I have a very big beast for you this week. I’ll start to write and see where it takes me!  I was lucky enough to serve as Chorus Master to most of the top conductors in the world in the 1970s and 80s, first of all with the LSO and then with the LPO.  Just occasionally a piece of music with a certain conductor took one to a very high place, and this happened on more than one occasion with Claudio Abbado.  In my experience no one was better than Abbado when it came to conducting Mahler, and his performance of the 3^rd Symphony with the LSO in London in c.1980 was unforgettable.  This is my choice for this week, but you need 100 minutes to listen to it, including, most importantly the slow final movement which takes about 30 minutes.  It’s worth it.  We also performed it in Paris at the same time – a very nice 3-day break for me with the 80 ladies from the LSC….

There must have been a perception that the era of the symphony was ending at the end of the 19^th century. We had had Brahms, Bruckner, Dvorak and Tchaikovsky, all of them prolific symphonic writers, but in the 20^th century music was changing and the modern composers were beginning to write for smaller ensembles. One big exception to this trend was Gustav Mahler, who left us with a whole new bag of toys, the most remarkable, expansive and original creations which have since taken their place amongst the most loved and dramatic symphonies of all time.  Mahler was Music Director of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and the State Opera, and extremely highly regarded as a conductor, though throughout his time facing the strong current of anti-Semitism. He composed his symphonies during his summer breaks, and this is a remarkable achievement.  His music was largely neglected in the 40 years after his death, though there were exceptions.  The extraordinary revival which began in the 1950s (possibly the LP record helped it on its way) has been maintained so that he remains to this day of one of most admired and widely performed composers in the world.  His influence on other composers who followed him, including Britten, Shostakovish, Bernstein and Copland, illustrates from great minds the high regard they held for him.

Mahler Symphony No.3 in D minor

I’m not going to suggest here that Mahler’s third symphony is his finest, and academics and musicians would probably point to his later great works, such as ‘Das Lied von der Erde’ (The Song of the Earth), the later symphonies, and the song cycles including ‘Lieder eines Fahrenden Gesellen’ (Songs of a Wayfarer) and ‘Kindertotenlieder’ (Songs on the Death of Children).  I can agree with them, but I would add this enormous work into the mix.  

Like Benjamin Britten, Mahler created very much a sound which is distinctly his own. (Britten greatly admired Mahler’s music and was inspired by it, dedicating his Nocturne of 1959 to Mahler’s widow Alma.  She survived Gustav by 53 years, dying in 1964). As one would expect, Mahler conducted a large amount of other composers’ music which influenced him in various aspects of his writing. I am still curious about a moment in my school or early university days when I turned on the radio and heard a hauntingly beautiful piece of music which I didn’t then know, though it became apparent about 10 minutes later.  I did know a bit of Mahler (I think the 4^th symphony mainly) and my first guess was that what I was hearing was possibly Mahler too.  It turned out to be the opening of the 2^nd section (bar 25 onwards) of the slow movement of Beethoven’s 9^th Symphony (andante moderato).  Beethoven’s 9^th was written 70 years before Mahler’s 3^rd!  Close your eyes and listen with this in mind; I still think of Mahler when I hear it.  The reason is simple; every bar for seven bars begins with an appoggiatura…a note next to, and above, the harmony note onto which it resolves after half a beat.  This is a very common trademark of Mahler’s writing, and this symphony illustrates this a much as any. The famous Adagietto from the 5^th Symphony begins with two whoppers, though they are technically not appogiaturas, rather suspensions in that they repeat the same note that precedes them.  The extended violin melodies later in the same Beethoven 9 slow movement find their resonance in Mahler, and I will point out one or two places in the 3^rdSymphony.  

One further aspect of the work is that it has a programme attached to each of its six movements. He referred to the whole as ‘A Summer’s Midday Dream’.  It is a celebration of nature and of life.

1st Movement:  ‘Pan awakes. Summer marches in’.

