Mahler Symphony No. 4, Part 2

Sticky Notes: The Classical Music Podcast

Joshua Weilerstein

Clarinet, Timpani, Performing, Trombone, Cello, Trumpet, Bassoon, Classicalmusic, Performing Arts, Arts, Violin, Flute, Piano, Conductor, Music, Weilerstein

4.9 • 2.1K Ratings

🗓️ 21 September 2023

⏱️ 60 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

If you haven’t listened to Part 1 of this episode about Mahler's 4th symphony, I highly recommend doing that, as every movement of this symphony builds to the "Heavenly Life" of the last movement. On Part 2, we'll be going through the 3rd and 4th movements. Mahler told his friend Natalie Bauer-Lechner that the 3rd movement of the symphony was created by ”a vision of a tombstone on which was carved an image of the departed, with folded arms, in eternal sleep.” As you can imagine based on that description, there is an unearthly beauty to the slow movement of Mahler’s 4th. Much like the Heiliger Dankgesang movement from Beethoven’s Op. 132 string quartet I talked about a couple of weeks ago, we often get the feeling in the slow movement of Mahler’s 4th that we are listening to music that is coming to us from the other side. As the slow movement comes to its end, we are introduced to the last movement, a sublime and peaceful song Mahler entitled "The Heavenly Life." This is a symphony that leaves you in a state like no other in the musical world, and so today we’ll go through that slow movement, investigating just how Mahler makes it so extraordinary, and then we’ll talk about the last movement, a movement that has divided listeners from the beginning due to its unusual text. I can’t promise we’ll find all the answers, but along the way, we’ll get to listen to some truly divine music. We’ll also get to hear Mahler himself playing - that’s right, Mahler himself! Join us!

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello and welcome to Sticky Notes, a Classical Music Podcast. My name is Joshua Weylerstein,
0:12.3	I'm a conductor, and I am the Chief Conductor of the Alborg Symphony in Denmark and the Music
0:16.7	Director of the Phoenix Orchestra of Boston. This podcast is for anyone who loves Classical
0:21.6	Music works in the field, or is just getting ready to dive into this amazing world of incredible
0:26.7	music. Before we get started, I want to thank my new Patreon Sponsors, Reese, Janet,
0:31.7	Michael, and all of my other Patreon Sponsors for making Season 9 possible. If you'd like
0:37.9	to support the show, please head over to patreon.com slash Sticky Notes Podcast. And if you are
0:43.0	a fan of the show, please click a moment to give us a rating or review on Apple Podcasts.
0:47.4	It is greatly appreciated. I am in Finland at the moment with the wonderful
0:54.6	Tampere Philharmonic. We've been doing this wild program. I talked about last week with
0:59.1	Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra, Ligidis Lontano, Pobbel Haas's Study for Strings, and Mozart's
1:04.9	second flute concerto. Also preparing for next week with the Alborg Symphony and going
1:09.5	to be doing Nielsen's fourth symphony, and the Dvorajak cello concerto with Stephen
1:14.8	Isserlis, which I really can't wait for. In the meantime, here is Part 2 of Moller's Fourth
1:20.7	Symphony.
1:37.6	In 1980, a fascinating book appeared in English for the very first time, called Recollections
1:43.4	of Gustav Moller. It was by a close friend of Mollers, a violist named Natalie Bauer
1:48.7	Leckner. In that book, she quoted from extensive conversations with Moller about his life
1:54.7	and about his music. Moller was never shy with his opinions, and this book is no exception.
2:01.6	As we read it, we hear some of his most assertive observations about other composers in their
2:06.2	music, but we also get a vivid sense of Moller's personality and the passionate intensity
2:13.0	with which he spoke of just about everything in his life.
	...

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