Bach Complete Edition by Gustav Mahler

With the help of the Kulturstiftung der Länder, the Bach-Archiv Leipzig was able to acquire a copy of the first complete Bach edition from the estate of the composer Gustav Mahler

The Leipzig Bach Archive has acquired a complete edition of the works of Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) from the former estate of the composer Gustav Mahler (1860-1911). The Kulturstiftung der Länder (Cultural Foundation of the Federal States) supported the purchase with 15,000 euros. Gustav Mahler was one of the most important composers and conductors of his time. Numerous documents and eyewitness accounts show and prove his admiration for Bach’s works.

After his death, Mahler’s complete edition of Bach’s works passed into the possession of his wife Alma Mahler-Werfel (1879-1964), then to his daughter Anna Mahler (1904-1988) and later to his granddaughter Marina Fistoulari-Mahler (born 1943). The Bach archive was purchased from the estate of the British entrepreneur Sir Ralph Kohn, who bought the editions at an auction in London in 1992.

The British entrepreneur and philanthropist Kohn was of German origin and supported the Bach Archive, the Leipzig Bach Festival and the Forum Thomanum during his lifetime. Now the complete edition is back in the city where Johann Sebastian Bach worked as Thomaskantor from 1723 until his death in 1750.

The almost complete copy of the old Bach Complete Edition (Leipzig 1851-1900) comprises 59 volumes with numerous handwritten notes by Mahler. It also contains five inserted pages with Mahler’s arrangement of the Gavotte BWV 1068/3 from the third orchestral suite, which is of particular interest to researchers. It was probably written in 1909 – the year in which Mahler conducted Bach’s work in New York.

His ‘Bach Suite’, newly composed from two suites for the performance and provided with a modified orchestration, became famous. As one of the most influential conductors of his time, Mahler made a significant contribution to bringing the Austro-German tradition of interpretation to the New World. His Bach edition is an important testimony to this tradition and also to new ways of interpretation.

Professor Markus Hilgert, Secretary General of the Kulturstiftung der Länder is delighted: “Gustav Mahler’s complete edition of Bach’s works makes it possible to understand how Mahler understood Bach and how he interpreted and performed his works. With the purchase for the Bach Archive Leipzig, the edition returns to Bach’s main place of activity and can be presented to a wide audience there. Until now, the edition was exclusively in private hands – now it can be comprehensively examined for the first time and made accessible to researchers worldwide.”

The complete edition, published in Leipzig between 1851 and 1900, was the reference work for any study of Bach during Gustav Mahler’s lifetime.