‘Because It Should […] Accomplish Something Very Large.’

Erwin Ratz and the International Gustav Mahler Society*

Antonia Teibler
published 10/11/2023, last update 17/01/2025

English translation by Thomas Stark
published 17/01/2025

‘The effort for Mahler is part of my mission in life and a special matter of the heart’, wrote Erwin Ratz (1898–1973) in a letter to the Niederösterreichisches Tonkünstlerorchester on 27 March 1955, seven months and fifteen days before the constituent General Assembly of the International Gustav Mahler Society (IGMS) on 11 November 1955:
 

With the performance of Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. V[1], which was outstanding in every respect, you have not only given me personally great pleasure (the effort for Mahler is part of my mission in life and a special matter of the heart). You have not only proven what a grandiose performance your orchestra is capable of, you have also once again demonstrated the eminent cultural significance of the NÖ Tonkünstlerorchester. In this case, you have fulfilled the great task that the great associations: the Philharmonic, the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde and the Konzerthausgesellschaft have so far unforgivably neglected. Mahler’s importance rests especially on the great instrumental symphonies V, VI, VII and IX; and all these symphonies have not been performed in Vienna for more than twenty years. It is thus particularly to your credit that you have saved the honor of Vienna and given the work of the greatest Austrian symphonist after Bruckner a worthy performance. (Ratz 1955a)

As a student of Schönberg, Ratz – he was one of a circle of students that regularly made the pilgrimage to Mödling to attend the Seminar for Composition – shared his teacher’s reverence for Mahler.[2] On 9 October 1954 he wrote the following to Wolfgang Irtenkauf, the librarian of the Württemberg State Library, with whom he regularly corresponded:
 

Concerning the Schönberg circle’s position regarding Mahler, I can assure you that they all held Mahler in the highest esteem. Schönberg himself long considered writing a book about the Ninth, but the abundance of his own works prevented him from doing so. From the dedication of the first edition of the Harmonielehre [Theory of Harmony], as well as from Schönberg’s public letters to Mahler, you can see how highly Schönberg esteemed and revered Mahler. It was the same with Berg and Webern, who still knew Mahler personally. Webern was one of the best Mahler conductors. I have heard unforgettable performances of symphonies II, III, VIII and especially VI with him. There are unfortunately hardly any conductors today who can interpret Mahler in this way, and that is also the main reason why people today find it so difficult to relate to Mahler. One must know the works very well to be able to judge how little of the real essence of Mahler’s music is revealed in today’s performances. (Ratz 1954a)

The interpretation of the Sixth and Seventh Symphonies in arrangements for piano four hands at concerts of the Verein für musikalische Privataufführungen [Society for Private Musical Performances] made a particular impression on the then barely 20-year-old.[3] A number of decades later, in a lecture on the occasion of a record performance of the Fifth Symphony in November 1954, Ratz attempted to encourage his students to perform Mahler’s works on their own:
 

The vinyl record is a stopgap solution to inform oneself about certain things. But when it is used on its own, it is a ruinous toxin. It suits the human tendency to passivity to such an extent that thoroughgoing paralysis sets in. So please, if any of you can still play the piano, sit down with friends and play these symphonies four-handed; only then will they reveal their full beauty. (Ratz 1954b, 18)

Even before the IGMS was founded in 1955, Ratz used all his knowledge and skills to save Gustav Mahler from oblivion. The performance and printing ban on composers of Jewish descent during the Nazi era had also hit the work of Mahler very hard. Sheet music was virtually unavailable after 1945 and where it was, it was in very poor condition (Kubik 2021, 12). Only a few conductors such as Bruno Walter or Willem Mengelberg remained that had experienced performances under Mahler. For Ratz, Mahler was a ‘saint’ (Blaukopf 2005, 12) and a ‘trailblazer for New Music’ (Ratz 1954b, 6). The task now was to pass on Mahler’s legacy to future generations and to counteract the widespread perception that Mahler’s music was eclectic. In his function as head of the Austrian section of the International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM), he also attempted to promote the work of the ‘most important German [sic] symphonist since Bruckner’ (ibid., 3).[4] Among other things, he gave lectures presenting recordings at the Academy (now University) of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (now mdw), contacted the Berlin publishing house Bote & Bock in November 1954 in order to ‘reprint Gustav Mahler’s Seventh Symphony at long last’ (cf. Kubik 2021, 9), and contacted Alma Mahler in New York as he intended to write a book about Gustav Mahler (Blaukopf 2005, 12).

