What about the opening to the 5th movement? It starts you up RIGHT after the quiet 4th movement. Not only is it terrifyingly loud, but it's also a very LOOOONG intro. The low strings make a VAST run for it before everything goes downhill, or in this case, RIGHT UP to probably one of the loudest, strongest, most terrifying, and most gorgeous passages ever. The brass play an angry angry fanfare signifying the apocalypse, letting us know that he'll will be upon our lives. The runs on higher instruments go crazy and right after it dies down, the horn plays a stunning and shocking fanfare in the key of Ab. MY LORD is the whole passage gorgeous.
Mahler famously said that he was an outsider in Austria because he came from Bohemia, that he was an outsider in Germany because he was Austrian and that he was an outsider in the whole world because he was a Jew. And yet, and yet...truly he lives on for the whole world because of his wonderful, astonishing, life-giving music, of which there is enough for a lifetime of discovery.
I was introduced to Mahler as a teenager by a friend. Soon afterward I attended one of the premieres of his 10th by the Seattle Symphony. Why turn of the century romanticism speaks so strongly to me is the constant switching between brooding tragedy and glorious harmony always toying with my mind with out of this world dissonance. These ideas express my own life so closely. Like Bach, Mahler was constantly being compared to other great composers but as the highest paid conductor in the world is loved much more after his time. To me this is evidence his music was not only written for his time, but for our time and far into the future. He taught the great composers of our time how to write haunting and complex melodies with modern dissonance and wrote for the whole orchestra not shying away from innovation.
Mahler wrote some of the very most beautiful music in history, according to my taste. I adore and venerate Mahler. Thanks to your analysis I got a glimpse into how this out-of-the-worldish wonder happens. Pure genius. Thank you so much.
Its comforting to know that other people get the same intense enjoyment out of this music that I do. Those particular musical passages that you describe have the same effect on me.
Agreed! Richard, I sure wish I had had you as my professor in university; I would have gotten an A! :) Can't tell you how much I enjoyed your Mozart 41, 4th mvt. analysis - brought tears to my eyes. Even though I studied that movement in college and realized how special it is, your passion for the music and the color coding you added just brought to my eyes what I had largely experienced in my ears until then. Something about SEEING the thematic material change and combine throughout the duration of the movement was nothing short of wonderful, and lent more to my realization of the genius underlying it all. Thank you so much, and I hope to see even more in the future!
You're absolutely right in pointing out the similitude between that ethereal, hallucinatory passage in the first mvt of Mahler's 7th and the 3rd act of Götterdämmerung. I wouldn't have thought of that, not being enough of a wagnerian. But it should be mentioned that Mahler did conduct lots of operas, including Verdi's, if I'm not mistaken.
What makes the modulation to D in the excerpt from the 4th symphony so special is the sudden addition of the low D in the double basses, this adds a whole new dimension of depth to the sound that makes the high ostinato even more amazing. Great video!
I've been listening to Mahler for over 50 years. It's hard to please everyone but your choices are as good as any. Nice, concise analysis with the color coding in the scores. Well done.
That horn solo at the very end of the 9th symphony is one that would drive me absolutely nuts in the bars leading up to it. Totally exposed, high risk/low reward and just making that perfect octave leap at the end of a very long and taxing evening of playing. So good when it's perfect like in this recording.
Richard, we listened to your “Mahler’s most beautiful passages” UA-cam post this evening to celebrate Mahler’s birthday (July 7). What a treat! Deede and I thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
Thank you , Mr. Atkinson , thank you ..... your work is pure devotion ...... for the most precious flowers blossoming in the most precious garden ..... you are a lover , Mr. Atkinson ..... a lover ...... and this is so important . God bless you .
This is tremendous, thank you. Not only are your choices excellent, but you get into the why and the how. Very instructive for someone like me with only a little formal training, but a growing appreciation of this music.
The brass repeating that whole theme played by the strings in the opening from the Langsam movement of the 3rd is just stunning. Maybe my favorite Mahler moment of them all. Great compilation.
To me, you've chosen precisely those places that most cut to the soul in these works. When I heard the passage in the 1st, I thought, yes, that's what Mahler is all about...and going all the way through to that incredibly moving passage in the 9th. Just a wonderful video.
If I had made this list I couldn’t have picked a favorite section. I would just play the whole 9 symphonies and say those are the best sections but amazing job
Yup, you pretty much nailed what I would consider the most beautiful parts of each symphony. Personally I adore the actual ending of the first movement of the 3rd, but that's more of a triumphant moment rather than straight-up beautiful. For what it's worth, that last bit of your selection from the 9th, with the repeated turn with the celli, bassoon, and horn, is among my favorite 30 seconds of music in the entire classical repertoire. It's such a beautiful, serene, and simple moment and moves me to tears nearly every time I hear it.
