Lecture [about the Ninth Symphony of Gustav Mahler] for CBC, Vancouver, B.C., broadcast on January 20, 1957

Lecture for CBC, Vancouver, B.C, broadcast on Ja 1957 MAHLER 9

The Ninth Symphony by Gustav Mahler was selected for discussion in the present cycle not only because of its the extraordinary scope and quality of its communication, but also because of the significance of its manifest in the management of the musical material. In fact, both these aspects can not should not be separated from each other as if form and contend of a work of art These two aspects can not, and should not be separated. If a work of art If upon encountering a work of art we experience a note- worthy emotional impact, we may be sure that on closer in- spection we will discover that our spontaneous experience is due to tangible details of the musical process which, up to a point, may be identified in technical terms.

The Symphony which we shall consider in this program was written in 1909. It is the parting message of a great musician who even before reaching the age of fifty had learned that his days were numbered. Heartrending sorrow, melancholy sadness, defiance und resig- nation speak to us with such a directness ness that no sensitive listener can mistake the message of emotion and mood presented by the work. But no matter how tragic the personal experience that inspired this composition, it is not this experience as such which makes it one of the great works of our century. For facing the transitoriness of earthly life and the mean menace of personal extinction has been the lot of every human being since the beginning of time. We have to look for these features, which transcend the emotional im- pulse that prompted the creation of the work in order to appreciate its permanent significance. These features must be found in the ordering of the materials from of which the work is made up, and such ordering must be evaluated in the context of history.

Mahler was one of the last composers who believed in the unbroken continuity of the symphonic tradition set up by the great masters of the classical period, Mozart, Hayden und above all, Beethoven. In keeping with the optimistic philosophy of prog[ress] prevailing throughout the nineteenth century everything became bigger, if not better. Consequently Mahler's symphonies be- long to the most extended ever written. The Ninth Symphony takes nearly one and a half hours to perform so that in the present survey we shall have to be to content ourselves with some fragmentary selections from the gigantic work. 2'45"

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In the light of Seen from the viewpoint we have just developed, the unique signi- ficance of Mahler's work, especially of his late symphonies, lies in the dialectical tension between two opposites. On the one hand his allegiance to the symphonic tradition prompted made him to confident that the symphonic form as it was handed down to him from the age of classicism would stand the strain and stress of nearly limitless expansion. Nowadays it is easy to see, and that such confidence was hardly justified, and this is the gist of many critical objections raised against Mahler's concepts. Frequently the continuity of the structure is torn up by fantastic breaks - an early striking example of which may be found in the finale of the Second Symphony when the faraway trumpet calls resound through the frightful silence announcing the Last Judgment. Here it is the poetic idea that lends the passage pragmatic justification. From a purely musical viewpoint these awe-inspiring pages are equally as justified because this strange interlude so to speak adds a new dimension to a musical context which if it would stay within the conventional dimensions would might fall apart.

In Mahler's later works the gaps and cracks do not only bear witness of strain and stress in the large spans of the overall structure, they also run as so many crevices through the texture of the music, thus affecting its basic thematic material. It is precisely these seemingly negative aspects which are the truly forward-looking, prophetic features of his work. For the development which was preordained for the compositional style derived from the classical tradition did not mean further straightforward progress advance to still more colossal symphonic monsters, but it lead to progressive fragmentation of material and structure and reduction of length and volume to those minima of sonority which we shall encounter in Webern's works. The fascination which Mahler's late symphonies emanate is due to the fact that the foreshadowing of future principles of design is projected against a backdrop that still shows the outlines of once unbroken continuity in large areas.

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In passing it may be mentioned that Mahler's Eighth Sym- phony is perhaps an expeption from the tendency just discussed and prevailing in his work from the Fifth Symphony on. In the first movement of the Eighth, the Veni Creator Spiritus, Mahler suc- ceeds in creating restoring the full continuity through the formidable impetus that sweeps through this extremely long piece from be- ginning to end. As much continuity as there is in the long chain of attractive und grandiose details that form the second movement of the symphony, it is more a consequence of faithfully following Goethe's lyrical thought sequence than a product of musical architectural planning.