Ratz’s personal commitment and proven expertise led to his election as the first president of the IGMS.[5] This meant the scholarly direction of the society. The focus of research was on the composer’s work; biographical matters were secondary. As a ‘one-man scholarly institution’ (NMR 1998), Ratz focused on three areas: The first was to increase the popularity of Mahler, the second was to begin work on a Complete Critical Edition, and the third was the establishment of a library and archive (ibid.). For Ratz, the prerequisites for taking on this management function were an ‘annual budget of at least 50 000 Austrian Schillings [ATS]’ and a ‘secretary’ – Emmy Hauswirth took over this position already in December 1955.[6]

Erwin Ratz immediately began work on this mammoth task, employing his inherent meticulosity and perseverance. In addition to the three main pillars of the complete edition, library and archive, there was also the major project of the article about Gustav Mahler for the encyclopedia Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart (MGG). This project, which was nerve-wracking for everyone involved, dragged on from 1954 to 1959 and had a sobering outcome for Ratz. After the differences of opinion between Ratz and Friedrich Blume, the editor of the first edition of MGG, could not be overcome, Hans Ferdinand Redlich received a contract to write the article (Krones 2010[7]).

The following provides an exemplary insight into the diverse areas of activity of Ratz’s presidency – according to Herta Blaukopf, ‘despite the democratic Austrian law governing associations’, he led the society ‘as uncompromisingly as an absolute monarch’ (Blaukopf 2022, 756).

Catalog Raisonné

In 1958, a 16-page catalog raisonné was published as the first printed edition of the IGMS. The names Bruno Walter and Erwin Ratz[8] follow the introductory comments. Ratz sent Walter a first draft of the text to Beverly Hills and showed a willingness to compromise on the wording when Walter refused to sign it, because the latter saw Mahler as still belonging ‘to a healthy epoch’ (Blaukopf 2005, 15) and not as a pioneer of New Music. How much Walter appreciated Ratz’s work despite differences of opinion can be seen in a letter dated 4 July 1961: ‘It is a gratifying experience for me to know that the welfare of Mahler’s work is in your hands – I could not wish for better prospects for the future.’ (Walter 1961)

Complete Critical Edition

The establishment of the Complete Critical Edition was an immense challenge, which Ratz took on almost single-handedly. He was assisted by Josef Polnauer, Erwin Stein, Friedrich Wildgans and later by Karl Heinz Füssl.

Since Alma Mahler had never shown any interest to collect her husband’s manuscripts in a single location, an attempt was made to obtain and compile the necessary materials for the production of the various volumes of the complete edition throughout the world. In an initial reaction, Alma Mahler for her part declined to support the young society, but she later changed her mind (Revers 2023). This may also have been due to the persistence of Erwin Ratz, as he wrote to her that ‘everything would be done that has to be done today for the works and person of Gustav Mahler without compromise’ (Blaukopf 2005, 13). Ratz then also sent countless letters asking for information on how to locate the manuscripts.

The first volume of the Complete Critical Edition to be published was the Seventh Symphony in 1960, which had first been brought onto the market in 1909 by the Berlin publisher Bote & Bock, but contained over 700 errors (Blaukopf 2022, 758). Since the rights were held by Bote & Bock, Ratz had contacted the publisher Kurt Radecke as early as November 1954, a year before the IGMS was founded, and initially received a negative response to his request for a revised edition.[9] Here, again, he was able to prevail against initial rejection with arguments that served the cause, and with detailed and insistent correspondence.

