Symphony No. 3 (Mahler)
The Symphony No. 3 in D minor is a symphony with alto solo, children's choir and female choir by Gustav Mahler.
Formation
The third symphony was created over a period of about four years. 1892 Mahler began to design the plant and on 28 July 1896, he finished work on the extensive composition. The main creative period was the summer of 1895 and 1896, the Mahler spent in Steinbach am Attersee. As to the first two symphonies Mahler put the music program as a "guide" for the mood content based. Originally, the rates should wear these programmatic name: "Pan awakens. The summer marches on "," What do they tell me the flowers in the meadow "," What I tell the animals in the forest "," What I told the man, "" What the angels tell me "," What tells me the love ". This concept is enhancing kept Mahler content with, but decided to refrain from the programmatic names of the sets. In the original plan Mahler saw a seventh set before, " What tells me the child ." This was later taken out and then formed under the title " The Heavenly Life" the last movement of his Symphony No. 4.
About the Music
Occupation
Alto solo, female choir, children's choir, 4 flutes (all also piccolo ), 4 oboes (4th and English horn), 4 clarinets, bass clarinet, 4 bassoons (4th also contrabassoon ), 8 horns, 4 trumpets (1st possible, cornet), 4 trombones, bass tuba, 2 Pauker, each with 4 timpani, percussion: bass drum, several pools, pools at the Gr. Tr. fixed, snare drum, tambourine, triangle, tail, Tam-tam, 2 glockenspiels, 2 harps and strings. For this purpose a isolated placed remote orchestra with post horn in B (as from a distance ), several small drums ( in the distance set ), 6 bells in b, c ', d ', f ', g', a '( posted in height ).
1st Set: Strong. decided
The first set has enormous proportions and was last completed. The wealth of motifs is analytically to capture any more. The sonata form is in general terms, although the overall structure of the sentence is based, but the individual components are designed quite freely. So Mahler used in the exposure to a kind of collage technique, which is " antiarchitektonnisch " according to Adorno. The march-like main theme is reminiscent of the finale of Symphony No. 1 by Johannes Brahms. It returns in the course of the symphony again changed several times. Thus, the main theme of the Adagio from this march theme developed. The decision put forward by the horn theme oscillates strangely between Doric and B flat major. Only very slowly sets this pulse a musical development in motion. A march rhythm of the wind and wild out -propelled upward motifs of the strings are part of the development process of the march. This vast introduction of the march set lasts 163 cycles and increases slowly. The force unfolding take place partly against each striving, leading to a chaotic and sometimes dissonant sound. Again and again the impression of a military band, as Mahler used in the introduction, especially brass, woodwinds run unison and percussion. After some time, arises from the opening theme of a new The vocal march theme, which soon, however, gives way to the recurring development first part. Upon his return Mahler formulates it continues to come back later in the implementation of it. This begins with a fugal of the bass, which, however, repeatedly disturbed by disturbing chords of the wind instruments. The march will now appear in great shape and reminds the Forte - presentation of the orchestra to a banal ausgesungenes military song. There is a kind of " carnival - polyphony " ( Bauer- Lechner). The large-scale increase in several waves reached at the end of the implementation of its peak. Playing " with terrific force ," writes Mahler ago at this point. The strings break into a fighting 16th movement, while the brass to " assault " blow. The marching songs sounded just as tattered fragments. The marching order breaks down completely, as the music emanating from the violence and power delivery is ineffective. The unleashed power does not cause a change for the better, but leads to a complete collapse. The subsequent impact of the snare drum is an expression of paralyzing immobility. This moment provides an impressively disturbing sound represents the now incipient Reprise runs fairly literally from. The march will appear more clearly articulated and loses its martial tone. He now heard in almost serene form. In the middle of this song is falling a Tutti - D flat major chord from the outside and brings the movement to a halt. An abrupt skidding to F major on the Neapolitan G flat major adjusted the musical events with a tour de force. These harmonic peculiarities point in the musical future as they expand the chromaticism. In the final bars, the march builds to an unprecedented jubilation and " triumph ", to celebrate the victory over the persisting forces. After this set of Mahler prescribes a little break.