I totally agree with all of these except for the 2nd symphony! In the first movement about 3 minutes in, there's an amazing, heavenly melody please by the strings in B major. It gives me goosebumps every time. Then about 11 minutes in, he brings back the charming melody in C major! It's perfect! Fantastic!
Yes, I love that rising theme. It actually comes back a third time near the end of the movement, and this third time is the most transfigured (it was one of the runners-up to be included in this video, along with a few moments from the 5th mvt.).
Such as...? What passages from the 5th mvt? I sat patiently in the choir for 75 minutes waiting on hard wooden bleachers for the DSO to hit the coolest musical experience of my life. Even if your favorite passages aren't a choir section, spill them anyway. Mine: the soprano solo (at 41): O glaube... Du warst nicht umsonst geboren..., and the choir (at 46): Mit flugeln die ich mir errungen... BTW, Orchestra Hall in Detroit needs to put padding on their bleachers.
There are two passages in the finale of the 6th that I find incredibly beautiful: the first is the transition and the first couple of measures into figure 132; the second is the is the 16 measure chorale at figure 161, with Mahler giving such beautiful and lucious chorda through our the lower strings and brass. Loved the video, especially the passages that you showed from the 3rd and the 9th symphonies!
the 6th mov. of mahlers 3rd is absolutely exquisite honestly from where you said until the end is gorgeous and as a horn player i love the solo horn playing a pp high Bb it just sits over the orchestra recurring multiple times till the end just beautiful
You have inserted sublime moments. In Mahler's music, sublimity and banality (volute) coexist. These two aspects are met happily in Mahler. I love ALL MAHLER
Very many thanks, Richard! I read music the way a halting 8-yr old reads text. I can follow a single - double, on a good day - line. Your calling out the sections instrument by instrument, by theme, is extremely helpful. At least my eyes and your colors agree as to where I am, so it's working! Next stop - Bruckner?!
Stay tuned. I've been working on-and-off on an extended video analysis of the monumental fugal finale of his 5th for many months. In the meantime, I do have a short video on his 7th: ua-cam.com/video/zO6rTT5Dr1o/v-deo.html
I used to have a set of the Groves Encyclopedia, circa 1950's. It was interesting to read the entry for Mahler and how, at that time, there was no consensus as to the strong value of his works. We are so lucky to have relatively easy access to so much music. I hope that Mahler is again discovered by future generations. The existence of so many U.S. symphony orchestras depends upon it.
Great job and technical analysis. Personally, I fell in love with Mahler's music through the dark and chaotic side of it. Maybe that's the reason why the 6th's Finale it's my favourite piece of music ever written. Anyways, I hope you consider doing a second part called 'The most colossal passages of each Mahler Symphony'. It'd be great :)
Thank you! That is already on my list of videos to make! Until I do, you might be interested in my list of Mahler symphony movements from greatest to least-great. The finale of the 6th is also first place on my list! richardatkinsononmusic.blogspot.com/2013/02/mahler-symphony-movements-from-greatest.html
There are so many majestic passages in Mahler's music! -And aside from his glorious adagio movements, he composed the most gorgeous finales I've ever heard, bar none! Is it any wonder that Mahler concerts are still sold out, and that there's SRO (Standing Room Only) at those with a decent orchestra, conductor, and chorus (provided the symphony being performed calls for a chorus).
Thank you for all this. I have to be careful of my own emotional stability when exposed to such powerful music as this. The 6th passage you deal with is so tragic and hurt, it has all the pain of humanity in it. I can't take it unprepared these days. Bruno Walter wouldn't conduct the sixth, he felt it too suffused with despair, if I have it right. Also the Chorale early in the 4th Movement of the Ninth, that has to be a contender, don't you think. Thanks so much for giving us this analysis. Mahler had the measure of the 20th century all right.
I first heard his 1st Symphony in the late 50s on a "free" record my Mom got for grocery shopping at the Grand Union Supermarket in Farmingdale, NY. I was captivated immediately. I didn't hear his 2nd or 3rd symphonies until decades later, in the late 80s in Berkeley, CA at Tower Records. "Hey, what's that playing? I hear it a lot these days." "Sir, that's Mahler's 2nd Symphony". Ahhhhhhh, I should have known. Now, I have multiple copies of ALL of his symphonies, and, Wesendonck Lieder (Ann Evans' at the 1994 Proms).
