Między prawdą a mitem, czyli styl późny w muzyce Gustawa Mahlera

Abstract

The late style is an aesthetic category with a long-standing tradition. In addition, it is also a widely accepted and recognised category, which emerges time and time again in scholarly reflections of world-class musicologists and art theorists. In this article, the author briefly introduces a variety of approaches concerning the late style. The greatest emphasis is put on the theory of Joseph N. Straus, who distinguished six features of the late style. The majority of the articles are devoted to a discussion of a conception of the late style proposed by Vera Micznik in the context of the music of Gustav Mahler (primarily his 9th Symphony). Micznik conducts her analysis of “lateness” on the basis of three primary perspectives: the history of the work’s reception; the analytical perspective, focused on demonstrating the narrative character of the music; and the historical records, connected with the origin of the musical composition. Thus, the aim of the following article—although, to a large extent, the essay is focused on discussing the established literature on the subject—is to rethink the viewpoint concerning the “obvious” character of the presence of the late style in Mahler’s music.