One might speculate whether in the Eighth it was the element of the human voice which by its by its very counteracted worked against the cracking up of the musical substance. For the symphony consists of two huge vocal pieces, the hymnic Veni Creator Spiritus, and the final scene of Goethe's Faust.

We now turn to our analytical survey of the Ninth Sym- phony. It has four movements, just like most symphonies of the classical type. But the character and sequence of these move- ments deviate conspicuously from the traditional model. It will be remembered that this model calls for a more or less dra- matic first movement at at a fairly fast pace, full of pronounced con- trasts which are brought into agitated interplay. This is usually followed by a slow, contemplative and lyrical second movement und a so-called Scherzo, which emphasizes dance-like characteristics. The last movement then re- leases the tensions built up so far in a playful mood and in very fast tempo. This movement usually has the form of a rondo, a term relating it to a similar structural design of poetry, in which one recurring central idea alternates with two or more subordinate ideas. It should be kept in mind that this scheme has never been a strict rule according to which the individual efforts of the com- posers could be classified as right or wrong. For in art there is no arbiter, no agency to set up rules except the artists themselves. Consequently what appears to posterity like as a rule, is merely the formulation of a convention by which the majority of artists of a given period abided. On closer inspection it turns out that the most vital, durable and significant specimens constitute exceptions from the rule.

The order of the four movements in Mahler's Ninth Symphony deviates from the traditional scheme in that the first is neither fast nor very slow, and dramatic in an entirely different sense from

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what the traditional models would offer. The second movement is of the type of the old Scherzo inasmuch as it is dance-like. But it is pre- vailingly slow and ponderous. The third movement is inscribed "Rondo", thus anticipating the form usually reserved for the last movement. It is very fast, but by no means in a light vein. In fact, it is as grim and dramatic as anybody could wish an opening movement to be. The last move- ment then is an Adagio of broad, expansive lines, and with a feeling of relaxation that usually was is associated with the idea of a second move- ment.

In order to understand Mahler's unusual arrangement, we must probe a litte deeper into the meaning of the structural procedures of the symphonic style. The mainspring of the symphonic mechanism is the contrast between statement of ideas and the development thereof. This means, in other words, that on the one hand musical ideas, also called themes, are presented with clear outline, precisely articulated in a status of stability. On the other hand, such themes are taken apart, its constit- uent components are modified and brought into new contexts in a continuous process involving swift changes of texture, moving from one configuration to the next in fluid transition. The degrees of stability and fluidity vary according to the concept of the whole. Usually in the first, dramatic movement of the symphonic cycle, frequently de- signated as Sonata form, shows the character of development, that is of fluidity, prevails while the other movements, tending toward the form of the rondo, are based on an alternation of more or less clearly delineated ideas. Already in Beethoven's symphonies we may observe that especially in his first movements the areas of statement and development are not any longer as neatly separated as in earlier phases of the style. His themes have been rather aptly called "open-end" structures, that is to say, these themes are hardly coming to conclusions which would correspond to the period sign in literature. They end so to speak as it were with commas, semicolons, dashes, inviting immediate continuation, pointing to forthcoming ideas, so that the character of developmental fluidity is spreading out over the entire structure with points of solidity emerging from the continuous flow.

This tendency leads to a state of affairs in which the traditional concept of the Sonata form with its clear separation of statement and development loses much of its earlier significance. The contrast

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of stability and flow is not any longer reserved to this particular form since fluidity becomes increasingly the nature of musical utterance altogether.

It appears that in Mahler's Ninth Symphony all movements are related to the rondo form that which is based on alternation of musical characters, including the first movement in which this structural con- cept is rarely found. Consequently this movement is most interesting in terms of organization of ideas. In view of its extraordinary length of nearly 30 minutes we shall present the opening and concluding portions only which will give us sufficient insight in the expressive char- acter of the music as well as its structure. It may be said that in spite of the unusual expanse there are only two basic characters which alternate with each other, which is quite astonishing. Much shorter rondo forms usually have two or three subordinate themes alternating with the principal statement.

