Mahler

 

Gustav Mahler (1860 - 1911).  I'm not sure that he's one of my very favorite composers, but there are times wherein I crave his music.  No one else sounds like him.

Over the past two weeks, I've been absorbing his 10th symphony every day; sometimes twice per day.  Mostly, I'm focusing on the Adagio (first movement).  I'm comparing two versions: one conducted by Pierre Boulez, and one conducted by Osmo Vanska.  

Mahler died before he could complete the 10th, but the first movement was indeed complete at the time of his death.  In spite of that, he was another victim of the Curse of the Ninth, if you believe in such things.  I'm hearing more densities and angularities in the 10th than in his other symphonies.  Personally, I like that.  In a larger focus, it makes me wonder where his music would have gone had he lived longer.  I suspect that the 10th was perhaps more than evolutionary for him; it may have signaled a new direction.  Yet it still sounds unmistakably Mahler.

If you're unfamiliar with the sound world of Mahler, a good starting point might be his 2nd symphony.  For that, I'd recommend this performance of No. 2 with the Munich Philharmonic, conducted by Valery Gergiev.

In my opinion, the Munich/Gergiev is a great performance and recording.  One of my favorite moments is in the first movement: the grand pause at 15:37.  He really pulls those last two chords right out of the orchestra, and is then listening to the reverb tail in the hall before continuing.  Listen closely to that rapid descending bass line starting around 15:32 leading up to the grand pause, too; it's like a swirling black hole that pulls everything in after it.  Gergiev is getting the maximum impact from that statement; had he not waited for the reverb tail to completely dissipate, it would have damaged it.  

In Mahler's symphonies, you'll start to notice that his sense of melody can sometimes take some unexpected turns in subtle but very palpable ways.  I love that; just another component in his writing that identifies him and is so unique.  And was no doubt considered wrong until around 1960, when his music finally began to get the recognition and acceptance it deserved.

I also find that his sense of harmony is truly his own.  In his work, I hear diatonicism being stretched to its very limits.  Additionally, his orchestration is unique; you can identify it almost immediately.  

Then again, maybe he is one of my favorite composers.

-kk