This was followed by the publications of the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Symphonies as well as the Adagio from the Tenth and Das Lied von der Erde between 1962 and 1964. In 1967, Ratz published an extended facsimile edition of the drafts and sketches for the Tenth Symphony (Partsch 2005, 6). In the same year, he received a prize of 12 000 ATS from the Theodor Körner Foundation Fund for the Promotion of Science and the Arts for his work on the Complete Critical Edition of Gustav Mahler’s compositions. The award letter dated 23 April 1966 was incidentally signed by the later Austrian Chancellor Bruno Kreisky (Theodor Körner Stiftungsfonds 1966).

Establishment of the Archive Based on the Model of the Beethoven-Archiv in Bonn

The establishment of an archive proved to be extremely difficult, as the various materials were scattered all over the world. A great deal of painstaking and tediously detailed work went into researching and contacting people who were in possession of important documents in order to obtain photocopies or perhaps even the originals of these. According to Erich Wolfgang Partsch, at the time the Seventh Symphony was published in 1960 the collection already consisted of ‘photocopies of Mahler autographs, printed music, copies of letters, books, articles, programs, pictures, and recordings.’[10]

Establishment of International Chapters

An additional aspect of Ratz’s presidency was the plan to establish ‘Sektionen’ [chapters] of the Mahler Society in other countries. This was an attempt to structure the society along the lines of the ISCM, of which Ratz was a member in various capacities until 1968. In 1956, a society was founded in the Netherlands under the leadership of Herman J. Nieman, and according to Partsch, a society in Germany was founded during the same year.[11] The IGMS archive contains extensive correspondence regarding the founding of further Mahler societies in Mexico and Japan, among other places. The idea of establishing chapters of the IGMS can be seen in historical terms, as societies or foundations dedicated to the work of Mahler were also founded in countries other than Austria over the years. The extent to which the international establishment of institutions for the promotion and dissemination of the work of Mahler is related to the activities of the IGMS or was initiated by it must remain a subject of future research.

Commemorative Plaques, Postage Stamp and Golden Mahler Medal

As early as the fall of 1957, the first commemorative plaques were unveiled at Mahler’s composing hut and the Trenkerhof, both in Toblach/Alt-Schluderbach in South Tyrol (Partsch 1995, 3 and Partsch 2005, 4 – here the date 1958 is incorrectly given). The centenary of Gustav Mahler’s birth also fell in the years of Erwin Ratz’s presidency. In addition to issuing a commemorative postage stamp, the IGMS organized a celebratory concert and lecture in the Großer Konzerthaussaal in Vienna on 22 June 1960. The Vienna Symphony Orchestra played Mahler’s Ninth Symphony under Jascha Horenstein, the keynote speaker was Theodor W. Adorno.[12] The Golden Mahler Medal for special services to Mahler interpretation and research was awarded no fewer than thirteen times during Ratz’s presidency.[13]

Up to the end of his life, Erwin Ratz also attended numerous national and international Mahler events, as the following three examples show: He participated in the Mahlerfest in the Netherlands in 1966. A report by Herman J. Nieman to Ratz’s second wife Inge has been preserved, in which Ratz’s precise, strict and immutable opinion on the interpretation of Mahler is mentioned (Nieman 1966). He expressed a similar viewpoint to his student Margot Unterberg about the 13th International Music Festival in Vienna, which Ratz attended in June of the following year:
 

The Mahler Festival was somehow a success: I only listened to a few performances (V, VI, VII and VIII), everything else was uninteresting, worst of all Maazel with the IXth, which was downright idiotic[14]; but I had no influence whatsoever on the organization. (During a telephone interview on Cologne Radio, the man asked me what the reaction abroad had been, and I said: this festival is of no interest to people abroad because they have the opportunity to hear the works often and much better. It was a music festival for intellectually underdeveloped countries such as Austria. You will understand that something like this provokes great laughter, but little joy among our functionaries!) (Ratz 1967)

In 1973, the year of his death, Ratz declined Otto Kolleritsch’s request to give a lecture on Mahler and Schönberg at the Mahler Symposium in Graz because he felt unable to do so for reasons of health and content; he then took part in the event in order to honor it ‘with his mere presence’ (Uz 1973).

