Symphony No. 9 (Mahler)

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Symphony No. 9
by Gustav Mahler
Photo of Gustav Mahler by Moritz Nahr 01.jpg
Gustav Mahler in 1907
Key D major (– D-flat major)
Composed1909 (1909): Toblach
Published1912, Universal Edition
RecordedBruno Walter, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, 1938
Movements4
Premiere
Date26 June 1912 (1912-06-26)
Location Vienna
Conductor Bruno Walter
Performers Vienna Philharmonic

The Symphony No. 9 by Gustav Mahler was written between 1908 and 1909, and was the last symphony that he completed. A typical performance takes about 75 to 90 minutes. A survey of conductors voted Mahler's Symphony No. 9 the fourth greatest symphony of all time in a ballot conducted by BBC Music Magazine in 2016. [1] As in the case of his earlier Das Lied von der Erde , Mahler did not live to see his Symphony No. 9 performed.

Contents

Though the work is often described as being in the key of D major, the tonal scheme of the symphony as a whole is progressive. While the opening movement is in D major, the finale is in D major. [2]

Instrumentation

The symphony is scored for a large orchestra, consisting of the following:

Woodwinds
piccolo
4 flutes
4 oboes (4th doubling cor anglais)
E clarinet
3 B and A clarinets
bass clarinet
4 bassoons (4th doubling contrabassoon)
Brass
4 horns
3 trumpets
3 trombones
tuba

Structure

Mahler's death

Mahler died in May 1911, without ever hearing his Ninth Symphony performed. The work's ending is usually interpreted as his conscious farewell to the world, [9] as it was composed following the death of his beloved daughter Maria Anna in 1907 and the diagnosis of his fatal heart disease. However, this notion is disputed inasmuch as Mahler felt that he was in good health at the time of the composition of the Ninth Symphony; he had had a very successful season (1909–10) as the conductor of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra and, before that, the Metropolitan Opera (New York). In his last letters, Mahler indicated that he was looking forward to an extensive tour with the orchestra for the 1910–11 season and anticipating a return for the 1911–1912 season. [10] Moreover, Mahler worked on his unfinished Tenth Symphony until his death from endocarditis in May 1911. [11]

Mahler was a superstitious man and believed in the so-called curse of the ninth, which he thought had already killed Beethoven, Schubert and Bruckner; this is proven by the fact that he refused to number his previous work Das Lied von der Erde as his ninth symphony, although it is often considered a symphony. [12]

Premieres

The work was premiered on 26 June 1912, at the Vienna Festival by the Vienna Philharmonic conducted by Bruno Walter. [13] It was first published in the same year by Universal Edition.

Interpretation

The enjoyment of Mahler's Ninth Symphony prompted the essayist Lewis Thomas to write the title essay in his Late Night Thoughts on Listening to Mahler's Ninth Symphony. [16]

Many Mahler interpreters have been moved to speak with similar profundity about the work:

In the early half of the twentieth century, less favourable opinions of Mahler's symphonies as finished works were common. This quote, from 1932, is typical:

Recordings

The Ninth Symphony has been recorded over a hundred times for commercial release on 78-rpm discs, LP, CD, or DVD. An incomplete list includes:

Further reading

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References

  1. Mark Brown Arts correspondent. "Beethoven's Eroica voted greatest symphony of all time | Music". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  2. 'Gustav Mahler', in New Grove, Macmillan, 1980
  3. "Program Notes- Mahler Symphony No.9 in D Major" (PDF). Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
  4. Constantin Floros, Gustav Mahler: The Symphonies (2000)
  5. Hefling, Stephen E., "The Ninth Symphony", in The Mahler Companion (eds. Donald Mitchell and Andrew Nicholson). Oxford University Press ( ISBN   0-19-816376-2), p. 474 (1999).
  6. Barford, Philip, "Mahler Symphonies and Songs". BBC Music Guides, University of Washington Press (Seattle), pp. 55–56 (1971).
  7. Mitchell, Donald (2002) The Mahler Companion OUP
  8. Tom Service. "Symphony guide: Mahler's Ninth". The Guardian . Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  9. Leonard Bernstein conducts and comments Mahler's Ninth Symphony
  10. de La Grange, Henry-Louis (2008). Gustav Mahler, Volume 4: A New Life Cut Short (1907–1911). Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 1101ff. ISBN   978-0-19-816387-9.
  11. Mahler at 100: a medical history by Salvatore Mangione, Hektoen International Journal
  12. Sadie, Stanley, ed. (1980). The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians . Vol. 11. London, England: MacMillan. pp. 512–513. ISBN   978-0-333-23111-1.
  13. "Mahler Symphony No. 9—Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra; Bruno Walter, conductor (1938)" (PDF). Library of Congress. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
  14. "The Hallé – a timeline" (PDF). halle.co.uk. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
  15. "Music Containing Multitudes". The Boston Musical Intelligencer. 15 April 2016. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
  16. Lewis Thomas: Late Night Thoughts on Listening to Mahler's Ninth Symphony
  17. Quoted in the liner notes to Mahler: Symphony No. 9, Berliner Philharmoniker/Herbert von Karajan
  18. "Gustav Mahler". andante.com. Archived from the original on 12 June 2008. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  19. Quoted in Herbert von Karajan: A Life in Music by Richard Osborne
  20. The Unanswered Question by Leonard Bernstein
  21. Adorno, Theodor W. (15 August 1996). Adorno/Jephcott: Mahler. University of Chicago Press. ISBN   9780226007694.
  22. Quoted from his liner notes to Mahler: Symphony No. 9, Düsseldorf Symphony/Ádám Fischer – Avi-Music 8553478
  23. Chord and Discord, February 1932, p. 23
  24. Published by ACCENTUS Music: No. ACC20214
  25. "YouTube". YouTube. Archived from the original on 16 June 2020. Retrieved 1 May 2020.