If we call the two basic elements A und B, we find that the complex A which opens and closes the movement appears enters six times, while the complex B has five appearances. According to the general plan of the composition the consecutive entrances of the two elements are progressively more elaborate and complex, by means of the process which I discussed earlier as develop- ment, that is extraction of particles from the original statements, of and modification, and especially elongation of such such particles. This applies above all to the B-sections which are much longer and more complex than the A- sections. A being soothing, melancholy and prevailingly quiet, while B tends to dramatic outbursts, this distribution of emph- ases inparts to the movement a great deal of agitation in spite of its basically very moderate tempo.

We shall now hear a few brief examples which should help us to identify later the context of the entire structure. The first five bars of the work - obviously part of the complex which we call A - reveal three extremely elements of consid- erable significance. The first is the halting rhythm played by violoncelli and French horn on a low note six times repeated. It is followed by a characteristic group of four tones, brought out by the harp. While When the halting rhythm sets in again, another French horn presents a five-tone

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phrase which it will be good to remember. Here is the example. meas. 1-5 (till the middle of the bar)

This is followed by the main substance of our A, a long drawn-out, simple and haunting melodic line of the Violins, which the listener will easily identify. I should like to call to his attention the frequent rest, or silences, interrupting this melody They so that it pro- gresses in very short phrases of rarely more than two or three tones. This fragmentation of the material is an outstanding characteristic of everything that goes into the complex A. The listener will ex- perience the extraordinary expressive intensity and the unique mood which is the result of this inspiration. As I mentioned earlier, it is also typical of the late style of Mahler and points toward some of the characteristic features of the musical language to come.

Turning now to B, we observe in its opening phrase immed- iately three aspects in which it differs from A. One: a different tonal flavor (it moves into the minor mode and emphasizes other harmonic combinations than those of A) Two: the melodic line has high much continuity (it is not interrupted by rests), and Three; as compared to A, there is more agitation, drive and dynamic expansion. Here are is the opening measures of B: meas. 3 after the b signature - to 3 first beat (p 5)

Toward the end of this first and brief appearance of B which in spite of its brevity quickly reaches a high pitch of intensity we hear a short motif pronounced by the trumpets. The repetition of its three closely ner narrowly confined discending notes is extremely characteristic. and We shall hear it many times later. Here it is: three last bars on p. 7 (3 before return of [Key signature showing F# and C#])

The opening section of the first movement which we are going to hear pres- ently comprises the first two appearances of the complexes A and B. The second B rises to a vigorous climax und stops ab- ruptly at its high point. This is followed by the halting rhythm which we know from the first two bars of the work, now omni- ously sounded by the heavy brass. The four-tone group which had been heard at the beginning in the gentle tones of the harp is now given over to the harsher sonority of kettledrums, horns and trumpets. Here our first fragment comes to an end. You hear now the opening section of the first movement.

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1st movement, till 1st bar on p. 20 (4 meas. before 7, first half of meas.)

We now come in on the analogous situation which concludes the fourth, enormously extended appearance of B. The high point of the climax is considerably more powerful than the previous one. The halting rhythm now takes on the character of catastrophic menace, thunderously pounded out by the low brass. The composer indicates a triple forte and adds "mit höchster Gewalt", with supreme force. The four-tone phrase is again hammered out by kettledrums and evokes in the ensuing transition the mood of a funeral march. Taken over by the harps and the solemn, otherworldly sound of chimes, the four- tone motif imperceptibly becomes the accompaniment of the gentle, melancholy strains of A. The last reappearance of the passionate B is suddenly interrupted by one of the strangest details of the symphony. The musical process seems to disintegrate into inarticulate elements of sound. A few isolated instruments, far apart from each other, wander around aimlessly as if lost in the immensity of a suddenly empty musical space. The fearful mood suggested here evokes, the similar situation in the finale of the Second Symphony which I mentioned before. The similar result is achieved here with purely musical means (that is, without the stage effect of the faraway trumpets) and with a much more advanced vocabulary. After this the music returns slowly to the last, in time and space equally reduced statement of A. 1st movement, 8th meas. before 15 p. 46 - to end

