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Mahler spent the summers from 1893 to 1896 in a small village in northwest Austria: Steinbach am Attersee. It was in this picturesque setting, surrounded by mountains, forests, and lakes, that he composed his Second and Third Symphonies. It was this natural setting that both inspired and invigorated him. Of the cliffs overlooking the Attersee, Mahler once commented to the young Bruno Walter that, "there's no need to look at that, for I have composed it away already" (de La Grange 1973, 375). It is this rockface that appears in the first loud horn notes of the symphony. |
Indeed, Mahler's surroundings played a great role in his compositional process. He would take daily Spaziergangen, or strolls through the woods, and ride his bicycle to other composers' summer residences. It was in this environment, and not in big urban centers that he could freely compose. While conducting was his profession, composing was his passion and he put intense effort into the process. Living among the plants and animals of the forest allowed Mahler to tap into a deep well of source material for his Third Symphony. His environment would find its way into his music, both through program and musical gesture (Solvik-Olsen 1991, 188).
Mahler's Komponierhaueschen