Hello everyone,
I've wondered what the board members consider Mahler's most personal statement in music. This probably is a silly question, because we may find things very personal whilst Mahler felt he was more personal in other instances. And what is the definition of 'personal'? In the end, Mahler was ALWAYS personal, there weren't that many composers that poured so much of themselves in music. His music is highly subjective and is perceived as such. I'm still going to ask the question. Based on our own perceptions (which are, indeed, very 'personal'
), which Mahler composition ranks highly in that regard?
An excerpt from Classical Notes (
http://www.classicalnotes.net/classics2/mahlerlied.html):
'Bruno Walter called Das Lied von der Erde "Mahler's most personal work, perhaps the most personal work in music." I've never heard it in concert, and frankly I never want to – it's far too personal and intimate, and thus ideally suited to recordings and the privacy they afford. Indeed, Mahler had told Walter that he feared Das Lied was too intense for an audience, and after completing the orchestration he stashed the score and never sought a performance.'Now, whether or not the writer is completely accurate, this description of DLVDE is kind of a rough consensus of how the work is perceived. I wouldn't object to hearing it in concerts, but it's definitely one of Mahler's works that should not be 'corrupted' by an outbreak of applause at the end. Perhaps the orchestra and audience should leave the hall without further ado (of course, being as quiet as possible
) It will never happen. A concert performance without applause? Unthinkable! (Talk about being 'personal'
)
In every way, Mahler was very personal and very direct. He never concealed his views, he never compromised his feelings, and we hear it as it is. This has naturally polarized critics and music lovers alike. Mahler, in that respect, is quite different from Brahms, a composer that almost always kept his feelings close to the chest (which is no crime!). Some even go as far as characterizing Brahms as too much of a compromise, some kind of 'no man's land' between Classicism and Romanticism. It's all relative, of course. And again, where Brahms did himself find he was being 'personal', our perceptions may be different.
But more on topic: If people ask me the question which Mahler composition strikes me as his most personal, they are often surprised by the answer: Mahler's Tenth. It's a controversial choice, because the work is not complete. It has been reconstructed quite a few times, and several of them are convincing, but they will always remain Mahler through the eyes of another composer. But, was a Mahler composition at any time definite? Had he heard his latter works in concert, they might as well be different than how we know them today. His Fifth, for example, was never a completed process, with Mahler making alterations even in his last years.
But what I DO hear in the Mahler Tenth, to my view, is the equivalent of open heart surgery. While the Mahler Sixth is fatalistic and nihilistic, it was reportedly written during one of Mahler's most happier years, and has tremendous elan. It is purposely balanced, the grim moments countered by moments of optimism, a tremendous ebb and flow. It's 'Tragic' on a heroic scale.
Now, I will never apply the term 'heroic' to his Tenth. It's a work of great desolation, even despair, a composer at war with himself. The opening Adagio enters the scene like nothing we have heard before in Mahler's output. My reaction to this music is
extremely subjective. It is almost as if the music has a major problem trusting itself (I hope you know what I mean by that). There are many efforts on Mahler's behalf to counter the feeling of desolation, but it's rather forced, as if he knew darn well this is what he HAD to say at that time, without trying to compensate for its 'honesty'. Of course, the cataclysmic dissonant chords are much discussed. I find they are the equivalent of a spine chilling 'emotional auto mutilation'. Mahler is punishing himself, at least that's how I perceive it, and I agree that's VERY subjective on my behalf. The mood is somehow more consoling at the Adagio's end, but again in a rather forced way. In essence, this is a consistently desolate movement, and what we do encounter as 'relief' does very little to lighten the mood.
The middle movements are a tour de force of vigor. But as I appreciate their vitality, they again strike me as a willful sort of a distraction. Maybe I should accept them for what they are: exhilarating and buoyant. I just feel that, in the overall mood, they do not quite fit in. I think it's Mahler providing contrast first and foremost (and there's nothing wrong with that).
The Finale starts in essentially the same desolate mood as the Adagio, but it all changes (at least for a while) when the flute enters the scene. Now, has Mahler ever penned a more beautiful melody? Or, indeed, has any composer? Its melody cannot possible be described as desolate, it somehow may be called sad, a lament, and at the same time I cannot escape a feeling of a beginning of acceptance. That is, for the moment. Because after that, Mahler essentially conjures up the same forced episodes, again full of vigor. The last dissonant climax appears, but from there on the consoling mood reappears for the final time. Mahler has finally ceased protesting. There is acceptance, this time a little more convincing than in the last part of the Adagio. The music remains passionate (the composer hasn't quite given up his pleads), and dies out in a reluctant sort of way. The following major string glissando is EXTREMELY subjective, but I cannot remember any other symphony ending on such a deeply personal statement. Of course it's willfully subjective! But that's how we know Mahler, who 'couldn't feel by halves'. The last notes resemble those of the conclusion of the Adagio of Bruckner's Ninth.
This may not be Mahler's most inspired symphony. It's not finished, and therefore we may never know how it ended if Mahler lived to complete it. But I do feel, this symphony is about raw emotions, about reality, the journey towards acceptance. It's not a story about the love for nature, for life, for redemption. It's a story about coming to terms with yourself. I'm aware this is a very subjective assessment on my part, it's certainly not a fact
Essentially, I think of M10 as another 'darkness to light' symphony. It's a deeply tragic work without the intended theatricality of, say, the Sixth. Other listeners may find that the Tenth is just as theatrical. Maybe it is. I just feel it's Mahler in his most Mahlerian form, without offering a clear concept symphony, or a specific theme. There is no poetical context. It's just Mahler offering a 'realistic' slice of himself and the last troubled period of his life. I find it a spine chilling symphony, and indeed I identify myself with many of its elements. That's what makes it personal for ME.
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