The Might of Mahler

Just when you think you’ve hit an emotional peak in a Mahler symphony, he always surprises you by giving you more–more sound, more intensity, more of that satisfying feeling of “arrival.” That’s what occurred to me when our school orchestra performed Mahler Symphony #2 today. I’m referring to the climax of the finale, where the strings are tremelo’ing with all their heart, the chorus is belting out this massive chorale, and bells are going off in the back. There are of course exquisitely tender moments in Mahler contrasting with these moments that also reaches out to listeners with just as much expressiveness.

But there is an extraordinary quality about the unity of these grand moments of resolution that always manages to create shivers down my back. Perhaps the audience felt it too. In my two years playing in this orchestra, we’ve never had as long of an applause at the end. Again and again they clamored for Barbara and the soloists to come back out onto the stage. This was the power of Mahler’s music.

I wanted to post a video of Debussy’s Reverie in honor of the creation of this blog. But I think I will post this symphony’s finale instead. The conductor is Claudio Abbado. Welcome to my blog.

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