‘Kräftig. Entschieden’ (Strong. Decisive) 

This is almost a symphony on its own, over 30 minutes long, and forms Part 1 of the overall work, the remaining five movements forming Part 2.  There is a rough plan with elements of Sonata form, the strong opening in unison on all of the eight horns returning later at the start of the Recapitulation (though in another key).  The greater part of the movement is a march – ‘summer marches in’, and there can be no finer composer of marches than Mahler, not four-square in a straightforward way, but nonetheless having the character of a march.  Set in contrast to this are the darker and more interrupted craggy phrases depicting, as Mahler said, ‘what the stony mountains tell me’.  Other more lyrical melodies are introduced but still essentially part of the march, and these in turn are worked out contrapuntally and in combination with other landmark melodies.  The horns are frequently in hunting mode and a whole gamut of emotion is explored, sometimes bursting with joy, and sometimes uncompromisingly discordant, with trademark Mahlerian birdsong and the outdoor noises of summer decorating the scene.  Mahler was not afraid of challenging his audiences with modern discordant sounds, but in the overall scheme his symphonies the Romantic warmth prevails in the end.  The first movement builds triumphantly to a final climax and then races downhill, accelerating all the way to closes in a frenzy.  ‘Kräftig’ it certainly is, and an epic in the history of the symphony.

2^nd Movement: ‘What the flowers in the meadow tell me’.

‘Tempo di menuetto. Sehr mässig. Ja nicht eilen!’ (Very moderate. But not hurried!)

A lazy, hazy opening to this minuet, which is again filled with song and summer activity, appearing at times to speed up but largely due to faster moving notes within the same tempo.  It changes sometimes from the 3-beat minuet time signature to two beats in a bar, and moves into and away from more turbulent sections.  One can easily imagine the pastoral scene in the alpine lowlands, cowbells, lederhosen ’n all, and did I spot Julie Andrews over there stealing a kiss from a certain captain before running off to be chased by him through the meadows? It is exquisitely and superbly crafted, at times luxuriant in the sweeping strings, the odd lament from a solo trumpet, ending in a swathe of fin de siècle nostalgia, not so far from the Viennese ballroom.  Notice also the quick-moving violin passagework – maybe a throwback to that violin writing in the slow movement of Beethoven’s 9^th.

3^rd Movement:  ‘What the animals in the forest tell me.’

‘Comodo. Scherzando. Ohne Hast’ (Comfortable. Playful. Without haste)

This paints another rural scene of great charm, a folksong-like naivete prevailing until some larger beasts emerge, but still playful in manner.  Danger is ever-present and returns to startle the unwary.  One hears the distant posthorn (played behind the scene) with a lengthy solo which ends when another naive Alpine melody begins.  The posthorn returns twice accompanied by onstage horns.  The spirit of the opening then returns though different in detail.  Near the end the hunting sounds make a final return, and sharp-sounding bird warnings are played on the clarinet and the oboe.  The Posthorn is heard again from afar followed by a new folksong idea and touching horn writing as evening and the time of rest seemingly approaches. But it is interrupted by another ecstatic finish, similar in character to the end of the first movement, though not accelerating.

This may be a moment to mention the astonishingly brilliant orchestration that pervades Mahler’s writing, no more so than in this third movement.  The enormous palette of colours that he displays underlines his experience as a highly-accomplished conductor with an ability to conjour up a huge and perhaps unsurpassed variety of sound, and to separate orchestral texture with supreme clarity. 

4th Movement: ‘What Man tells me’.

‘Sehr Langsam. Misterioso.  Durchaus ppp.’ (Very slow.  Absolutely ppp)

I like ‘absolutely ppp’. ‘Be in no doubt!’ (There is a wonderful instruction to the seven solo singers at Fig. 38 in the first movement of Mahler’s 8th Symphony: ‘It is absolutely forbidden for the solo voices not to sing strongly at this moment’).  

This mysterious movement for alto solo begins with the cellos and basses oscillating restlessly between two notes.  The alto soloist sings the Midnight Song from Nietzsche’s Also sprach Zarathustra.  We are led into the night with dark thoughts, night noises and a stark sense of painful loneliness, all expressed by the solo voice, some tantalising horn writing and some cries of anguish from the strings. Mahler was the master of portraying desolation and misery.

