More On Mahler
Last time in the fresh saga of me converting into a Mahler fan, everybody seemed exceptionally pleased I was going for it — that post has the greatest number of comments of any I have written so far! Having all those nice comments has definitely inspired me to keep up at it.
The piece I have chosen for my plunge into the darkest depths of Gustav is his symphony no. 6, the “Tragic” (after a suggestion, I have also flirted with No. 9, but only very briefly). This bad-boy is long. The first movement is over twenty minutes, the middle two about fifteen, and the last almost thirty. Eeek. So far I’ve probably listened to it all the way though twice, and listened to the first two movements about five or six times.
The first movement starts off with an aggressive, percussive, depressive march, this is definitely my kind of thing:
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I love how the brass rudely drops off at the end.
But I get sidetracked by the romanticness of the second theme:
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I have a hard time with the lushness of the romantics, my temperament is more acclimatized to the mechanical 20th century, and this kind of stuff grits my teeth. Can’t help it, sorry. I’m hoping that if I keep listening it’ll become more enjoyable, which’d be great as it would also open up certain other late 19th century avenues. Anyway, for now it’s not enough to stop me. Incidentally, I switched to a performance by Gielen instead of Bernstein after one of the previous commentors suggested that the latter plays up the romantic aspects, and I do like this version better.
Listening to this reminds me very much of how it felt when I first started with to classical music. It’s overwhelming. Small sections make sense: I can feel the themes mirrored all over the place, but there are huge glaciers of notes in between the in-place paragraphs, the ones that work with my head. Skeletal connections are shining below the surface, but the metaphorical water is making my eyes sting.
One thing I really like are the very quiet sections with pizzicato strings and wobbly tonality:
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Actually there are lots of bits I like, far too many to cut out samples for each. Hopefully they will all seem far more connected after some more listening, instead of lying isolated, as they are now. There is a long way to go yet!
January 17th, 2008 at 6:51 pm
I dislike bloated Romanticism as well (Tchaik, Rachmaninoff….ew) but there is something so intricate and delicate about the texture of Mahler even when there are 12 horns blasting away that makes it so lovely I can’t even think of words to describe it.
Keep on trucking! Treasures await.
January 18th, 2008 at 1:40 pm
If you think the Sixth is long, try the Third, which runs to about 140 minutes!
I think you’ll find the Gielen performance more to your taste than the Bernstein’s. Lenny also takes the opening march extremely fast, but I think it sounds much more compelling – and menacing – in Gielen’s slower pace. Barbirolli’s 1967 recording with the New Philharmonia Orchestra takes the opening at an even slower pace, and makes it sound like the angels of the Apocalypse trudging through the aftermath.
January 18th, 2008 at 6:25 pm
Hi both,
The first time I heard the start of Gielen’s version it sounded too slow, but after a couple of listens I like it a lot better than Bernstein. The whole thing sounds better with more breathing room, but I especially like the transitions into the drumrolls at that pace.
It’s definitely starting to catch – I woke up this morning with the first movement in my head and found myself humming it while at work: a very promising sign!
January 19th, 2008 at 1:03 am
I can appreciate wanting to approach a composer one is unfamiliar with one work at a time, but I think that one should not make up one’s mind about Mahler before becoming fairly familiar with at least most of his work, including the songs as well as the symphonies. (There are many thematic and other connections between them.)
Of course, this will take quite a bit of time, given the size of his whole body of work and the amount of time it takes to get familiar with each of the pieces of it. Having been a great fan of his since I was a kid (I won’t say how many years ago that was), I have had plenty of time to do this, so perhaps I am underestimating the task!
Also, one needn’t try to appreciate everything he did. I don’t particularly care for the 1st and 8th symphonies, but of course that doesn’t mean that I assume that everyone would share my preferences. I’m a tremendous fan of the 10th, but many Mahlerites refuse to have anything to do with it, because he left it incomplete, and the parts that were completed by others are “inauthentic,” in their opinion.
At any rate, my advice would be not to concentrate on trying to “master” one piece, like the 6th, at once before going on to another one. If there are parts of it you don’t get at first, just try some other things, and gradually get familiar with a number of them. Realize it will take you a few years, at least!
A lot of people find the 1st and 4th symphonies the easiest to approach at first. And don’t neglect the 5th — it’s a wild ride!
Another thing that occurs to me, especially concerning his “romanticism,” is that he was steeped in 19th-century German culture, of course, as his songs especially reveal, as well as his use of Goethe in the 8th. And that culture is almost the definition of “romantic.” For me, it was that connection that first attracted me to him, but I know that it turns other peoples’ stomachs and ultimately turns them off from Gustav. Whether you can appreciate that particular cultural world or not may finally govern your attitude toward him.