Mahler Foundation

The both first movements are in the tragic and gloomy keys of c-sharp minor resp. a minor; The only programmatic indication, Trauermarsch (funeral march), is found in the first movement. The silence is broken by the solitary fanfare of a trumpet which is one of the three main themes of this movement.

Out of this comes the melancholy and heavy funeral march dominated by the strings; the woodwind players introduce the third theme in the key of a flat major thus lighting up the gloom in a charming way, but the calmly flowing motion, after other rapid fanfares, is suddenly interrupted by a wild and dramatic interlude.

The returning to the second theme is followed by a reedition of the charming third theme this time in the key of b flat minor. Another interlude in a minor follows hinting the theme of the second movement and ends in a desperate climax. The dramatic and exciting movement is closed by a solitary trumpet signal and its flute echo, the final point is set by a single pizzicato tone of cellos and basses.

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A listening guide of Symphony No. 5 - 1st Movement with Lew Smoley.

The second movement starts tumultuously and pushing forward in the key of a minor before gliding in a beautiful calm and cantabile theme in the key of f minor “in the rhythm of the funeral march” accompanied by lamentations of the wind instruments reminding on short fanfares. After the tumultuous returning to the key of a minor follows a short and melancholy interlude of cellos and bass drums, thereafter the reprise and development of the principal themes in an alternating game of chaotic tumults torn by inner conflicts and charming, lovely passages.

The still further pushing chaos finally leads to a relieving and brightly shining D major becoming stronger and stronger until its absolute climax but apparently for no reason it softly dies down, returns a while to a chaos in the key of F major before finally ebbing away in the key of a minor.

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A listening guide of Symphony No. 5 - 2nd Movement wit Lew Smoley.

The movement is in sonata form. It begins with a slow introduction in B minor, launched by a dark melody played by a baritone horn. The accompanimental rhythm was said to have come to Mahler whilst rowing on the lake at Maiernigg after a period of compositional drought. The principal theme, presented by horns in unison in E minor, is accompanied similarly, though much faster and in a higher register.

The second theme is then presented by violins, accompanied by sweeping cello arpeggios. This theme is infected with chromatic sequences. At one point the violins reach an F#7, the highest F# on the piano. The exposition is wrapped up with a march theme from the introduction, which is followed by a repeat of the principal theme.

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A listening guide of Symphony No. 7 - 1st Movement with Lew Smoley.

As the second part of the symphony follows the above-mentioned third movement, the Scherzo. Totally unexpected, the character of the symphony seems to change: A joyful and exuberant, nearly burlesque atmosphere, caused by the typical Mahlerian rural valses, seems to spread, but it does not seem to be serious, rather forced, nearly exaggerated, as if one tries to chase away a depression by artificial cheerfulness, to turn towards a life full of force and energy in order not having to listen to the inner tragic.

The irony which often can be found in Mahler’s other Scherzi is completely missing, instead, tragic sighs of the wind instruments are heard among the valses over and over again, the joyful motion is interrupted by phases of deep thoughtfulness where wistful wind phrases imitate each other like echoes. In a sharp and vehement ending, the Scherzo stops abruptly.

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A listening guide of Symphony No. 5 - 3rd Movement with Lew Smoley.

The third part of the symphony starts with the fourth movement, a tender Adagietto, one of the most intimate compositions of Mahler and certainly therefore one of the most famous, but also because Visconti used it in his film Death in Venice. After the rather trivial Scherzo, we encounter emotion and sensuality, it is pure poetry transformed into music.

One feels that after the Scherzo, there was a rupture out of which a new start arises and thus the Adagietto becomes the prelude of the last movement. The orchestration is in no way inferior to the tenderness of the composition divided in three parts: Strings are exclusively used to play a clear and longing tune accompanied by a harp playing in a way the role of a Basso Continuo. In the middle part, a bit more vivid, where the harp is missing, the accessory theme of the Finale is introduced. After the Glissando of the culminating point, the harp returns and the yearning tune reaches its highest emotion before the Adagietto softly dies away.

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A listening guide of Symphony No. 5 - 4th Movement with Lew Smoley.

Finally, the fifth movement is amazing; a long and continued tone of the F horn gives the signal to return to reality and cheerfulness. The gloomy atmosphere of the first two movements is blown away, the tender romance of the fourth movement is left behind. Serene calmness reigns, an exuberant Allegro romps around from one key to the other as if the depressions of before had never existed.

The true joy of life rules again, rising to new heights still higher until the grandiose, brightly shining climax in the key of D major. We are back to life again!

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A listening guide of Symphony No. 5 - 5th Movement with Lew Smoley.

The Symphony No. 6 in A minor by Gustav Mahler, sometimes referred to as the Tragische (“Tragic”), was composed between 1903 and 1904 (rev. 1906; scoring repeatedly revised). The work’s first performance was in Essen on 27-05-1906 and was conducted by Gustav Mahler. The tragic, even nihilistic, ending of No. 6 has been seen as unexpected, given that the symphony was composed at what was apparently an exceptionally happy time in Mahler’s life: he had married Alma Schindler in 1902, and during the course of the work’s composition his second daughter was born.

The symphony is far from the most popular of Mahler’s works. Statistics compiled by League of American Orchestras show that over the seven seasons in the U.S. and Canada ending with 2008-2009, the symphony was programmed considerably less often than Symphonies Nos. 1, 2, 4, and 5. However, both Alban Berg (1885-1935) and Anton Webern (1883-1945) praised it when they first heard it: for Alban Berg, it was “the only sixth, despite the Pastoral”; while Anton Webern conducted it on more than one occasion. 

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A listening guide of Symphony No. 6 - Intro with Lew Smoley.

The first movement, which for the most part has the character of a march, features a motif consisting of an A major triad turning to A minor over a distinctive timpani rhythm. The chords are played by trumpets and oboes when first heard, with the trumpets sounding most loudly in the first chord and the oboes in the second. This motif, which some commentators have linked with fate, reappears in subsequent movements.
The first movement also features a soaring melody which the composer’s wife, Alma Mahler, claimed represented her. This melody is often called the “Alma theme”. A restatement of that theme at the movement’s end marks the happiest point of the symphony.

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A listening guide of Symphony No. 6 - 1st Movement with Lew Smoley from ClassicalPodcasts.com.

The andante provides a respite from the intensity of the rest of the work. Its main theme is an introspective ten-bar phrase in E-flat major, though it frequently touches on the minor mode as well. The orchestration is more delicate and reserved in this movement, making it all the more poignant when compared to the other three.

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A listening guide of Symphony No. 6 - 2nd Movement with Lew Smoley.

The scherzo marks a return to the unrelenting march rhythms of the first movement, though in a ‘triple-time’ metrical context. Its trio (the middle section), marked Altväterisch (‘old-fashioned’), is rhythmically irregular (4/8 switching to 3/8 and 3/4) and of a somewhat gentler character. According to Alma Mahler, in this movement Mahler “represented the unrhythmic games of the two little children, tottering in zigzags over the sand”. 
The chronology of its composition suggests otherwise. The movement was composed in the summer of 1903, when Maria Anna (born November 1902) was less than a year old. Anna Justine was born a year later in July 1904. Contemporary interpreters and conductors appear to have accepted Alma Mahler’s characterization nevertheless.

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A listening guide of Symphony No. 6 - 3rd Movement with Lew Smoley.