Mahler: Symphony No. 10: Adagio - Part 1 of 3

[Debernitzen]

Ein einzelnes Horn versus 50 oder 60 Streicher ! Wie geht das wohl ? Mit welchem Horn ?

[gamerfreak5665]

Why does that horn player blast every note?

[dweezy007]

@gamerfreak5665 lol it's sort of a solo part. and supposed to come out of the texture. But mainly it sounds so bright and brassy cuz it's a Vienna horn. they sorta get that blasty sound all the time.

[13teleportingman]

lenny's style on conducting is so very unique and passionate. Very powerful and full of imagination.

[pega17pl]

Do you really think Mahler let this movement without changes? Until composer says "finished!" at printing script every part of music piece ist unfinished. Therefore nobody knows Mahler's 1st movement at planned 10th.

[Clarinet4Life1]

Looooove the chord at 2:10

[budrydaniel]

''Malher, c'est moi'' !!!

[peebo9000]

Nice 10 note chord there, Mahler.



[Serduun]

@peebo9000 thanks

[peebo9000]

Nice 10 note chord there, Mahler.

[magaptn]

there certainly is a certain atonality but it sounds so incredibly tonal.... Mahler and Bernstein the perfect couple!

[flylooper]

More importantly, I think, is that in that summer of 1910 Mahler had found out his wife had an ongoing affair with Walter Gropius, the architect, Adn was absolutely devastated by the news, which he got from reading an (intentionally?) misaddressed letter from Gropius to Alma Mahler.

Mahler was so shattered that he sought help from Sigmund Freud. Notes (to Alma) on the original manuscript refer this devastation.

[skindapsos]

The non-finite-infinite music of the 'Tenth' is for me one of the best memories of Mahler on the centenary of his death......

[13teleportingman]

for some reason at 2:04 the theme sounds like a scene when a helpless romantic see his/her admire that they go head over heals for...idk Mahler's music is soo universal though<3 ♪♫

[FilmComposeRaHoppe]

I am a big fan of Mahler. Some people claim his music sounded atonal, but I dont know why. For me this is completely tonal and beautiful. It may be different from 1850s music but who cares ;).

[perfectthetech]

2:04

[YSiLvErY]

Sublime

[mihalispand]

How can it be post-mahlerian if it's Mahler?

[tonyntz]

Ολος ο κόσμος του Μάλερ γλυκόπικρος,νοσταλγικός, μελαγχολικόςυπαρξιακός ... ένα ποίημα..

[flylooper]

There's no question where the maestro was headed compositionally with this Adagio movement. To see his evolution from the 1st to this piece is a thing of wonder. I've absolutely that had he lived, this 10th was the opening of a huge new area for him to explore. This work is almost, but not quite, completely atonal and certainly has no traditional, in any sense, harmonic road map.

[freshhh1994]

@flylooper

I agree with the majority of your comment, except on matters concerning tonality. The symphony as a whole is VERY harmonically structured and clearly starts and ends in the key of F# major. 

[flylooper]

@freshhh1994

In the sense that it's triadic for the most part, yes. And he does begin and end on F# but it is highly chromatic rather than diatonic. All the late romantics were headed out of the old "circle of 5ths" routine, of course, (think: Wagner) but Mahler was just several steps ahead of the pack, in my mind. And his critics simply couldn't "get" his music, right up to his death in 1911. They were ferocious in their commentary.

[freshhh1994]

@flylooper

I was speaking of the symphony as a whole, included the unorchestrated movements. The first scherzo and the 5th movement coda are also firmly in the key of F#. Yes, there is much chromaticism, but not nearly enough to be considered "completely atonal".

[blackdragon767]

This is complete fuckin' shit, Mahler was way over rated.

[francisk823]

@blackdragon767 WHO ARE YOU?!?!?!?!?!?

[mikejr41387]

do you know which performing version this is? (the orchestration?) cooke? barshai?

