worked Mahler into Holloween mix at work

[barry guerrero]

For Halloween, I played the usual suspects. But I also managed to sneak in a bit of Mahler: scherzo from Mahler 7; scherzo (St. Anthony's Sermon to the Fishes) and march passages from the finale of M2; "Purgatorio" from M10. The scherzo from M7 works best. FYI.

Barry

[john haueisen]

"managed to sneak in?"

Barry, if I counted correctly that's four (4!) Mahler bits.
You're one mighty sneaky Mahler advocate--and we're glad you can do it.
Cheers!  --John H

[john haueisen]

Having just listened to the M10 Purgatorio, I have to second Barry's inclusion of it in his Halloween program.
Give yourself 5 minutes:  get out an M10 and listen to that Purgatorio movement.
How do we describe it, if this is possible in words?
Spooky?
Devilish?
Wandering and lost?

It's certainly one musical statement that carries an atmosphere.
Reminds me of some of what Berlioz did.
--John H 

[Leo K]

Having just listened to the M10 Purgatorio, I have to second Barry's inclusion of it in his Halloween program.
Give yourself 5 minutes:  get out an M10 and listen to that Purgatorio movement.
How do we describe it, if this is possible in words?
Spooky?
Devilish?
Wandering and lost?

It's certainly one musical statement that carries an atmosphere.
Reminds me of some of what Berlioz did.
--John H 

The purgatorio movement is very interesting...and I've never heard it as spooky in the conventional sense.  When getting to know the M10 many years ago...I didn't think the music matched the title of this little movement, until I learned more about the concept of pergatory...a kind of being purged while waiting for heaven, but not neccessarily purged with fire.

The music does seem to suggest a sense of "waiting" as it appears to go around and around...it actually sounds like a pastoral or nature-like "paradise"...with the false note of this illusion spelled out in the development!

--Todd

[john haueisen]

My wife agrees with Todd--she doesn't hear "spookiness."
I can see Todd's impression of something like pastoral--it reminds me on an image I had as a kid, when I heard stories of the "will 'o the wisp"--an indefinable kind of spooky sort of creaturelike being that roamed the hillsides.
Come on, anyone else dare to venture out in an attempt to attach some sort of word label to the feeling of the purgatorio movement of M10?
--John H