Posted on 05/18/2011 8:43:13 AM PDT by Borges
The very first note of Gustav Mahler’s First Symphony signals that you’re in for something on a whole new scale. It’s a single note, an A, in the strings, quiet and sustained, evoking the humid tang of sulfur in the air and the pregnant hush before rain. But that single note extends over seven octaves — that is, it’s being played from the lowest to the highest ranges in the orchestra. It’s at once tiny and huge and intensely personal. This is why Mahler, who died 100 years ago this week, remains one of today’s most popular symphonists: It’s this personal quality to his music, the sense that, at bottom, it’s really about you.
Classical music newcomers are wary of Mahler. His symphonies are very, very long. The shortest of them, the Fourth and the First, clock in at about 55 minutes (exact times vary from conductor to conductor); some movements last half an hour.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Classical Music Ping
Listening to Mahler’s music requires full attention and a lot of time. Doesn’t work for casual listening. ....for me, at least. But when I’m in the mood (which isn’t very often), it’s quite a ride.
Obama disagrees. He says it's about him.
I”m truly sorry - I saw the headline and my brain said “Maher and death” and I don’t need to explain why I clicked on this thread.
The old classic is Fischer-Dieskau and Schwartzkopf, but von Otter and Quasthoff do a great interpretation.
Sang in Symphony of a Thousand one time-directed by Ricardo Muti. A once in a lifetime experience.
Mahler’s Fifth is my favorite.
When I feel glum, Mahler helps, the music makes the glumness “epic” or “cinematic”, and makes the crappy mood seem worth something. The local classical station played Mahler’s sixth while I was driving around the other day. Boy howdy that’s a grim one.
.
I once heard that Mahler’s last word was “Mozart” as he lay quietly “conducting” with his index finger, in his bed.
I don’t know if that is true. But it is a touching story if it is.
Thinking about Mahler and listening to Mahler and knowing about his life makes me sad.
Perhaps the greatest nine symphonies ever (ok, 9.5). I know there is Beethoven and that is the easy answer. But Mahler....man. Amazing stuff.
I worked through a lot of emotional stuff with his 5th Symphony. Still today my favorite and he will always be my No. 1 Composer (where do I put all those other glorious ones?)
What do you think of the Ken Russell film “Mahler”?
(I’ve seen only clips of it)
Loved Mahler as an angsty teen. Too depressing and self-indulgent now. Bruckner, OTOH....
I love Mahler...his work is never too long or boring as some like to say...I get lost in the power moods of his works..just what I want.
Mahler was also a gifted conductor as well. When Sergei Rachmaninoff premiered his monumentally epic Third Concerto in New York in 1909 Mahler was the conductor. Rachmaninoff remarked that few conductors would have given such care preparing the orchestra, (in this case the NY Phil), in some of the difficult and tricky accompaniment passages. And you just KNOW these two shook the rafters that night.
(One of the two premieres I would have loved to have been present at.)
Decomposing Composers (Monty Python)
Beethoven’s gone, but his music lives on,
And Mozart don’t go shopping no more.
You’ll never meet Lizst or Brahms again,
And Elgar doesn’t answer the door.
Schubert and Chopin used to chuckle and laugh,
Whilst composing a long symphony.
But one hundred and fifty years later,
There’s very little of them left to see.
The decomposing composers,
There’s not much anyone can do.
You can still hear Beethoven,
But Beethoven cannot hear you.
Handel and Haydn and Rachmaninoff
Enjoyed a nice drink with their meal.
But nowadays no one will serve them,
And their gravy is left to congeal.
Verdi and Wagner delighted the crowds
With their highly original sounds.
The pianos they play are still working,
But they’re both six feet underground.
The decomposing composers,
There’s less of them every year.
You can say what you like to
But there’s not much of them left to hear.
Claude Achille Debussy. Died, 1918.
Christof Viliborg Kralk. Died, 1787.
Carl Maria von Weber. Not at all well, 1825. Died, 1826.
Giacomo Meyerbeer. Still alive, 1863. Not still alive, 1864.
Modest Mussorgsky. 1880, going to parties. No fun anymore, 1881.
Johann Nepomuck Hummel. Chattin’ away 19 ‘an a dozen with his friends down at the Pub every evenin’, 1836.
1837, nothing.
I went through a stage when i would only listen to Mahler and Frank Zappa.
Ah, the silliness of youth! hahahahahaha
And you had no way of knowing we are Monty Python fans here. Thanks
And you had no way of knowing we are Monty Python fans here. Thanks
Anyway you are welcome. After sending I thought might have been in bad taste - FL
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