9 March 2010
7pm

The 'Faust' Problem: Music and Madness in Mahler's Vienna

Gavin Plumley

Introduced and chaired by Anthony Cantle

100 years ago this summer, Gustav Mahler saw Freud for a one-off consultation in the Dutch town of Leiden. Mahler had just discovered that his wife, Alma, was having an affair and was encouraged by her to seek Freud's counsel; Freud promptly offered the composer a cure which can be at best described as reductive. Mahler's neuroses were more profound, as can be heard in the fractured harmonies, ironic cackles, half-heard waltzes and stymied longing of his symphonies. Following their meeting, Freud's discussions with his disciples Marie Bonaparte and Theodor Reik reveal some trepidation at curing 'a man like Mahler'. This talk examines the idea that analysis could risk silencing the underlying tensions that fed Mahler's brand of musical creativity.

Gavin Plumley has written, broadcast and lectured widely on 20th century music. His recent projects include an article on Mental Illness and Music (Berghahn Books, forthcoming), a talk on music at the time of Klimt for Tate Liverpool, a lecture on Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress at Tate Britain's Hogarth exhibition, on which he also wrote for The Guardian, and a seminar on Janáçek for the Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon. He has written programme notes for opera houses and concert halls across the globe, including this season for Wigmore Hall, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Met and the Royal Opera House as well as giving talks at Glyndebourne, Garsington Opera, the Barbican and BBC Radio 3. He contributes regularly to Classical Music and Opera Now.

Anthony Cantle is a practising Psychoanalyst and Psychoanalytic Psychotherapist and a Fellow of The Institute of Psychoanalysis, London.
Formerly Founder and Director of the Open Door Adolescent Consultation Service in London he has also taught on the MA in Psychotherapy at the Tavistock Clinic. He worked for many years at the St Albans College of Art & Design where he set up and offered a consultation service to postgraduate students studying Art, Dance & Drama Therapies. In addition to his clinical practice he is currently a Training Analyst and Supervisor for the British Association of Psychotherapists, the Lincoln Clinic for Psychotherapy and the London Centre for Psychotherapy. He is also member of the UK Mahler Society and participated in the 2009 BBC Series “Robert Winston’s Musical Analysis”.