Mahler: Symphony No. 6

Mahler: Symphony No. 6

Mahler: Symphony No. 6
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Composer: Gustav Mahler
Conductor: Claudio Abbado
Orchestra: Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
Edition: Music CD
Format: Live
CD Release Date: 2005-06-14
Music Label: Archiv Produktion / Deutsche Grammophon
Soundtracks:
  1. Symphony No. 6 in A minor ('Tragic'): 1. Allegro energico, ma non troppo. Heftig, aber markig
  2. Symphony No. 6 in A minor ('Tragic'): 2. Andante moderato
  3. Symphony No. 6 in A minor ('Tragic'): 3. Scherzo. Wuchtig
  4. Symphony No. 6 in A minor ('Tragic'): 4. Finale. Allegro moderato - Allegro energico
  5. Applause

Free Music Notes for Mahler: Symphony No. 6

Free Music Review: Please do not feed the romantics...
Hit: 5 Stars

Romanticism pervades classical music. When the lives of composers go bad, people often look to their works for "signs" of tragedy, or proof that the music arose out of suffering or foreboding. Mozart's early death and Beethoven's deafness supply heaping doses of romanticism upon their music, whether related to it or not.

As Mahler became fashionable in the later twentieth century (coinciding with a reacceptance of German culture from the smolderings of World War II), his "Tragic" symphony again awoke that old passionate romanticism so prevalent in classical music. Mahler himself referred to this symphony as "Tragic" and soon after he completed the piece his personal life took a turn for the worse. So listeners began to look for "signs" of these tragedies in Mahler's 1905 symphony. His wife Alma helped spur such views, which remain somewhat controversial. Some critics find her unreliable while others consider her word inviolable. And many people take such romanticism at face value due to the cultural maxim that artists suffer for their art.

Regardless, Mahler wrote one of his best symphonies and Abbado and company perform it amazingly well on this CD. Apart from the first and fourth, the sixth probably stands as Mahler's most accessible symphony for newcomers. Not that it doesn't have difficulties, but it sticks closer to the classic form. It utilizes the traditional four movements. Its themes and recapitulations really stick out (much like a Beethoven symphony). And it has a sudden and shocking ending (that will surprise you even when you know it's coming). Not only that, it contains some of Mahler's best music: The trudging oscillating marches at the beginning of the Allegro and the Scherzo; The Allegro's justly famous and breathtakingly swooping "Alma Theme"; the fiery ending complete with giant hammer blows; the amazingly beautiful Andante respite. In many ways this symphony "makes sense" even to a new listener. That it ends tragically remains stultifyingly obvious. And its musical analogy of a life marching forth proudly towards glory and eventually lapsing into parody and tragedy probably also slaps many listeners in the face. In the same manner as his first and his fifth, Mahler expressed his ideas completely in music (unlike his second, third, and fourth which contained sung lyrics to emphasize the theme). So people need only to hear this symphony from beginning to end to "undertsand" it. It utilizes "tragedy" in the Greek sense, and, in that spirit, Mahler may have simply been trying to produce a cathartic purge in his audience. In other words, he produced a "Tragic" symphony as opposed to a "Comedic" one.

This recording, in opposition to tradition, places the slow Andante before the pulsating Scherzo and removes the third and final hammer blow from the finale. Mahler apparently had trouble making up his mind on the order, but the original publication put the Scherzo second and included all three hammer blows. The "correct" version remains controversial, since Mahler continued to adjust the symphony throughout his life.

Abbado and the Berliner Philharmoniker put on a tremendous show. They definitely earn the applause they receive at the end. Though probably not the definitive sixth, this recording can probably sit comfortably aside some of the best renditions of this famous work. Put it on and sate the inner romantic.
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