Henry-Louis de La Grange: Does knowledge enhance appreciation of Mahler's music?

[Mackjay]

Thanks, but I have tried to play this on two computers and it crashes the browser, so I guess we can't play it in the US.
Can you tell us any details?

[john haueisen]

I'm happy to report that here in east-central US, I was able to listen to the program on the link that Ivor has provided.  Thanks, Ivor!

It's a 30 minute interview conducted by Robert Winston, featuring commentary by music commentator Norman Lebrecht, conductor Ben Zander, and psychotherapist Dr. Emanuel Garcia.

The topic is very much related to this posting, as it speaks of the influence of life experience upon Mahler's music.  I could tell immediately that Leonard Bernstein would have given his approval, when they began to speak of the appearance of Klezmer music in M1.  I'll admit that M1, with its inverted Bruder Martin theme, does have a Yiddish or Jewish sound to it, but coming off Henry-Louis de La Grange, I remember La Grange's admonition that there is no concrete evidence that Mahler ever heard Klemzer music in his life.

The interview goes on with a good bit of very interesting information, such as the dismissal of M9's mimicking of mitrovalvular disfunction (heart flutter) and possible suicidal feelings by Mahler.  Much is speculation, though at least it is speculation by persons with some expertise.

Of particular interest to those who enjoy information about mahler the man was the story (by Norman Lebrecht, I believe), of how many years ago, he met an old woman who, as a child, had attended a wedding where Mahler was present.  She had told the interviewer  that she could not remember much of the day as she had been sent away from the wedding for her bad behavior.  When he asked her what was the bad behavior, she replied that she had been caught imitating Mahler's unique way of walking.

Of interest to our topic here, of the influence of  whether more knowledge influences appreciation of Mahler's music, the speakers brought up the many annotations on Mahler's manuscripts, and the influence that the deaths of so many of his siblings had had upon Mahler's view of life, with his persistent awareness of inexorable death.
Very much worth listening to for its thought-provoking value, whether we choose to agree with all or some of the statements made.

--John H

[stillivor]

   After listening to the programme again with pencil to hand, more about the info/understanding relationship.

   The cadences of Yiddish that M would have heard contain irony. A consequence is that Mahler can say one thing and mean another.

   There is the idea in the funeral march of the 1st of m saying "we're dealing with the death of children" and is a protest against those holding civilised values, asking them "How can you treat the death of children like this?".

   Zander tells the famous story of little Mahler sitting for 4 hours because dad had forgotten him, and says m was writing his 1st while sitting there - the natur opening, and then he hears the barracks in the distance.

   A point about the story of the old lady and Mahler's walk is that he walked rather as tho he was almost getting ahead of himself. Lebrecht says you can hear that in Mahler's piano rolls; as tho he was constantly tryig to get there.



     Ivor


   

[stillivor]

   And the therapist pointed out that afyer mahler's consultation with Freud, he came back seemingly much happier and more relaxed, and even more importantly, that after it, mahler never wrote another note; even doing nothing more on his 10th.


     Ivor

[barry guerrero]

All of that is probably quite true. If I'm doing my math correctly, even after being married for almost a decade, Alma was barely over 30 when Mahler passed away. The last year of Mahler's life was, indeed, incredibly hectic. It's a shame that he didn't finish the 10th, but what can we do? As it stands, it's still an incredible work.

Barry