Symphony No.9 in D major - Gustav Mahler

[쿤타킨테]

Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich conducted by David Zinman.

I - Andante comodo: 0:00
II - Im Tempo eines gemächlichen Ländlers. Etwas täppisch und sehr derb: 30:44
III - Rondo-Burleske: Allegro assai. Sehr trotzig: 46:37
IV - Adagio. Sehr langsam und noch zurückhaltend: 1:00:12

Mahler's ninth symphony was begun in the summer of 1909, once he had recovered the inspiration to continue composing, which happened the previous summer. It seems that already in 1908 he had planned this work. Although numerase as ninth, it was the tenth, being the previous "Das Lied von der Erde", which exceeded the curse of the ninth symphony.

The compositional work took place in Alt-Schluderbach, located near Toblach. There he had a new wooden Komponierhäuschen built to remain isolated. The orchestration of the work was completed in 1910 in New York, upon his return to take over the New York Philharmonic. The symphony did not get to be performed during the life of Mahler. It was presented by Bruno Walter on June 26, 1912 in Vienna.

The first movement is built in the form of an expanded sonata, with rondo elements. It begins with a brief introduction, where we assist in the formation of all the elements that will make up the movement, with a three-note harp motif that will be repeated during the same. There is also the well-known motif of two descending notes that we found at the end of the previous symphony, with the word "ewig". It is remarkable to observe, as in so few measures, Mahler presents all the material that will be used in the movement. With a great economy of means he builds a great symphonic building.

The violins present the main theme on a slow pace, in the form of painful resignation. The syncopated rhythm represents, according to Alban Berg, the symbol of death. It can also be interpreted as a call of destiny. This theme is repeated throughout the movement, but always transformed. A trombone accord gives way to the second theme. The music increases its degree of tension until the most passionate repetition of the main theme. A new and varied exhibition begins that will take us to a powerful climax that closes the exhibition section.

The development begins with somber notes from which the main theme will be reborn. A theme appears with a rhythm of a disfigured slow waltz, which is stopped by the imperious fanfares of the wind, which lead the music to a new climax with the main theme, until the orchestra collapses, falling down in a kind of whispering. The second theme interrupted by dissonances appears again. Again the scene is flooded with shadows in a section of great desolation. Suddenly the theme of slow waltz arises from within, which will lead us to the culmination of the movement through an expressive climax, from which the main theme emerges and then crumbles like a fall into the void. A painful march, with touches to dead trombone and timpani, will give way to an abbreviated recapitulation. After the first topic, we hear a summary view of the second. A flute solo leads us to the coda. Fragments of themes in full decay are interspersed, showing what they could have been but could not. The flute adds the last notes on remains of the main theme and the two descending notes that in "Das Lied von der Erde" formed the word "ewig", whose last note is stopped in time.

The second movement constitutes the scherzo of the work. Contrasting with the seriousness of the previous one, this rythm of burlesque dance constitutes one of the elements of the contradictory nature of its author. It uses the ländler, a type of Austrian peasant waltz to express the dance of life. The subject is vulgar and is treated in an ungraceful way, with a sarcastic frivolity. It is a grotesque caricature, in a sarcastic style unprecedented in the cultured music of the time. Stravinsky and the neoclassical musicians will employ similar effects in the coming years. The trio consists of a fast waltz that will be accelerated, with repetition by trombones in the style of fair music. Then a new ländler is presented with a slower tempo, in the form of a minuetto. The elements are repeated with the waltz that is accelerating in the new repetition of the trio. The initial ländler resumes until it disintegrates into a destructive final.

The third movement is a rondo. It is formed by a fugue written in a burlesque way, as if it wanted to mock the wise critics of counterpoint, whom Mahler called "my Apollo brothers". The instruments are treated as soloists, each obtaining its role in the fugue. The first interruption of the virtuous fugue is produced by the clarinet with the theme of the seventh symphony that we said reminded Lehar's "The Merry Widow". The second stops the rhythm of the rondo and introduces a motive that will be of great importance in the last movement. Finally the rondo is resumed with the same climate with which it began.