O Man! Take heed!
What does the deep midnight say?
‘I slept, I slept -,
From a deep sleep have I awoken: 
The world is deep,
And deeper than the day has thought.
Deep is its pain -,
Joy - deeper still than heartache.
Pain says: Pass away!
But all joy seeks eternity -,
- seeks deep, deep eternity.

5th Movement:  ‘What the angels tell me’.

‘Lustig im tempo und keck im Ausdruck’ (Lusty in tempo and perky in expression)

This is a song from his earlier work ‘Des Knaben Wunderhorn’ (The Boy’s Magic Horn), whose music lies in the background of Mahler’s 2nd, 3rd and 4th Symphonies. A boys’ choir imitates the sound of bells onomatopœically to bimm bamm while a choir of sopranos and altos sing the text from ‘Des Knaben Wunderhorn’. The boys join in with more text towards the end. The music is naive at the opening but darkens as the alto soloist enters to sing the third verse. It is short and spirited but strangely moving as you get to know its harmony.  Claudio Abbado had a trick for the loud bells from the boys and that was to lengthen the vowel. A large bell chiming has a longer time for the sound to develop, and this was very effective. There are quotes in the alto solo which Mahler used in the final movement of his 4th symphony.  What follows this 5th movement without a break is breathtaking…

Three angels sang a sweet song; 
with joy it rang blissfully in heaven,
they shouted, too, for joy,
that Peter was free from sin! 

And as the Lord Jesus sat at the table,
and ate the evening meal with his twelve disciples, 
the Lord Jesus said: “Why do you stand here? 
When I look at you, you weep at me! 

And should I not weep, you bounteous God? 
No, you must not weep!
I have broken the Ten Commandments,
I wander and weep bitterly. 

No, you must not weep!
O come and have mercy on me!” 
If you have broken the Ten Commandments,
then fall on your knees and pray to God! 
Love only God at all times!
Thus will you gain heavenly joy. 

Heavenly joy is a blessed city,
heavenly joy, which has no end!
Heavenly joy was granted to Peter
through Jesus, and to all people for eternal bliss. 

6th Movement:  ‘What Love tells me’
‘Langsam. Ruhevoll. Empfunden.’ (Slow. Peaceful. [Heart]felt)

The 6th enters without a break, as Mahler instructs.  It is a stunning coup de théâtre which, in the right hands, will capture an audience like no other moment in the entire work. You may not experience that from a recording, but it should be part of the performance.  There then follows what I consider to be about the most heart-rending slow movement of anything I have ever experienced.  A tortured, immaculate and serene outpouring of spectacular intensity.  One can hardly breathe.  In previous blogs I have identified what I regard as some very beautiful music – Chopin Ballades, Strauss Four Last Songs, Mozart Sinfonia Concertante and more, but this Mahler takes us on a 30-minute-long deep journey into something incomparably profound.  It is painful, not least when the high trumpet delivers its melancholy solo near the end.  It ebbs and flows, but the sustained intensity is almost never relaxed and the end does not disappoint, building into majestic concluding chords of D major with the two timpanists hammering out repeatedly the tonic D and dominant A in unison. 

Luckily there is a YouTube recording with the great Claudio Abbado conducting.  This is about 30 years after the time I was with him in London, and his earlier recording with the Vienna Philharmonic, in which he takes the final movement more slowly (which I like), is from around that time and is on Spotify.  However, you will appreciate from the YouTube just how he communicated – never a score in sight.  He doesn’t smile (it’s not funny) except between movements.

When the LSO and chorus were in Paris also with Abbado to perform Mahler’s 2nd Symphony, he asked me (in his soft Italian accent which sounded as though he was bored…but he certainly was not) to tell the off-stage brass players that he wanted to see them at 10 am the next day.  I replied that that was not for me to do (there are strict protocols), anticipating the reaction.  
‘You can just tell them from me 10 o’clock’.
‘Claudio wants to see you in the morning at 10 o’clock’.
‘Well he can ****ing come and tell us himself then, can’t he’.

As expected!

I hope you have the time to enjoy this.  Here is the YouTube link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Yr720ftjaA

Richard Cooke