Due to the society’s difficult financial situation, the search for sponsors was another essential task. By appealing for donations from private individuals and institutions, Ratz and other members of the society attempted to compensate the ‘blatant disinterest on the part of public authorities’ (Kubik 2021, 22) at least to a small part.

Under the presidency of Erwin Ratz, the IGMS developed into a well-connected organization with members from many parts of the world.[15] From the founding of the society until well after his death, it was a matter of course for Ratz, the ‘the driving force of the entire enterprise’ (Bischof 2005, 1), to make his private apartment available for Mahler, his affair of the heart. Until 1976, Ratz’s address, Obere Bahngasse 6/1/21, 1030 Vienna, appeared on the letterhead of the IGMS.[16] Emmy Hauswirth, Karl Heinz Füssl (director of the complete edition), Friedrich C. Heller (journalistic work) and Kurt Blaukopf (archive) (Partsch 2005, 6) took over the legacy of Ratz and Gottfried von Einem became the second president of the IGMS.[17] To conclude with the words of Emmy Hauswirth, ‘thus, it continued’ (Blaukopf 2000, 38).

Sources

Gustav Mahler Werkverzeichnis (undated), archive of the International Gustav Mahler Society, Vienna.

Nieman, Herman (1966), letter to Inge Ratz, 20 Mai 1966, estate of Erwin Ratz, Vienna.

Pressedienst der Wiener Philharmoniker (1955), „Internationale Gustav-Mahler Gesellschaft gegründet“, Pressedienst der Wiener Philharmoniker 3/18, 14 November 1955, archive of the International Gustav Mahler Society, Vienna.

Ratz, Erwin (1954a), letter of 9 October 1954 to Wolfgang Irtenkauf, carbon copy, estate of Erwin Ratz, Vienna.

Ratz, Erwin (1954b), „Gustav Mahler. Vortrag gehalten anläßlich einer Schallplattenaufführung der V. Symphonie in der Akademie für Musik und darstellende Kunst. Wien, am 15. November 1954“, typescript, archive of the International Gustav Mahler Society, Vienna.

Ratz, Erwin (1954c), letter of 18 December 1954 to Gusti Doderer-Kalmus, carbon copy, estate of Erwin Ratz, Vienna.

Ratz, Erwin (1955a), letter of 27 March 1955 to the Niederösterreichisches Tonkünstlerorchester, carbon copy, estate of Erwin Ratz, Vienna.

Ratz, Erwin (1955b), letter of 14 December 1955 to his daughter Brigitte Ratz, carbon copy, estate of Erwin Ratz, Vienna.

Ratz, Erwin (1967), letter of 2 July 1967 to Margot Unterberg, student from Freiburg im Breisgau, carbon copy, estate of Erwin Ratz, Vienna.

Theodor Körner Stiftungsfonds (1966), letter of 23 April 1966, estate of Erwin Ratz, Vienna.

Uz, Theodor (1973), newspaper article about the Mahler-Symposium in Graz, 2 June 1973, estate of Erwin Ratz, Vienna.

Walter, Bruno (1961), letter to Erwin Ratz, 4 July 1961, archive of the International Gustav Mahler Society, Vienna.

Literature

Bischof, Rainer (2005), ‘On the Anniversary of the International Gustav Mahler Society’, News about Mahler Research 52, 1–3.

Blaukopf, Herta (2000), ‘Farewell to Emmy Hauswirth (1918–1999)‘ News about Mahler Research 42, 38–39.