2nd set: Tempo di Menuetto. very moderately
On the second set, the second section of the symphony, which includes the other five movements of the work begins. The set is designed in the traditional form of the minuet. The contrast to the mighty law could hardly be greater. A delicate issue in simple two voices can buy a pastoral image. The oboe acts like a shawm and the Pizzicatobegleitung creates a mood that is reminiscent of a pastoral idyll of the Rococo. The first trio brings a mood change by a rhythmic dance. The return of the minuet between the trio brings each a small variation with it. Here are increasingly establishing themselves by chromatic overtones distorted harmonies, as they are typical of Mahler. This means an alienation of the initial neo-classical sounds. In the second trio Mahler used even tambourine and tail, resulting in a more drastic tonal differentiation from the minuet. In the final part remains with elegiac melodies and choral-like sounds of a dancing alien layer over the set. The subject then lost one of his rhythmic specificity and loses itself in the remaining triplets. This means its resolution, which is often interpreted as a farewell from Mahler's historicizing 19th century.
3rd set: Comodo. Scherzando
The purely orchestral scherzo is also content the Wunderhorn song " detachment in the summer " basis. The set represents a typical mahler cal Scherzo, in which the composer considered the world with grotesque humor. He often stylized primitive popularity in this sentence. In the text, which is the Scherzo basis, it says at the beginning: " The cuckoo has fallen to its death." Therefore, a aufschnellender Vogelruf marks the beginning of the sentence. The tragicomic scene is drawn into the grotesque, as Mahler once appends a lament, all of which, however, sounds other than sad. Here is a simple polka tune that soon distorted chromatic. "Mrs. Nightingale", which is supposed to be the replacement of the cuckoo has also to offer only banal melody and nothing new. The animal world is spinning despite death continues in " Unterhaltungsdelirium " ( Schoenberg ). Mahler's friend Natalie Bauer- Lechner writes: " The animal piece is the quirkiest and most tragic thing that ever since this piece is really as if all nature grimaces sections and the tongue stuck out. . " In the subsequent long trio is a post horn solo to hear that quoted sounds from the trivial music. The Folk keeps in this way their way into the music. The return of the scherzo increases the buzz even further. First, in Funny, then even the rough and totally Stripped. Again sounds hereafter the post horn in a second trio. The return of the scherzo leads suction-like disaster. A sudden minor chord it can break loose the elemental forces of the first set. It acts as a breaking of the dance floor of the bizarre animal scene. An empty fifths sound remains on the befall the last fragments of the dance song. It acts like mocking laughter of the nightingale. This is done in terms of the devastating idea of humor of Jean Paul.
4th movement: Very slowly. Misterioso
The fourth set contains a sung by the alto solo piece by Friedrich Nietzsche. It is Zarathustra's Nachtwanderlied " O man! Watch out! " From Also sprach Zarathustra. The fourth stage of the symphony is about the people, which is why for the first time the human voice is used. This is a big jump from the content, relapse into animal shapes in the Scherzo. The song thus comes a new beginning the same.
O man! Watch out! What does the deep midnight? "I slept my sleep - From a deep dream I woke up: - The world is deep, And deeper than the day Deep is its woe - Joy - deeper still than grief can be: Woe saith: Hence! But all joy wants eternity - - Want deep, profound eternity! "
The set begins with a somber chord harp and a Zweitonmotiv the lower strings, which creates a mysterious mood and as a sound of nature anmutet. The song unfolds hesitant between the rich instrumental occurring motifs. There is a puzzling unreal mood. The thematic material develops highly efficient from the Angangsmotiv. The key terms " depth ", " night ", " day ", " desire " and " suffering " form a network of mysterious references. The concept of "pleasure" comes to an emphatic striving upward motif. The sound continuum cancels out and is replaced by a simple melody. The principle of pleasure appears here not universal as in Nietzsche, but highly subjective and ephemeral. The third Quick returns to the minor and the plaintive sound of nature of the beginning returns. Immediately the music falls back into the depth of the uncertainty of the beginning. The movement ends in an aporia and requires the solution to a different level and thus in another set.
