As threatened, here’s some music. This is the first movement. Later on I’ll add some running commentary, and a second excerpt.
Nobody is going to mistake this for one of the Big Five, but it was fun to do!
This movement is what’s called a Sonata-Allegro form. In very simple terms that entails an optional introduction, an exposition which contains two or more themes, a development where the themes are, well, developed, a recapitulation where the exposition is more-or-less repeated, and a coda.
This is very simple because starting with Beethoven the great composers made it their business to creatively subvert the boundaries of the form. Listen to a late Mozart symphony and it’s as clear as crystal. But by the time you fast-forward a hundred years to Mahler it actually takes some study to determine where you are. Here’s some help.
Introduction
00:03 Sleighbells! This symphony is the “lightest” of Mahler’s, and the shortest. The feeling is a lot more intimate than the grand cosmic statements of the 2nd, 3rd and 8th, or the intense sturm und drang of 5, 6, 7 and 9. The coloration is much more subtle and the bells set the tone. They come back periodically throughout the movement, and also play a big role in the last movement.
Exposition
00:13 After a sketchy ritardando, the violins introduce the first theme. The graceful little turn in the first measure of it plays a role later on. The cellos and basses answer in the second phrase with a rising dotted pattern. Notice how the staccato accompaniment in the winds echoes the sleighbells.
00:30 The horn picks up a fragment of the tune, passes it off to the violins, then back to the clarinets.
00:52 The violins repeat the theme, with the violas repeating it in canon.
01:31 The high woodwinds launch into a transition to…
01:44 The second theme. Long and lyrical in the middle strings, passing off to the oboe, the horn.
02:44 A bonus extra theme. Beethoven was the first to do this. The oboe takes the first and third phrases, the violins the second. The fourth is a downward riff, then the clarinets take it further.
03:58 The exposition is repeated. Notice how things are compressed, and the orchestration shifts much more frequently. The backstory: in the classical era (Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn) the exposition was enclosed by literal repeat signs. Even Brahms does it this way. Mahler isn’t content with a literal repeat, so he writes the repeat out and throws in a lot of variations. Some things get longer, some things are omitted, and the instrumentation is very different. In a way, the development starts here.
04:41 A new theme? Why? It’s like the second theme in feeling, but different.
Development
05:58 Bits and pieces, fragments and motifs of the earlier themes are tossed around like confetti, overlapping and repackaged.
06:30 I love this detail of orchestration. This is a new theme — who says the development only has to be for old themes — built on earlier motifs, taken by four flutes in unison. It’s a wonderful airy sound.
07:16 The clarinets turn it into something mocking.
07:43 The development here is a little more obvious. Remember the second phrase of the first them at 00:13? The basses carried that dotted rhythm upward? Here the oboe has it, while the flutes repeat the fast figure that was part of the introduction.
07:48 The contrabassoon takes the dotted rising motif. Throughout this next section the rising motif is played against the sleighbell motif, and against the little “turn” that’s in the first theme. The turn is taken totally out of its original context and used by itself.
08:59 The first theme is developed in a bigger way, now in minor, pitted against the rising theme.
09:34 First significant little trumpet solo, slightly clammed by yours truly.
09:50 The big climax. The trumpet part above it is one of the big-time licks. Sounds flatter than I remember here.
10:25 This little trumpet fanfare later on grows up to be the dramatic opening fanfare of the fifth symphony.
Recapitulation
10:49 This is classic. Somewhere in here the recap begins, but it’s obfuscated. Does it start at 10:27 when the flutes have the sleighbell motif? Or at 10:49 when the flutes play the rising three-note introduction, but then slow down? Or do we just slide into it at 11:05? But in late romantic music there’s no reason for the development to stop.
11:38 The big climax of the development is recapitulated, too. This is also a favorite trumpet spot, and one I actually sounded good on.
12:05 The second theme is recapped, with extended phrase endings.
13:13 The bonus third theme is recapped.
Coda
14:07 This sounds like a repeat of the recapitulation, and it sort of is. More like an additional development section, that serves to wrap up some of the themes a little more. Beethoven wrote codas that were as long as the of the movement sometimes.
15:13 That additional slow tune again, as the strings rise upward and the tempo slows down. We’re definitely in coda territory now.
16:10 The horn solo, followed by the slow string pizzicato leads into…
16:32 A very slow set up to a final reprise of the first theme. Accelerando to the close.
Third Movement (fragment)
Maybe some commentary to follow. But I’ll tell you right now that’s me clamming the high B at 2:52. I do eventually land on it, though.
But to me the section after this big climax is just breathtaking. The everyday music we listen to on the car radio is all about forward motion — rock, jazz, even most classical. This music is all about standing still.
The key changes at 03:50 and 04:26 simply make my hair stand on end, and the flute entrance at 04:59 comes down from another realm. The ending is like it’s never-ending, and instead it has simply moved off to another place where we can’t hear it anymore.
Fourth Movement
This movement is a song — see my earlier post about the difference between songs and other musical forms. The words are from a collection of poetry called “The Youth’s Magic Horn,” which was a favorite of Mahler’s. He used texts from this probably more than any other source.
To get the full sense of how this works, please take a few minutes to listen to the end of the third movement (above), then immediately move into this. The transition is magic.
This blow-by-blow might help you a little. What you hear is in German of course; this is the English translation I found on Wikipedia.
