“Now I understand the meaning of life”. The correspondence between Alma Mahler and Walter Gropius 1910–1964: Accessibility to sources and commented hybrid edition. Part I: 1910–1915

1910年夏天，受过音乐训练的年轻阿尔马·马勒（1879-1964）结识了当时默默无闻的建筑师、后来的包豪斯创始人沃尔特·格罗皮乌斯（1883-1969）。当古斯塔夫·马勒得知这桩婚外情后，他废除了作为结婚条件而强加给年轻新娘的作曲禁令，柏林包豪斯档案馆收藏的阿尔马马勒在1910年至1964年间的850封书信和格罗皮乌斯在1964年间的700封信件草稿不仅解释了她的活动和自我，了解作为一个作曲家更详细，但最重要的是提供了洞察她的活动作为赞助人的艺术和组织者的音乐和文化生活在二十世纪上半叶。最近编辑的阿尔马马勒与阿尔班贝格和阿诺德舍恩伯格的通信显示了她作为一个文化活动家在世纪初音乐领域的影响力。如果没有这种影响，甚至古斯塔夫·马勒作品的接受也会有所不同。这三位作曲家的作品也出现在与格罗皮乌斯的大部分未发表的通信中。由于阿尔马罕见的开放性，这些信件不仅澄清了她的传记，而且还澄清了从20世纪10年代到50年代的建筑和音乐史。阿尔马·马勒的影响力在她与格罗皮乌斯就早期设计概念的积极讨论、她对相关外国文献的建议、她在安排作业和接触方面的努力以及她对杰出成就的要求中显而易见。此外，这些信件还详细介绍了格罗皮乌斯的理论工作和生平，特别是从1910年与沃尔特·格罗皮乌斯开始交往到1915年与他结婚的这段时期，是一个重要的见证。这些资料大部分都没有分类，也没有注明日期，格罗皮乌斯起草的信件大部分都是措辞关键的，而且大多不连贯，难以破译。在文献学领域，材料的开发是一项艰巨的任务，只有经过多年的准备，以及已经完成的信件图像数字化，才有可能完成。所有来源都将尽可能完整地编辑，出版物将包括两个独立的部分。首先，一本书的transmittance，介绍了每一封信，并选择摘录的评论，在缩短的形式。其次，在开放档案馆沃尔特格罗皮乌斯的数字化信件和草稿的在线出版物，旁边的transmittance，规范化的元数据和关键设备，以及个人和总体评论。与柏林楚泽研究所合作，将通过使用TEI标准来保证开放源数据的寿命。这些信件将通过Kalliope搜索。

In the summer of 1910 the young, musically trained Alma Mahler (1879–1964) became acquainted with the then unknown architect and later founder of the Bauhaus, Walter Gropius (1883–1969). When Gustav Mahler learned of the liaison, he abolished the prohibition on composing that he had imposed on the young bride as a condition of marriage, and promoted her musical development as a composer.The correspondence of c 850 letters by Alma Mahler and c 700 draft letters by Walter Gropius between the years 1910 and 1964 from the Bauhaus-Archive Berlin not only explains her activity and self-understanding as a composer in more detail, but above all provides insight into her activities as a patron of the arts and organizer of musical and cultural life in the first half of the twentieth century. The recently edited correspondence of Alma Mahler with Alban Berg and Arnold Schönberg has shown how much influence she had as a cultural activist in the field of music at the beginning of the 20th century. Without this influence, even the reception of Gustav Mahler’s works would have differed. Works by these three composers also appear as the subjects of the largely unpublished correspondence with Gropius. Due to Alma’s rare openness, the correspondence also clarifies not only her biography that is partly misunderstood by later self-representations, but also architectural and musical history from the 1910s to the 50s. Alma Mahler’s considerable influence is evident in her active discussion with Gropius on early design concepts, her suggestions of relevant foreign literature, her efforts in arranging assignments and contacts, and her demands for outstanding achievements. Furthermore, the correspondence provides detail on the development of Gropius’s theoretical work as well as his biography.In particular, the phase from the beginning of the relationship with Walter Gropius in 1910 to the marriage with him in 1915 represents a central testimony. The sources are, for the most part, completely unsorted and undated, and the largely key-worded draft letters by Gropius are mostly incoherent and difficult to decipher. The development of the material is a demanding task in the field of philology, which is only possible as a result of many years of preparation, and due to the image digitization of the letters already completed.All sources will be edited as completely as possible and the publication will comprise of two stand-alone components. Firstly, a book of the transcriptions, with an introduction to each letter and select extracts from the commentary in shortened form. Secondly, an online publication in open archive walter gropius of the digitized letters and drafts, alongside the transcriptions, normalized metadata and the critical apparatus, as well as individual and overarching commentary. In cooperation with the Zuse Institute Berlin, the longevity of the open source data will be guaranteed by using TEI standards. The letters will be searchable through Kalliope.