Gentle reader:
Over the past couple of years, some of you have joined me to listen to some great music: from Schubert to Vaughan Williams to David Bowie. Over the next few weeks, I’m going to be listening to Mahler: the nine symphonies and a couple of bonus pieces. You’re welcome to join me.
If you’re new to Mahler, you’re in for an extraordinary experience. His music is not for the faint of heart. He famously said a symphony "must embrace everything," and he meant it. His works are vast landscapes of feeling, containing everything from the most profound spiritual ecstasy to the most terrifying existential dread, often in the same movement. He paints with an enormous orchestral palette, incorporating folk melodies, military marches, birdsong, and dance hall tunes. To enter Mahler's world is to confront the beautiful, messy, and often overwhelming totality of human experience.
We’ll take our time over the next few weeks, moving through his nine completed symphonies (and a few extras) one at a time.
We begin, appropriately, at the beginning: with his Symphony No. 1, "Titan." It’s a spectacular opening statement—the story of a young hero’s journey from a mystical communion with nature to a triumphant, hard-won victory over darkness. It’s a work of astonishing youthful confidence, and it includes the strangest, most ironic funeral march in the repertoire. Apologies to Beethoven and Brahms, but this must be the greatest first symphony ever composed.
To get started, I recommend the classic 1967 recording by Rafael Kubelik with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. Kubelik has a wonderful feel for the Bohemian folk elements in Mahler’s music, and he captures the work’s fresh, out-of-doors spirit beautifully. You can find it on all the major streaming services. There are other great recordings by Bernstein (who recorded it twice), Ozawa (who includes the “Blumine” movement, not included in Mahler’s final draft), Walter, and many others.
So, please join me. Choose a recording, give it a listen this week, and prepare for our first deep dive. I’ll aim to publish the first installment a week from today.
Yours,
John
Thanks for reading, from my fancy internet orchestra to yours.
Look forward to your thoughts on Das Lied von der Erde- it was my first classical record purchased more than 50 years ago and has remained part of my life's soundtrack.
One of my favorite composers! Can’t wait for your insights, and I appreciate the motivation to give all the symphonies a focused re-listen.