More Mahler. Too much Mahler. Not enough Mahler. presents:

More Mahler. Too much Mahler. Not enough Mahler.

Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) was the last in line of the great Austro-German symphonists, following Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms, and Bruckner…and he somehow sensed he would be the last. Mahler pushed many boundaries to their limits, not just in the context of form but also of duration and of tonality itself. He came about as close to atonality as one could come without going over. And what do you know? Arnold Schoenberg came along right after him and blew the lid off of tonality. Daniel Barenboim observed that Mahler had one foot in Wagner and the other foot in Schoenberg. Mahler arrived at a crucial time in the history of music and seemed to know just what needed to be done.

More than any other composer I know, Mahler understood the spectrum of human emotions, and it shows.

As a budding hoarder of Mahler recordings, I came upon an Amazon review the other day that said Mahler’s music is for people who need their emotions healed. Let’s ponder this.

Tonight we listen to some rather long excerpts from Mahler’s 4th, 5th, 6th, 9th symphonies.

Playlist:

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DJbob    March 31st, 2018

Posted In: Music, Music Shows