00:00 Introduction. The three-note pickup in the clarinet is featured a lot as a motif. The notes are notes found on natural horns, which is what gives it that natural, pastoral feeling. Listen closely for the descending glissandi in the ‘cellos.
00:32 First verse.
We enjoy heavenly pleasures
and therefore avoid earthy ones.
No worldly tumolt
is to be heard in heaven.
All live in greatest peace.
01:12 sudden change of tempo, appropriate to the text:
We lead angelic lives,
yet have a merry time of it besides.
We dance and we spring,
We skip and we sing.
01:39 At the end of each verse, the text mentions a saint or angels, and the texture changes to that of a chorale. Or, if you like, it’s the Chorus.
Saint Peter in heaven looks on.
01:59 And then the orchestra launches into the next verse with the sleighbell motif of the first movement. Much more agitated here — and looking at the text you can see why. Heaven is heavenly for people; for livestock, not so much. You can here the descending slides and glissandos representing various lambs bleating and cattle mooing. The key has changed from a sunny G major to a rather less sunny E minor.
02:37 Second Verse
John lets the lambkin out,
and Herod the Butcher lies in wait for it.
We lead a patient,
an innocent, patient,
dear little lamb to its death.
Saint Luke slaughters the ox
without any thought or concern.
Wine doesn’t cost a penny
in the heavenly cellars;
03:12 Chorus
The angels bake the bread.
03:31 Introduction to the third verse, modulating quickly back to G major and the original sweetly pastoral tone.
03:41 Third Verse.
Good greens of every sort
grow in the heavenly vegetable patch,
good asparagus, string beans,
and whatever we want.
Whole dishfuls are set for us!
Good apples, good pears and good grapes,
and gardeners who allow everything!
04:18 The faster tempo and continuous sixteenth note runs in the flutes and violins represent the various swift animals coming up next.
If you want roebuck or hare,
on the public streets
they come running right up.
Should a fastday come along,
all the fishes at once come swimming with joy.
There goes Saint Peter running
with his net and his bait
to the heavenly pond.
04:41 Chorus
Saint Martha must be the cook. This is repeated, and the chords afterwards are extended.
05:29 Introduction to the last verse.
05:46 An extension of the introduction. The low flute doubles muted violins in a countermelody.
06:46 Listen to how the opening triplet motif — the one that sounds like a natural horn — is echoed. First in the bassoon, then the clarinet, then the flute, then the violin, and then the vocalist uses a slightly augmented rhythm of it as the first part of her tune.
06:52 Fourth verse:
There is just no music on earth.
that can compare to ours.
Even the eleven thousand virgins.
venture to dance,
07:25 While not going into the full chorale for this saint’s mention, the tempo slows and Ursula’s laugh is depicted is a held high note gently shaking down a tenth.
and Saint Ursula herself has to laugh.
There is just no music on earth
that can compare to ours.
Cecelia and all her relations
make excellent court musicians.
The angelic voices
gladden our senses,
08:52 The descending E major scale here reminds me of the chorale-like sections.
so that all awaken for joy.
09:06 The dynamic is pp or ppp and marked morendo, or dying away. The special note to the harpist is “sich Zeit lassen!” — take your time!
That sounded lovely. Now, of course i don’t have the trained ear you do, and knowing your nature, you’ll probably be critical of yourself. But i look forward to the blow by blow commentary, to find out what this music is meant to communicate.
Updated.
I’m really impressed by you hobbyists knocking off music like this.
I had the time to listen this afternoon. The comments with the time code are nice. Could you please post the 4th movement? If you can. Thanks in advance. It’s one of my all time favorites.
I don’t usually post audio that involves the soloist, but for you this one time here it is. If anyone objects I’ll yank it.
Thank you!!!!
You’re welcome. I like this blow-by-blow commentary; I wonder if there’s a market for it.
I think there’s a market for your writing, I’m not sure specifically for this or what.
It’s handy to have the time code call outs in long files. Not so much with the Flash player you’re using. However with Google video/audio files they let you link to spots within files. Also you can click ahead or behind in the time line and the file will start streaming from the point where you click. That’s handy for when you don’t have time to wait for the file to hit the point where you clammed :D. But yeah, when I have the time to listen to the whole file I love the commentary.
That’s intriguing … where do you find the Google audio player? I can only find video (which doesn’t accept audio). I’ve got this idea for a Flash player that brings up subtitles at certain timestamps, or even one that would flip through the pages of a scanned-in score. Like I know enough Flash to do such a thing. Somebody’s probably got on already.
“where do you find the Google audio player?”
I was hoping you’d ask that question.
Import your audio file into your favorite video editor. Add a still picture for the video. Export out to compatible Google format.
Being able to skip around within a large file is the bomb. Having said that I should mention that that feature doesn’t always work. It’s probably due to all the data that they manage. I’ve noticed periodic flakiness in my dealings with them in the past 18 months. But for the price (free) I’ve got at least 20 gigs of video on their servers.
“How come every time I come in the bar’s so sleepy?”
I don’t refer to it as “Tremont’s cone of silence” for nothing. We occasionally have our moments. I recall the bar being busy during your 2005 visit. You, Alex and Claire in the back room with Steve Feinberg.
E.G. Here’s John McAndrews playing in the Literary Cafe Talk Show band from a 1997 episode.
How come every time I come in the bar’s so sleepy?
I like the inset cameo appearance by Divine.
True. Should have said “almost every time.” Wouldn’t want my millions of readers to get the wrong impression!
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