In a sense In terms of emotional content This first movement is a summary of the communication conveyed by the whole work. Since it begins on a note of melancholy resignation, the later outbursts of passion and their interruptions by the overwhelming blows of the halting rhythm assume the character of flashbacks. Whatever the struggle and the its decision may have been about, it is all over. The resignation makes it plain that the struggle was lost. The scope of the work, the intellectual effort that is revealed through the originality of its every inspiration, ex- clude associations, if such are desired, with trifling matters. We are probably not far off the mark if we feel that this work makes us aware of the last things of man, of death and what might come after thereafter.

The ensuing movements elaborate on the commanication set forth by the first, adding forceful emphasis to its various aspects.

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The second movement is, as mentiond before, dance-like. It is modelled after the Ländler, the dance-form indigenous to the Austrian alps, a moderately aminated three-quarter time considerably slower than the waltz. Mahler's interpretation of this dance in the Ninth Symphony is still slower than the customary tempo, with the exception of the second idea, which progresses at a more lively pace. It has a character of The slowness of the dance removes it from reality and lends it a dream- like character, as if the motion gyrations of the dancers were recorded by a sow-motion camera. We shall he now hear the opening phrases of this movement. 2nd mot., till last bar on p. 62, first two beats

From the faster moving second section we quote a short section passage which is important because its sequence of descending chords is, in modified forms carried over into the third and fourth movements. I also should like the listener to notice the quick turn of a few notes at the end of the fragment to be now heard, been for this seemingly insignificant, conventional figure will be of met again in the later movements. 2nd mot., p. 78, 3rd bar ("a tempo II") to 3rd bar on p. 79 (first beat)

We shall now hear the third movement in its entirety. It is without doubt the most advanced piece ever written by Mahler, by which I mean that it reaches farthest into the new territory of dissonant counterpoint. The move- ment is inscribed "Rondo. Burleske". It should be noticed that the term "burlesque" in German carries none of the connotations attached to it in present day American parlance. It rather means bizarr, grotesque, grimly humorous. This Rondo consists of three thematic complexes. The first is exceedingly aggressive through the ruthlessness with which sharply dissonating sounds are piled one onto the other. Again the phrases are very short, and so that the context seems to be torn to shreds. While in the slow tempo of the first movement this technique suggested gentle sighs, it produces evokes here the picture of a panting rapacious animal, or the desperate gasps of a lost soul. The orchestration too is progressive in that it is not any longer intent- upon artful blending and mixing of sonorities, but allows the different instrumental timbres to crash against each other in bold juxtapositions. The texture is highly

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polyphonic, that is the music consist of two or more melodic lines progressing simultaneously, and these lines are so conceived that they constantly rub each other in sharply dissonant combinations. The overall impression is one of extroordinary ferocity.

The second theme of the rondo is somewhat more amiable. Its bouncy, lilting melody grows out of one of the gruff figurations of the first theme, reducing its speed to one half. The attentive listener will notice that the sequence of descending chords underlying this little tune is exactly the same as that which I brought to his attention in the brief, second example from the Ländler movement.

