Mahler - Symphony no. 1 in D Major
I’ve covered this symphony in the past, but the video that it was linked with has been deleted so I am revising that post.
We open with a sustained note…A…gliding overhead like the wind touching the tree tops in the woods…where are we? And where are we going? This single note is sustained as birds sing and hunters’ horns can be heard in the distance, for nearly four minutes. What an epic way to start a symphony! Not with a bang, but with a hush that evokes nature, as if the music wasn’t originally written but rather transcribed from sounds that already exist in the world, ones we can hear if we know where to listen for them.
This symphony is full of youth and energy, and is a bit unorthodox. It’s unusual structure can be blamed on Mahler’s first intention of conceiving a large multi-movement symphonic poem. Most of the melodies are built out of his song cycle Lieder eines fahrenden gessellen. Though there was a detailed program for this work, Mahler eventually dropped it, along with the programs for his other early symphonies, in favor of an absolute approach. With the program, we start with a sustained A, bird song, horn calls, that turns into a dance, celebration of spring. The next movement is a ländler, evoking the Austrian countryside. The second “part” of the symphony opens with the third movement, a parody funeral march after Frère Jaques, that also includes a section resembling a klezmer band, a nod to his Jewish heritage. The final movement is heavy with the sturm und drang of hell, but it transforms into an uplifting choral. Redemption through love. The first musical portrayal of a theme that Mahler would revisit again and again. This symphony may be jarring with its awkward leaps in mood [which was part of the reason it got a lukewarm reception, that and the fact that Mahler had the audacity to be a Jew in turn-of-the-century Vienna], but it’s written with fearless confidence. I’m guessing that’s why this symphony really hit me when I first heard it in high school, and was the perfect introduction to who is now my favorite composer of all time. Listening to this makes me feel like a little kid running around in the woods, an innocence and joy with the world that I long for. Yeah I know that’s melodramatic, but it’s Mahler: I can’t help it.
1. Langsam, schleppend, Immer sehr gemächlich
2. Kräftig bewegt, doch nicht zu schnell, Recht gemächlich
3. Feierlich und gemessen, ohne zu schleppen, Sehr einfach und schlicht wie eine Volksweise, Wieder etwas bewegter, wie im Anfang
4. Stürmisch bewegt - Energisch
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