9th Symphony (Mahler)

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The 9th Symphony is a symphony by Gustav Mahler . It is the last completed work by the composer.

Gustav Mahler expressly did not provide for a key designation for the symphony . It is often referred to as a symphony in D major according to the key of the first movement , although this disregards the progressive tonality of the work (similar to the 5th symphony ). The symphony begins in D major, but ends in D flat major, which means that the tonal unity, especially of the corner movements, is canceled and the work can no longer be assigned a key key.

Emergence

Work on the 9th Symphony began in the summer (probably July) of 1909. After a fair copy transfer in winter, Gustav Mahler wrote to his friend Bruno Walter in a letter on April 1, 1910 that the work was finished. Most of it was created in Toblach , in Mahler's domicile there. Once again Mahler wrote the work down in a kind of creative frenzy. His compositional style required an overall conception of the work, so that Mahler worked on several movements of the symphony at the same time. His whole focus was on the composition of the new work, since his wife Alma was staying with their daughter on a spa stay in Levico. Mahler enjoyed his time composing, which he only interrupted by taking occasional walks. "Being alone is nice all day long - very nice," wrote Mahler in a letter from Toblach. Mahler later completed the fair copy in New York .

To the music

occupation

Four flutes , piccolo , three oboes , English horn , four clarinets , bass clarinet , three bassoons , contrabassoon , four horns , three trumpets , three trombones , tuba , timpani , percussion , two harps , first violin , second violin, viola , violoncello , double bass

1st movement: Andante comodo

In the main movement, the music arises out of nowhere, hardly noticeable at first. A cello note in pianissimo is answered by a harp motif , from which a sighing motif develops, which is of greater thematic importance in the entire movement. Mahler wrote this original motif with the words Farewell . Rocking chords of the strings sing out the motif. This basic structure creates a contrapuntal dialogue between the second violin and the horn . For Mahler, the latter often stands for wistful, dreamy memories and longing. A dramatic tutti blow changes the calm mood and leads to a darkly heightened passage. This is determined by the trombones , timpani and bass instruments and represents, as it were, the weighty antithesis to the self-contained goodbye motif. The change between the two contrasting worlds of sound is often caused by an abrupt trumpet signal in the course of the movement. The thematic fragments and motifs wander through the various orchestral voices. The gloomy sections take over the course of the movement, but the horn always succeeds in connecting with the original motif. The action finally ends in a Morendo section , in which a forward -pressing fortissimo leads to the collapse of the music. From this a new beginning of the original motif develops only with difficulty, which quickly collapses again. A little later another large-scale wave of increases begins in the triple piano and, after a great increase "with the highest violence", ends in a funeral march ("Like a heavy conduct"). The original harp motif is forcibly intoned by timpani and trombones and serves as the basis for a lament of horn and trumpet. The original motif now appears more and more clearly in all instruments, but often appears threateningly distorted and changed. A sudden and unusually strange-looking Misterioso section introduces the end of the sentence. A dialogue between horn and flute acts like an orchestral cadenza . A magnificently increased return of the original motif throughout the orchestra leads to a final section in which the movement seems to fade away strangely. In the clarinet, the original motif appears again in a delicate way. At this point Mahler added the words “Farewell” to the notes. The motif disappears in a process of dissolution in which the rousing sentence fades away in the utmost transfiguration.

2nd movement: At the pace of a leisurely country man

The second movement is a scherzo distorted into the grotesque . The movement is reminiscent of a dance of death as it appears in the 4th symphony . Mahler changes traditional sounds into almost unrecognizable variations. He uses three Austrian dance types in this Scherzo, but they can only be identified as "composed ruins" (Schnebel). Waltzes , country traders and Styrian country traders are parodied here.

The movement begins with a simple woodwind dance rhythm, on which the strings intone a clumsy and coarse countryman. Motive questions line up again and again, which often run into the void and are not pursued further. Different progressive lines are layered on top of one another and melodic phrases appear again and again in the country and waltz rhythm, which appear so distorted that they only seem like memories of the actual forms. The coarse country dealer contains a number of naive musical phrases and disharmonies, which leads to a coarse and often chaotic sound. At times a soulful cantilena of the cello sounds through the grotesque events . But even she cannot stop the musical decay. After the landlord has faded away, another coarse and awkward-looking waltz emerges. The cheerful character seems fake, as the bass voices give the sound an eerie style. The goodbye motif of the first movement then suddenly appears , which leads to a point of rest. Shortly afterwards, the Länders' motif from the beginning sounds again, now in the so-called Styrian rhythm. The horn exposes the parting motif in the accompaniment. This motif can prevail again shortly afterwards, before the country resumes and the final structural and content-related disintegration takes its course. The musical “sloping position” gets bigger and bigger and the instrumentation seems harder, brighter and more grotesque. Mahler also uses a rhythmic peculiarity here that was later adopted mainly by Igor Stravinsky : horns and violas emphasize the first beat, while trombones and timpani provide the unstressed parts of the beat. The Scherzo spookily dissolves into its component parts before the empty fragments that remain represent the end of the grotesque dance.