The ferocious first theme is repeated brought back and followed by a renewed statement of the bouncy second theme. Here the French horns deliver themselves of a bellowing ditty-like tune. The first theme returns briefly, stopping on a sustained high note of violins and flutes, which introduces the third theme. This again has less consistency than the second, but its articulation is also different from that of the first. While in the first theme the fragmentation of the substance only throw underlines the formidable drives which ir- resistibly sweeps over the cracks and crevices, the third theme is ouvertly patently put together from fragments which only loosely hang together. The standstill thus created is a powerful contrast to the rapidity of the other themes. A few bars after the high tone ment- ioned the trumpet sings out with the short phrase which is the main substance of this thematic area. The listener might be able to recogn- ize in it a slowed down version of the little conventional turn which concluded our second example from the dance-movement. This particular motive appears many times, faster and slower, at various pitchlevels simultaneously, combined with fragments from other places. The whole passage has a dreamy quality, and the various fragments suggest dimly remembered images of reality passing through the dreamer's subconscious mind. The fragments of the ferocious first theme which appear among these images soon prove to be tokens of reality. The aggressive rhythms of the first theme emerge more distinctly, and soon it returns with its full violence, chasing away the peaceful dream. It concludes the With increasing speed it carries the movement to is breathless, crashing end. Here now is the third movement of Mahler's Ninth Symphony. Third movement, in its entirety

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The fourth movement, an extremely slow Adagio, has the char- acter of an epilogue, stressing the mood of peaceful resignation which was indicated in the first movement. However the elements of stuggle and suffering are absent, and thus the expression of resignation is perhaps less heartrending, but by the same token less original and slightly more conventional. This movement again is a rondo with only two thematic characters which are not meant to stress contrast but are different only in texture und harmonic flavor, but hardly in mood. We shall hear the first statement of the first of the two ideas. Even in the first bar we meet again the litte turn which I traced from the second movement through the third. It may be heard throughout the short section which we are shall presenting in the middle and lower voices, now faster, now slower. But we encounter here another familiar element: as soon as the full string orchestra enters after two introductory bars played by violins only we hear again that sequence of descending chords which I also traced back to the second movement. They are not any longer bouncy or lilting, they are broad, massive, and solemn. Let us now hear this opening passage of the fourth movement. 4th mot., beginning till meas. 11, first beat

Coming back for a moment to this little turn I have pointed out several times, I should like to say that its use is quite typical of Mahler's stylistic manner. A listener familiar with early romantic music will remember having heard this formula many times in Weber and Chopin, for instance, and particularly in Wagner, with whom it was a favorite idiom when he wanted to suggest the overpowering upsurge of passion. Mahler has frequently employed such elements of the early romantic tonal language. In the surroundings into which he places such elements they easily take on the character of archaic relics, standing about like isolated ruins ruins in a landscape dominated by entirely different features. I have always felt that in this respect Mahler has anticipated some of the principles which much later became identified with surrealism.

At the time when Mahler wrote his Ninth Symphony, that is in 1909, the new musical language which is announced by the some of its alarming details had already come into being. [A]rnold Schoenberg had written his set of three piano pieces

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opus 11 which are generally recognized as the decisive breakthrough into the unknown territory of atonality. Alban Berg and Anton Webern had started to expressing themselves in similar ways. There will be elsewhere in this cycle ample op- portunity for getting acquainted with the nature of these efforts so that it is not necessary to pursue the matter at this time.

In a sense Mahler's Ninth Symphony has remained the last symphony written in the grand style. To be sure, many orchestral works of considerable length and scope were written since, many of them bearing the title Symphony. But in the majority of these works the monumentality of outline and the long breath, features which we since Beethoven associate with the idea of a symphony, are largely missing. This does not imply a shortcoming on the part of their composers, a lack of genius, or a general de- cline of creative abilities. It indicates that a phase of musical history has come to an end and that the characteristic properties of the new musical language emerging at the beginning of our century have made induced composers to preoccupy themselves with different pro- blems and new types if projects. What music seems to have lost in this respect, it has gained in other directions, as it has been the case at any of the numerous turning points in the agitated history of occidental music. The emotional impact and the intensity of its personal message make Mahler's Ninth Symphony an object of per- manent human interest. The position of the work, at the dividing line between two worlds of musical thought makes it an historical landmark. The original formul- ation and organization of musical ideas which is due to both expressive intensity and historical position assure the symphony of lasting value as a work of art.

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