[sfrenchhorn07]

I had no Idea Mahler even Composed a 10th Symphony. I thought the 9th and Das Lied Von Der Eerde were his final compositions.

[ashtr0nomy]

@sfrenchhorn07 He actually left it in draft form, so you're not completely off.

[carlolamberti1]

carlolamberti@albabarozzi.it

the maximum in the mahler's world...

carlo lamberti

26 october 2010

[carlolamberti1]

this, for me is a wonderful mahler's testament, were the peace in the hearth meets

the spiritual soul by composer...in teh middle of this celestial music there is a strong vision of a God in our life...

no timorous but very hopening people till to the eternity...

forse non ci rendiamo conto che questa è la più garnde musica di mahler, capace di condurci come un traghettatore, sull'altra sponda della vita, quella eterna...

26 october

carlolamberi@albabarozzi.it

[lilymatti]

mooi!!!!

[lpipmp]

Ab imo pectore

[teleportingman13]

This has to be the most eargasmic mahler performances ever conducted by the great Lenny<3 i would kill just to see this live. we miss you ♪♫Mr.Bernstein♪♫

[pointreyes6]

I think this is Mahler at a time of uncertainty. Not sure what to write. It sounds more of a tribute to late Bruckner than anything else.

[pega17pl]

@pointreyes6 you are right. There are a lot of Mahler pieces strung up like a string of pearls (at some you hear reference to late Bruckner) but no stringent line. To me no wonder after Mahler's (symphonic) music broke down at the 9th - every time I listen to 9th I hear it's ultimate end and get feeling there is no place and there is no need for further symphony.

[wesleyan97]

@pointreyes6 Very Brucknerian mood.

[petitequinte]

Bernstein = pure awesome.

Also, John Williams owes Mahler big time.

[wesleyan97]

@petitequinte He owes him an apology.

[headbanger623]

“This is too much - I need a drink.”

~ Deryck Cooke on Mahler's Tenth Symphony

[Morfee]

This would be... Cooke III right?

[estoiharto]

...If the sensitivity could be tranformed into music, the "Adagio" would be the result. Bravo Malher!!

[gigglegirlnoel]

Oh just kill me now. This is one of the best things I have EVER heard in my whole entire life!! The Vienna Philharmonic is impeccable. They have so much passion, it just really touches people. I can listen to them all day. What a beautiful performance! And great recording too! =]

[mariorussi2010]

fantastic

[Violetatorelli]

Gustav Mahler's last symphony... is really evocative.

A perfect reflection of his life and feelings.

[mrcdaniels]

sounds a lot like debussy in some parts

[nco62292]

reminds me of james bond :P

[tzeleustremlennost]

Owing to beauty and depth of music of Mahler, I ( person far from music) have started to be interested in timbres of musical instruments. Mahler has thought up new ways of extraction of sound for ... to describe more precisely his musical images.

Thanks, Leonard Bernstein.

[wagneristhebest]

this is an example of post-mahlerian extreme romanticism bordering on expressionism: it showed how forward looking mahler was. in partiicular, he had links with schoneberg.

[wesleyan97]

@wagneristhebest Did you mean post-Wagnerian (since this is Mahler lol)?

[wagneristhebest]

@wesleyan97 sorry, sort of yeah, but this is really advanced for mahler.

[MegaGdawg]

@wagneristhebest I don't really hear the links with Schoenberg. Admittedly, I haven't heard much of Schoenberg, but I have heard Pierrot Lunaire.  What would be an example of the links?

[wagneristhebest]

@MegaGdawg Shoneberg particulary liked mahler's last symphonies, as mahler was a massive advocate of atonal music. If you study this music carefully, you will find much of this music, very expressionist if not totally atonal, is similar to schoneberg's early works. pierrot lunaire is extremely atonal, serialistic, and very little like this. however, that transition by schonenberg to serialism came after, at around this time and for a few years, before he composed very much in this style.

