Mahler, Gustav (1860-1911)
"Music must always contain a yearning, a yearning for what is beyond the things of this world. Ever in my childhood, music, for me, was something mysterious that lifted me above the world."
Although Mahler was famous as a conductor and few people cared about his works during his life time, it is Mahler the composer who captures the attention of the audience today. To the unmoved, he was a manic-depressive because his music seems to be too long, loud, banal, ugly and pretentious. However, Mahlerites go to performances of his works as if they are attending religious events. They also dissect and analyze every aspect of his music: the length of the pause between the first two movements of his Second Symphony, how the final strokes on the timpani in the Third's finale should be played, the order of the inner movements of the Sixth (not to mention the number of hammer blows in the finale), etc. Extra-musical topics like the meaning of life, death, love, infidelity, mankind's relation to nature or society, God and childhood trauma always arise when Mahlerites discuss his works in depth. It is not surprising because Mahler's music encompasses all of them and more. He was not a manic-depressive person but simply a daring composer who expressed his world and shared his vision of life in sound.
Mahler visited Sibelius in 1907 and the two talked about the essence of symphony. During this conversation, Mahler made the famous proclamation that "a symphony must be like the world" and that "it must embrace everything." In my opinion, he was not only referring to the physical world; he was referring to a domain that contains both the physical and the metaphysical, i.e. a domain in which life exists. Although his symphonies are all personal statements of his vision, we can identify with them because many elements in Mahler's world still exists in ours. For those who seek pleasure and relaxation in music, Mahler's music is definitely not their cup of tea. As we all know, life and the world are not always beautiful and serene.
To be continued...
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