GUSTAV MAHLER Symphony No. 5
Curtis Symphony Orchestra
Jahja Ling, conductor
Performed on Wednesday, February 17, 2013
Verizon Hall, Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, Philadelphia
Mahler’s compositional output throughout his life was relatively small, but his works were and remain among the largest and most demanding in the orchestral repertoire. In a famous comment to Jean Sibelius, Mahler remarked, "A symphony must be like the world. It must embrace everything." He certainly practiced what he preached, as his works span the spectrum of human emotion, often with abrupt changes of mood. The Symphony No. 5, completed in 1902, is intensely autobiographical, offering an intimate look at his views on love, life, and death.
0:00 Trauermarsch (Funeral March)
The symphony opens with a distinctive funereal trumpet solo, immediately setting a macabre tone while also referencing the opening to Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5, one of the most famous themes in all of Western music. Mahler had a near-death experience prior to writing the symphony, which would influence much of his music during this period. Moments of nostalgia and rural folk music from his native Bohemia interrupt the action throughout.
12:40 Stürmisch bewegt, mit größter Vehemenz(Moving stormily, with the greatest vehemence)
The second movement is the most violent and aggressive of the symphony, invoking images of hell while also hinting at the exuberant joy that will be heard in full force in the final movement.
27:35 Scherzo
In the longest movement of the symphony Mahler indulges his love of nature, adopting the pace of an Austrian ländler, complete with simulated alpenhorn calls from peak to peak. The demanding solo obbligato part for the French horn, played here by Dana Cullen, represents Mahler’s personal feelings of nostalgia for his homeland.
44:45 Adagietto
Arguably Mahler’s most familiar music, the Adagietto was for many years performed on its own, at a time when conductors felt audiences might not embrace the huge scope of the Symphony No. 5 as a whole. Scored for strings and harp, it is a love letter to Alma Schindler, whom he met in 1901 and married in 1902. He included a small poem, roughly translated, “How much I love you, you my sun, I cannot tell you that with words. I can only lament to you my longing and love.”
55:58 Rondo-Finale
The final movement of the symphony opens with a horn call that summons the winds and strings to life in a rollicking, bucolic rondo in D major. The theme from the Adagietto returns, this time noticeably faster, before the piece culminates in an explosion of sound reinforced by the brass and percussion.
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