[MegaGdawg]

@wagneristhebest Okay. I guess I need to listen to some more Schoenberg. Thanks for explaining it, and thanks for uploading this performance.

[MeterNYC]

@wagneristhebest Pierrot Lunaire is not serialistic. Have you ever listened to it? MegaGdawg, don't take advice from people on the interent.

[flowforms]

@MegaGdawg it was more that he supported Schoenberg publicly saying his work was valuable and important and should be taken seriously

[EASYTIGER10]

@wagneristhebest It makes you wonder where Mahler would have gone if he'd lived another 10+ years. Would he have started sounding like Alban Berg? Or maybe taken romanticism to even further extremes? Or maybe even explore revisit previous musical styles like Strauss did.

[originaltommy]

@wagneristhebest I agree with you. Sure, he had links with Schoenberg but really AS was the one that really looked up to GM. Mahler had a certain degree of indifference to AS, so was certainly not attempting to emulate him. Mahler definitely had ideas of his own. One wonders what course music would have taken had he lived and composed for another 30 or 40 years! Mahler would have been duking it out with Stravinsky on the world stage!

[0casteloencantado0]

@wagneristhebest mahler was "post-mahler"?

[ewhguitarist]

This is so beautiful, what dvd is it from?

[Bognarfan]

This is so melancholy. Did he know he was dying when he wrote this? Very beautiful, though and beautifully played and conducted. I wish Bernstein was still around!

[Tokkemon]

Yes he did. He knew about his Heart Disease as early as the time he wrote the 7th Symphony. He was in poor health after he came to America after the premiere of his 8th Symphony.

[Bognarfan]

Thank you so much for your reply. I am still a novice when it comes to the composers, but I am learning a lot, from folks like you on YouTube and other music sites.

[shaunrossgardiner47]

@Tokkemon He also knew that Alma was cheating on him with Walter Gropius. Hence Mahler writing "fur dich leben! fur dich sterben!" (to live for you! to die for you!) on the final page of the score and the gigantic dissonant chord around the middle of the movement to portray the torture his heart was going through (I guess both figuratively and literally, huh?)

[flylooper]

@Tokkemon

I don't believe that's true. Mahler was in excellent health and even anticipated a full conducting season for 1910-1911. He had resumed exercise, too. He had patched up his problem with Alma, too, and was helping her with her own music. He had decided to stay with Mahler in NYC. This Adagio was clearly written with her in mind.

That Mahler knew he was dying early on just isn't true. His illness (endocarditis) came quickly and claimed his life in the space of about 4 months

[flylooper]

@flylooper

I meant Anna had decided to stay with her husband rather then leave him for Gropius...Sorry for the typo.

[flylooper]

Also it should be noted that he plunged into composing his "Das Lied" sketches, according to Theodor Adorno, resulting from long solo walks, right on the heels of the 8th. And after "Das Lied von Der Erde" was finished he immediately started his 9th Symphony. A sick man wouldn't have such energy.

[11jOrDiE11]

probably the most emotional and disonant masterwork ever.

[jesuswolfi]

merci

[samirfouad1]

Thanks for entering this most unusual work by Mahler. He never finished it dying before he could complete it. Several versions exists which fill in vacant spots here and there but it's not Mahler. The version by Dereck Cook is not my cup of tea. A version by an Italian is more suitable and fits the bill. Llike Wagner's music, Mahler's also points to the future.

The opening solo has a bit of 12 tone of Schoenberg. It was included later in the work. A real experience in music composition.

[lecochonbleu]

@samirfouad1

I'm a fan of the final, "revised, performing version" which came in 1989, posthumously co-authored to Deryk Cooke, as well as reviser helpers Goldschmidt and the Matthews brothers.

The revised version seems a good choice to me. I remember well it was released in th U.K. araound 1990, Classic C.D. mag made a big show of it one month & just after a local university student orchestra asked me (just turned 18) to play in a local regional premiere of the full realised symphony.

[mirandacentaurus]

NICE!