After a series of personal tragedies, Gustav Mahler composed what he called his most personal work. A few years later, still suffering from serious depression, Mahler travelled to the Netherlands to consult with Dr Sigmund Freud...

“Can this be endured at all? Won’t people kill themselves afterwards?” wrote Viennese composer Gustav Mahler in 1908 shortly after completing his song-symphony ‘Das Lied von der Erde.’ (The Song of the Earth) If he had lived to see it performed, he might have been surprised by quite another reaction.

The audience sits in breathless silence long before tentative applause slowly builds into an ovation. Such silence was a moment cherished by retired Dutch mezzo-soprano Jard van Nes: “The total silence is incredibly moving because the singers, musicians and public are closest at that moment. They’re all busy with the same thing. It’s fantastic when that happens, and uplifting.”

Winner of the prestigious Dutch Music Award, Jard van Nes studied at the Royal Conservatory in Den Haag and soon became one of the most internationally sought-after Dutch singers. She earned a special reputation with the music of Mahler including ‘Das Lied von der Erde,’ a work that was inspired by 8th century Chinese poetry. “I think the text suited his mood,” says van Nes, “but he expresses himself in the music.”

Mahler in Amsterdam

Mahler was particularly fond of the Netherlands, according to music historian Eveline Nikkels, director of the Dutch Mahler Society. Willem Mengelberg, the famous Dutch director of the Concertgebouw Orchestra, worked closely with Mahler and they became close friends. In 1904 Mengelberg invited Mahler to Amsterdam to conduct the Dutch premiere of his Fourth Symphony.

During rehearsals they discussed the score in detail and Mengelberg took detailed notes on his own copy. “Those were Mahler’s very own words,” he added. A 1939 Concertgebouw performance of the piece conducted by Mengelberg was recorded and has been released by Philips Historical Classics. Stan Ruttenberg, president of the Colorado MahlerFest calls it “the closest record we have of what Amsterdam audiences heard on 23 October 1904 when they heard it under Mahler’s baton.” 

"I am so grateful to you for your fresh and energetic initiative, your deeply sympathetic interpretation and penetrating understanding of my work… And so I take, in mind, your hand, my friend, and beg you that you preserve for me from afar these feelings, that are all the more valuable for being so rare, all the more admirable because solely from them springs this living art, whose enthusiastic adept I recognize you to be".  – Letter to Mengelberg from Mahler after 1904 visit to Amsterdam

Mahler in Leiden

Mahler’s last visit to Holland was on 26 August 1910 but it was not to visit friends. He had arranged an appointment with Dr. Sigmund Freud who was vacationing in Noordwijk-aan-Zee. They met in Lieden and talked for several hours as they walked around the countryside. Mahler had suffered serious depression for years.

Freud believed he had helped the composer during their encounter. However music historian Eveline Nikkels has another point of view. “Mahler never completed another work,” she says. “His love for his wife Alma, who was having an affair with the young architect Walter Gropius, became more important than music and he put all his energy into regaining Alma’s love. His life as a composer was over. Most of my colleagues disagree, but I think Freud destroyed Mahler’s creativity.”

Song of a Troubled Heart was produced by David Swatling and originally broadcast in January 2005 as part of the series Vox Humana. It was a Finalist at the New York Festivals and the Prix Marulic Radio Festival in Croatia.