3rd movement: Rondo burlesque

The third movement is loosely shaped like a rondo . Mahler's contrapuntal style is here for the last time. The rondo begins with a dissonant motif in the trumpet that keeps returning and thus becomes the refrain of the rondo. The whole sentence develops from this motif, which can hardly be called a theme. A special feature of the Rondo is its abundance of quotations. Mahler extracts central themes from his life's work and implements them in this rondo in his composition, sometimes with substantial alienation. The harmony of the movement clearly exceeds the tonal space and finally marks the transition into musical modernity. The hectic hustle and bustle often seems chaotic and dissonant. Musical phrases, hints and fragments keep cropping up. The movement is unique in the connection between dissonances and counterpoint of the baroque. The contextless motifs that appear frequently dissolve one another and interlock like cogwheels . This music is therefore often understood as an echo of the awakening industrial age. In the midst of the hectic hustle and bustle, a peaceful, chorale-like section suddenly creates an island of calm. This clearly refers to the final movement, the central theme of which is also already indicated. Another quiet part follows after a brief protest. However, the ongoing musical destruction cannot stop these retarding moments. The hectic final stretta paves its way unstoppably. The original motif returns in a martial manner and ends in the musical catastrophe of destruction through rushing cascades of notes.

4th movement: Adagio. Very slowly and still reluctantly

After the previous three farewell movements, Mahler was unable to add a jubilant apotheosis , but opted for a slow and sublime farewell to the monumental work. The final Adagio begins with the strings alone, which has a very strong effect after the dramatic dynamics and variety of instruments in the second and third movements. The key has been shifted a semitone from D major to D flat major, which means that the fourth movement also appears entranced. A plaintive motif, reminiscent of the main theme of the farewell movement from the song of the earth , opens the movement and leads to the main theme intoned by the strings. This is based on the Anglican chorale Abide with me (Stay with me, Lord). However, the chromaticism seems completely shifted and gives the poignant internal song a transcendental character. The key here changes constantly between D flat major and C sharp minor. The layered components of this main theme seem to be vertically interchangeable. This is also a characteristic of the new musical epoch that Mahler reached in this work. The wide flowing, warm and sublime singing of the strings creates an uplifting and wistful mood. The performance breaks off suddenly and gives way to an eerie bassoon melody, which in turn is quickly replaced by the chorale theme. When the mysterious bassoon motif returns, it is taken over by the strings and intensified with an eerie character. The chorale theme appears again and then appears in its most splendid form, played by the orchestra's tutti . Subsequently, the process of dissolving the adagios begins slowly but definitely. The musical flow is increasingly stalled, which is reinforced by a few retarding interjections of motif and theme fragments. The woodwinds, together with the harp, intone a melancholy, almost vocal idea. The main theme then breaks out again almost violently and is increased into a tutti. At the climax, the brass players intone the farewell motif from the song of the earth that marked the beginning of the movement. Here the process comes to a halt and is continued by a painful descending motif of the violin in forte . It leads to a renewed return of the chorale theme, which, however, is slowly becoming more subdued. The music turns increasingly quiet. Further waves of increase no longer reach the intensity of the first climax and collapse more and more. The final part, Adagissimo , which now begins, represents the “farewell of music to the earthly world”. The musical course continues to falter and is internalized through dynamic retraction up to the fourfold piano . In the last bars Mahler quotes the final motif of his Kindertotenlied I often think they just went out . The fading music should be played "with the most intimate feeling" and again and again "dying". In the end, only transcendent spherical sounds remain in the motifs of the strings. Ulm describes this end as "eternity music - a farewell forever". The work ends with the last playing instruction dying . The music falls silent and does not return.

effect

The first performance of the work took place on June 26, 1912 in Vienna . The Vienna Philharmonic played the work under the direction of Bruno Walter . Mahler, who had already died on May 18, 1911, was no longer able to witness the premiere. In contrast to the previous 8th symphony, the revolutionary work did not trigger cheers, but rather amazement and alienation. The transition to New Music made in this work overwhelmed the Viennese audience. Mahler's composing colleagues, on the other hand, immediately recognized the quality of the work, and Alban Berg and Arnold Schönberg in particular celebrated the symphony as the transition to a new musical epoch. Today the 9th Symphony is considered to be Mahler's consistent completion of his compositional path. Your farewell theme has also led to various mystifications. Mahler was assumed to have anticipated his death here. Thanks to Arnold Schönberg, the focus was again on the fact that most of the great symphonic composers had not come out on a 9th symphony. For example, Ludwig van Beethoven , Antonín Dvořák and Anton Bruckner already wrote exactly nine numbered symphonies and died before completing a tenth or wrote no more. Schönberg wrote: “Those who wrote a ninth were too close to the hereafter. Perhaps the riddles of this world would be solved if anyone who knew them tithed. And that's not supposed to be like that. ”Mahler himself displayed a certain superstition regarding this question. He too was supposed to die before the completion of his 10th symphony .