5th set: Funny in tempo and perky in the expression
The fifth set includes the song " Three angels sang " the songs from Des Knaben Wunderhorn, which were created in 1892. The fifth stage thus refers to the dimension of religion. However, this is not treated particularly profound in this short and jocular sentence. Open flaunted naivete is offset by the serious subject of confession. The sinner confesses Jesus Peter gets his fault and views on salvation by his penance. The boys' choir intones supported by six bells tuned a childishly naive -sounding " bim - bam". This constant background sound fades out everything that is subjective and sentimental in the previous sentence. Building on this foundation a clearly articulated singing in F major developed. The middle part of the poem appears in Mahler in a dialogic way. The characteristic style of music is increasingly chorale -like here. In this mood into Mahler brings humorous elements of exaggerated vividness. Thus the position taken by a choir voice Jesus bursts forth much too early and coarse. The contrition of Peter for his sins recorded in a dramatic gesture the whole orchestra and leads briefly to dissonance. However, the scenery calms down quickly and returns to the lively characteristic style of the beginning. The short sentence ends with an open circuit, as the bells on a " Bimm " breaks off abruptly. The promised salvation is not yet final. To this end, Mahler needed the final stage, which he achieved at the Adagio.
6th sentence: Adagio
The sixth movement is a purely instrumental Adagio again. Mahler achieved in this set the highest level of worldview in the form of love. This is the solution and elevation of the human existence. All humorous elements of the previous sentences to be abandoned here in favor of a great intimacy. The connection to the fifth set is given by the fact that Mahler God conceives as this love. He composes for a large-scale and ending with a grand finale Apotheosis. The poignant main theme is reminiscent of the late Anton Bruckner Adagio, in which a similar solemn and sublime mood was reached. The clear and simple D major topic ( Love Theme ) is in the ductus consummate lyricism. It unfolds from the march theme of the first movement. At this hymn occurs a moving subject from affective emphasis. This is primarily caused by upward sequenced suspensions and double strokes. After some time passes, add a contrapuntal second theme in F sharp minor. This material is now out in a four-fold increase accreting apotheosis. This trend is quite conflicted. Whenever the increasing waves converge to a hymn-like peaks that rise collapses. The first break is caused by sudden dissonance of the horn, resulting in a disoriented seventh chord, which eventually ' dissolves into a simple f. With difficulty is the Love Theme again and established the lost solemn mood again. The second dip is of even more drastic nature. The Fortissimo the brass leads to a diminished seventh chord on which the movement comes to a halt. Here Mahler draws on the end of the exposition of the first movement. The horn intones the three-note motif was that already provided in the header record for paralysis. Once again, the main theme established with difficulty after this collapse. The last crisis of the finale seems to be the auwegloseste. The horns seem to want to insist on a noisy It ' and threaten the solemn mood finally destroy. The result is a " game of collapse " ( Adorno) of the entire orchestra, which comes close to a complete collapse. One last time, the Love Theme can stand upright with great effort and finds its way to apotheosis, which is the only possible outcome in the context of the stages thought. The music of the 6th Symphony is after such a collapse can not straighten up again later. A delicate flute melody leads the triumphant coda a cautiously. Hence with a large increase in the cheering apotheosis of the love theme developed by the entire orchestra. This is one of the most magnificent symphony conclusions of music history corner shows the previous approaches of the first five sets, see the liberating solution in love.