Blaukopf, Herta (2005), ‘When Mahler’s Time Had Not Yet Come. From the Early Documents of the International Gustav Mahler Society’ [1980], News about Mahler Research 52, 11–16.

Blaukopf, Herta (2022), „Erwin Ratz: ein kritischer Freund“, in: Der Dirigent Hans Swarowsky (1899–1975). Musik, Kultur und Politik im 20. Jahrhundert, Markus Grassl and Reinhard Kapp (eds.), Vienna: Böhlau, 755–762.

Kretz, Johannes (1996), Erwin Ratz – Leben und Wirken (Studien zur Wiener Schule 1, vol. 4), Frankfurt a. M.: Lang.

Krones, Hartmut (2010), „Selbst Egon Wellesz konnte nicht vermitteln. Erwin Ratz, Mahler-Gesellschaft und Mahler-Artikel der MGG“, Österreichische Musikzeitschrift 65/2, 20–35.

Kubik, Reinhold (2021), ‘“We Both Ultimately Want to Serve the Same Great Cause”. The International Gustav Mahler Society and the Publishing House Bote & Bock’, News about Mahler Research 74, 7–23.

NMR (1998), ‘Erwin Ratz (1898–1973). On the 100th Anniversary of his Birth and the 25th Anniversary of his Death’, News about Mahler Research 39, 30 (editorial contribution).

Partsch, Erich Wolfgang (1995), ‘The International Gustav Mahler Society Celebrates 40 Years’, News about Mahler Research 34, 3–4.

Partsch, Erich Wolfgang (2005), ‘Fifty Years of the International Gustav Mahler Society in Facts, Figures, and Pictures’, News about Mahler Research 52, 4–10.

Revers, Peter (2023), In Service of Mahler’s Music. The International Gustav Mahler Society (IGMS), released 27/04/2023, last updated 25/01/2024, https://www.gustav-mahler.org/en/the-society/history, accessed 19/07/2024.

 


[1] Ratz is referring to the concert on 20 March 1955. The Niederösterreichische Tonkünstlerorchester performed the 11th Sunday afternoon concert in the Großer Musikvereinssaal in Vienna. In addition to Mahler’s Fifth Symphony, the program included Robert Schumann’s Concerto for Cello and Orchestra op. 129. The soloist was Senta Benesch and Gustav Koslik was the conductor (https://www.gustav-mahler.org/libraryid/10442, accessed 19/07/2024).
 

[2] Ratz may have accompanied Schönberg on his journey to Amsterdam at the invitation of Willem Mengelberg to attend a cycle of performances of all Mahler symphonies as part of the Mahler Festival of 1920. He also attended lectures by Guido Adler at the Institute for Music History of the University of Vienna. In 1916 Adler’s biography of Gustav Mahler, which Ratz must have been familiar with, was published by Universal-Edition (Kretz 1996, 96).
 

[3] From an account by Ratz: ‘[…] at the time all composers from Debussy to Stravinsky, Webern and Hauer were performed in performances of unprecedented purity and clarity. Among them were also symphonies by Mahler […]. Of course, we had no money for orchestral concerts and had to make do with four-hand renditions of the works. However, at that time we had the best pianists available in Vienna […], Eduard Steuermann and […] Ernst Bachrich. I can tell you that even without an orchestra, the spirit of Mahler was there to one hundred percent.’ (Ratz 1954b, 19)
 

[4] He expressed his thoughts clearly in a letter to Gusti Doderer-Kalmus dated 18 December 1954: ‘You will have received my first ISCM newsletter by now, from which you can see that I have taken over the leadership of the Austrian section of the ISCM. That means an enormous amount of work and no remuneration, because the position is unsalaried. […] The ISCM lay dormant for two years because there was no one there who could have continued to lead it. […] I thus decided […] to take on the task, but in the way I think is right. […] I want to perform solo and chamber music works live, but orchestral works from good records and tape performances. Since the work for Mahler is so close to my heart and all the more for this reason, I wanted to create a framework that enables me to do something for Mahler. But for that I will need money to buy equipment, records, etc., and I can only obtain that through the ISCM.’ (Ratz 1954c)
 

