

Cantata Profana is a fearless vocal and instrumental chamber ensemble now entering its sixth season of presenting “every kind of classical music you might imagine” (New Yorker). The ensemble is devoted to new music, old music “to most anything, so long as the mixture is put together thoughtfully and put across persuasively” (NY Times). Cantata Profana’s artists combine virtuosic talent with innovative staging, lighting, and design, collaborating to present eclectic and diverse masterpieces with a theatrical flair. We transcend the typical chamber music concert with programming that pulls from every century, allowing pieces to speak to each other across time periods and continents, just as the performers speak to the audience. Each concert offers a never before imagined way of telling stories through music.

In demand across the U.S. and abroad as soloists and chamber musicians, our core artists continue to create some of their best work in their performances with Cantata Profana. We have performed in venues all over New York City, such as Joe’s PUB, Symphony Space, Roulette, Dixon Place, Issue Project Room and the Baruch Performing Arts Center. Cantata Profana has also recently traveled to Avaloch Farm Music Institute in New Hampshire, the Banff Centre in Canada, Connecticut’s Music Mountain, the Princeton Sound Kitchen, and Boston’s Goethe-Institute.

Toggling between our Mainstage productions, smaller Spotlight Series concerts by our core artists, and collaborations with our sister company Heartbeat Opera, Cantata Profana presents an almost gluttonous range of music each season.