Effect
The world premiere of the complete symphony took place on the 38th Tonkünstlerfest in Krefeld on June 9, 1902. Mahler conducted the Municipal Chapel Krefeld and the Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne. Previously on several individual movements of the symphony had already been premiered. For example, the second sentence was repeatedly played by the Berlin Philharmonic under Arthur Nikisch; Felix Weingartner conducted the second set in Hamburg. The premiere of the entire huge work was expected by the public long time; she became a sensational event. Although some critics saw the work as weaker, the premiere of one of the biggest successes was Mahler. The Neue Zeitschrift für Musik wrote: "This was not a mere celebration more, that was a homage ". Arnold Schoenberg, too, was deeply impressed by the new Symphony. He attested to have set to music Mahler, " ruthless truth " and assured Mahler, " seen soul" in the 3rd Symphony which to have. Between 1902 and 1907, Mahler himself led the symphony to a total of 15 times with great success.
The plant has a large reception history. It is often played and also by major orchestras and also enjoys great popularity in today's audience. Even outside of the concert hall, the music of the Symphony No. 3 has been widely used. Thus, the Adagio was used for example as a film music in call to glory; Sections of the first movement acted as theme music for the computer game Wargasm. John Neumeier choreographed in the 1970s, a ballet in Hamburg to the music of Mahler.
Status
The 3rd Symphony Mahler is the average of the three symphonies, set to music which texts from the poetry collection Des Knaben Wunderhorn by Clemens Brentano and Achim von Arnim. It towers above at least the 4th Symphony, however, significantly in scope and monumentality. It is with an approximate running time of 95 minutes Mahler's longest work and counts as Havergal Brian's Gothic Symphony also to the long symphonies of romance, but in fact almost the dimension of the actual greatest romantic symphony, Jean Louis Nicodé 's " Gloria! " Symphony from 1903, reach. The orchestral apparatus is similar to the major occupation of the previous 2nd Symphony. Similarly, large instrumentation can be found only in the 6th and 8th symphony again. The symphony has the unusual number of six sets, which divides Mahler on two departments. The gigantic head set represents solely represent the first division and with a playing time of 34 minutes, one of the longest sentences Mahler. Also the final Adagio has largest dimensions, which leads to a framing of the symphony by two monumental outer movements. In the middle there are two per song and dance movements, so doubling the usual number. Content follows the work of the motto Per aspera ad astra ( Through darkness to light ). The thoughts that are the individual records to basically form a climax. The final stage is the highest love. Here, similar to the work of the conception of the 8th Symphony. The total course of the work is therefore extremely heterogeneous. For Mahler typical case is the juxtaposition of contrasting elements of content. Thus, for example, follow tender melodies to hard military music and mystic sounds naive dance music. This procedure increases Mahler further in the fourth symphony. The main theorem of the 3rd Symphony presents once more represent a great march sentence as it also occurs in the 5th and 6th Symphony. The use of military forms in music belongs to Mahler's compositional style. Also typical are the grotesque elements of the Scherzo. This is leaning against Jean Paul form of humor is driven even further in the fourth and ninth symphony as here on the top. The final Adagio is one of the most intimate and poignant slow movements of Mahler. It recalls in his solemn and sublime mood on the Adagi the late Bruckner. Just this Adagio defended again the late romantic emphasis, radically breaks with the Mahler in the 4th Symphony. The final apotheosis in the sense Bruckner despite some hopeless appearing collapses the only conceivable outcome in the context of the stage model of the symphony. In the 6th Symphony, the final will end tragically for such failures and can not find to a triumphant end as the 3rd Symphony. Mahler's late style, which is becoming increasingly clear is emerging from the 5th Symphony and characterized by the marginal utilization of the tonal space and the extension of the chromatic sounds at some points of the Symphony No. 3 in already. Nevertheless, the work is still influenced by the Romantic era. The main theme of the first movement reminds example clearly to the theme of the finale of Symphony No. 1 by Johannes Brahms. With the 3rd Symphony Mahler has reached the peak of monumentality, to which only the 8th Symphony reaches as again in another form. From the 4th Symphony, a new path which is heading towards the era of new music begins. To apply Mahler's 3rd Symphony as one of the last symphonies of the late romantic, even if it is already breaking even with some traditions.