Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Date of Degree

9-2026

Document Type

Doctoral Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Program

Music

Advisor

L. Poundie Burstein

Committee Members

Kofi Agawu

David Schober

Joseph Straus

Subject Categories

Music Theory

Keywords

Mahler, Form, Vocality, Genre, Lieder, Symphony

Abstract

This dissertation considers the role of vocal music in Gustav Mahler’s early symphonies through the lens of the composer’s practice of self-borrowing. Mahler was known to use his own pre-existing songs as the basis for large-scale movements in his early symphonies. While scholars have long recognized the close relationship between Mahler’s songs and symphonies, existing studies have emphasized questions of biography, intertextuality, musical meaning, and quotation rather than sustained analytical investigations of vocal influence in Mahler’s large-scale symphonic forms. The present study places this vocality at the forefront of its analyses, arguing that Mahler’s reworking of his own Lieder is a fundamental component of his early symphonic style.

This dissertation presents three case studies drawn from Mahler’s first three symphonies: (1) the first movement of Symphony No. 1 and its relationship to “Ging heut’ Morgen über’s Feld” from Leider eines fahrenden Gesellen (Chapter 2); (2) the third movement from Symphony No. 2 and its transformation of “Des Antonius von Padua Fischpredigt” from Des Knaben Wunderhorn (Chapter 3); and (3) the third movement of Symphony No. 3 and its reworking of “Ablösung im Sommer” from Lieder und Gesänge aus der Jugendzeit (Chapter 4). Each chapter compares the symphonic movement with its corresponding Lied, revealing the compositional strategies through which Mahler adapts song material to a new symphonic context. These analyses involve close examination of form, harmony, motivic process, orchestration, and musical narrative.

By demonstrating that Mahler’s self-borrowing extends far beyond mere quotation or orchestration, this dissertation reevaluates the relationship between song and symphony in the composer’s early works. More broadly, it offers a model for understanding vocality as a compositional force within late-Romantic instrumental music and contributes new analytical perspectives on genre, musical transformation, and the interaction between vocal and instrumental expression.

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