Status

The last completed symphony is considered to be Mahler's most valuable work in terms of composition. The layout and conception can not be compared with the previous huge 8th symphony . It rather follows the developmental strand of symphonies 5 , 6 and 7 . Mahler last used the classical four movements that appear here in the tragic 6th symphony . In terms of content, Mahler puts it “next to the 4th symphony ”. Both works address the subject of parting in different ways . Another parallel is the dance movement, distorted into the grotesque, which is contained in both symphonies. The 9th symphony represents the culmination of a development process that began in the 5th symphony at the latest . The compositional method of progressive chromatics and the exhaustion of the tonal space are here pushed to their limits and, for the first time, beyond. The two frame movements in particular leave the usual tonal space and clearly point to the beginning of a new musical epoch. This is how Alban Berg called Mahler's 9th Symphony “the first work of new music ”. In fact, with this work, Mahler inexorably paved the way for Arnold Schönberg and his students. The irretrievable turning away from and overcoming the tried and tested and well-known harmonic structures leads, for example, to the twelve-tone technique of new music. The almost complete abandonment of the melodic in this work in favor of new harmonic structures initially alienated many contemporaries. The music hardly has any tangible, concrete themes. Even the only fragmentary suggestion of thematic material is part of the compositional technique of the late Mahler. In the 9th Symphony Mahler repeatedly puts together seemingly incoherent things and places his music in a large context of growth and decay. So the work can no longer be assigned a clear key. Structurally, the symphony sticks to the classic four movements, but changes the usual order. The weighty frame movements represent the slow forms of Andante and Adagio, which is extremely unusual. The work is reminiscent of Tchaikovsky's tragic 6th symphony . The work also sets a formal precedent for modernity. Mahler finally turns away from the sonata movement and also gives up the dualism of the themes . A treatment of the material in the sense of an implementation can no longer be found either. Nevertheless, large-scale structures and references can be seen. The relationship between the rudimentary tones of the individual movements also follows a meaning in terms of content. In terms of content, the 9th symphony is considered Mahler's great farewell symphony . While it is a mystification to say that Mahler pre-composed his own death in this work, it is true that parting and death are thematized in the work. Mahler had already addressed the transition from earthly to heavenly life in the 4th Symphony . Mahler writes the two-tone original motif of the first movement of this 9th symphony with the words “Farewell”. This is reminiscent of Beethoven's piano sonata Op. 81a , the main theme of which he based on the words “Farewell”. Willem Mengelberg therefore spoke of the “farewell to Mahler's soul” from the world. The final Adagio, on which the chorale Beber bei mir Herr is based, actually says goodbye to the earthly world. The music, which fades away in the transcendent, represents a farewell to everything earthly and traditional. The symphony is not one of the works in music history that ends with resignation and hopelessly, like Tchaikovsky's and Mahler's own 6th symphonies , but is still one of the few great symphonies which do not experience a final apotheosis , but fade away quietly. In this it reminds of his own 3rd symphony , the final movement of which is also an Adagio, but which ends there triumphantly. It is characterized by a rarely seen intensity and inwardness and marks the transition to a new musical epoch in an impressive way.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Renate Ulm: Initiation of the musical modern. In: same: Gustav Mahler's Symphonies, 275.
  2. ^ Letter to Alma Mahler, Toblach, June 15, 1909. Quoted from: Henry-Louis de La Grange , Günther Weiß (ed.): Ein Glück ohne Ruh '. Gustav Mahler's letters to Alma. (btb 72243). Goldmann, Munich 1997, ISBN 3-442-72243-8 , p. 381.
  3. ^ Renate Ulm: Initiation of the musical modern . In: same: Gustav Mahler's Symphonies , 281.
  4. ↑ Dieter Schnebel: Gustav Mahler. The late work as new music , 177.
  5. ↑ a b Renate Ulm: Initiation of the musical modern . In: same: Gustav Mahler's Symphonies , 285.
  6. ^ Arnold Schönberg: Mahler . In: ders .: style and thought. Edited by Ivan Vojtech. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 1992, ISBN 3-596-23616-9 , p. 37. Quoted from: Renate Ulm (Ed.): Gustav Mahler's Symphonies. Origin - interpretation - effect. Bärenreiter, Kassel 2001, ISBN 3-423-30827-3 , p. 274.
  7. ^ Letter to Bruno Walter. Quoted from: Herta Blaukopf, Gustav Mahler - Briefe, 368.
  8. ^ Renate Ulm: Initiation of the musical modern . In: same: Gustav Mahler's Symphonies , 286.
  9. ^ Rüdiger Heinze: Sketch of a characterization of Gustav Mahler's symphonic tone . In: Renate Ulm: Gustav Mahler's Symphonies , 52.
  10. ^ Renate Ulm: Initiation of the musical modern . In: same: Gustav Mahler's Symphonies , 277.