[5] The initiative for the inception was set by Helmut Wobisch, Managing Director of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. Erwin Ratz became president, board members included Theodor W. Adorno, Ernst Krenek, Rafael Kubelík, Rudolf Mengelberg and Georg Solti, Alma Mahler was the only honorary member, Bruno Walter became honorary president. For further information on the constituent General Assembly, see Partsch 1995, 3–4, as well as the Pressedienst of the Vienna Philharmonic 1955.
 

[6] ‘[…] You can imagine what a huge amount of work it is to set up a society such as this. I thought long and hard about whether I should do it. But since I didn’t know anyone else who could have done it, I decided to take on the task. Now I just have to scrape up the necessary funds. Because it should not remain a small association but accomplish something very large. I said that I would only take over the management if we can count on an annual budget of at least 50 000 ATS. Well, we will see what the other gentlemen on the board can achieve. I have also asked for a secretary, as I cannot possibly do the technical work myself. I’m counting on a membership of a thousand people and you can imagine how many letters you have to write to get that together. I already have a secretary who is really first-class, and we are working at full steam.’ (Ratz 1955b)
 

[7] On page 22 of this article, as the result of a printing error, the date 11 February (instead of 11 November) 1955 is mentioned as the founding date of the IGMS. In ‘The Case Redlich’, a second front opened up for Ratz in addition to the MGG conflict with a new edition of the study score of the Seventh Symphony by the Eulenburg publishing house. In 1955, Ratz had approached the publisher requesting a new edition, which was rejected due to a lack of demand. Nevertheless, the pocket score was then reprinted, but inaccurately, as it did not take the revision made by IGMS into consideration. Both incidents ultimately led to Hans Ferdinand Redlich’s expulsion from the society (Kubik 2021, 21).
 

[8] The archive of IGMS contains editions of the catalog in which Bruno Walter’s name is printed on the right under the introductory words and the name Erwin Ratz has been added by a stamp to the left (Gustav Mahler Werkverzeichnis).
 

[9] The entire genesis of the revised new edition of the Seventh Symphony is described in Kubik 2021.
 

[10] Partsch 1995, 3.
 

[11] Partsch 2005, 4.
 

[12] Blaukopf 2022, 760.
 

[13] 1958: Carl Schuricht, Eduard van Beinum, Concertgebouworkest Amsterdam, Rotterdam Philharmonisch Orkest, Eduard Flipse and Herman J. Nieman; 1960: Rafael Kubelík and Dimitri Mitropoulos; 1966: Utrecht Orkest, Dresdner Philharmonie; 1967: Leonard Bernstein; 1969: Wiener Symphoniker, 1971: Bernard Haitink. https://www.gustav-mahler.org/die-gesellschaft/goldene-mahler-medaille, accessed 19/07/2024.
 

[14] The performance of the Ninth Symphony under Lorin Maazel with the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra took place on Sunday, 18 June 1967 in the Großer Saal of the Vienna Konzerthaus (https://konzerthaus.at/konzert/eventid/28032, accessed 19/07/2024).
 

[15] In 1963 the IGMS had 507 members, including Rafael Kubelík, Georg Solti, Hilde Güden, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Ernst Krenek, Luigi Dallapiccola and Egon Wellesz (Blaukopf 2022, 756).
 

[16] In 1976, an apartment was purchased at Wiedner Gürtel 6, 1040 Vienna (Partsch 1995, 4). This remains the headquarters of the IGMS today.
 

[17] He was followed by Rainer Bischof, Christian Meyer and Peter Revers. At present Christian Utz is president of the IGMS.