Breathtaking, glorious and wonderful .Not only is the music great but your analysis and visuals is wonderful. It , the written score gives you an idea of what conductor have to deal with. You have brought such beauty to my spirit particularly welcomed in the time of upheaval and covid. Thank you very much. I send you kisses and hugs of appreciation
It took many hearings of Mahler 1 to grasp that that expanded romance in the last movement is only briefly hinted at in the opening of the 1rst movement as a little seed in winds. Realizing this made that Mahler 1 last movement romance all the more impressive.
Wonderful video. There's no doubt that Mahler composed some of the most sublimely beautiful music of all time. The harmony in the passage from the 9th is truly haunting, full of pathos.
Majestically communicated, Frogthoven! There was no one like Mahler before he was born; and there's been no one like him since he left us. The man was "one of a kind" and a genius who was granted a great (and deeply appreciated!) gift.
I actually listened to Mahler's 8th for the first time earlier today. It's hard for me to listen to long pieces of music without spacing out a bit, but I can tell you that I very much remember the moment you talked about. The dynamic that the chorus enters in is perfect. It's so quiet, and so beautiful. I am glad I came across this video today. Perhaps, with time and practice, I'll be able to sit down and listen to an entire 1-2 hour piece of music without spacing out. Like I said though, you chose the perfect passage for the 8th.
Great video. Having performed all of the Mahler symphonies, what Mahler does amazingly well is to sink into those time bending moments with his superlative orchestration and use of dynamics. He was really in tune with the gestalt of breathlessness and expansion.
What a wonderful job Richard- one of the most enjoyable videos I have ever seen on You Tube..I'm a Mahler lover so this really moved me and educated me. Thank you.
There has been so many great melodies till now and there will be many later and that is why human mind amazes me. Mahler's music contains every explanation you want to make of it. Every single one.
Thank you so much for your offering of these passages. I agree with many, although it would be wonderful to see another offering on the most exciting passages in each of the 9 symphonies--of which there are many. Thanks again.
I really appreciate and enjoy your presentations, Richard. I really enjoyed your analysis of the Bruckner 5th, and now your work on Mahler's symphonies here is just great. Great use of the scores, great camera work, and intelligent, insightful commentary. All this from a former music major and present listener and student of symphonic scores.
I agree with most of all except for the 9th. I mean, that excerpt is beautiful, but from the last cello solo until the magical end of the symphony is breathtaking, specially the Abbado in the Lucerne Festival with those 2 minutes of silence at the end. Anyway, congratulations! I think that you must have listened to the whole Mahler cycle, which is hard, and read the scores, which is harder!
He was nearly 75% or more there. 1st and 3rd complete with 2nd, 4th and 5th full of notes. The entire melodic lines are there and Dyrek Cooke's version is as close as we're likely to get to one of Mahler's greatest works. There's so much beauty in the 10th that it has now gained a rightful place in the repertoire including a solo piano version.
A popular song of the 1940's taken (consciously or not) from Mahler's Third Symphony was "I'll Be Seeing You (In All The Familiar Places)", popularized by Billie Holiday and Jo Stafford. Even the title of the song has a "Mahlerian" ring to it.
I first heard Mahler 8 during my first mushroom trip. Needless to say the experience changed me forever, but the most striking moments for me were, by a considerable margin, the ending of part I and that piccolo passage before chorus mysticus.
Just what I needed. Mahler! By heart: The cello-passage of second mouvement of the fifth, . Also sublime! Etc.. Thanks a lot for the excellent presentation.
My favorite music of Mahler was written by Schumann in the D Minor Symphony of 1841&51. After a sunny moment in the 3rd mvt, a leap into an uncanny psychological space (uncanny in Freud's sense, a memory of something possibly unpleasant or frightening) where there is a fanfare over agitated but pp accompaniment. The section is called Langsam; it is followed by Lebhaft in D major. The Langsam section prefigures Bruckner and Mahler, if only for a few moments. Once again, thanks for the excellent work!
I left out an important part of Freud's 'uncanny,' its familiarity. A memory of something unpleasant or maybe frightening but familiar. This is specifically in the sense that a child remembers but does not understand what it's experiencing. I think this describes the Schumann very nicely.
Thank you for this beautiful selection. I'm not sure that I could make a selection like that myself, as I love too much throughout Mahler's symphonies. I agree for example with how the Urlicht from the 2nd contains extraordinary passages, but the ending of the finale also makes my hair stand on end. Just a shame you didn't include Das Lied von der Erde - Mahler's unacknowledged symphony, or the 10th. I know the latter is controversial, but there is too much original Mahler material in it to leave out, and the tantalising glimpse it gives us of his intended musical direction is just too enticing for me to ignore. Though once again, with both of them there is an embarrassment of riches of beautiful passages.
I've worked 40 years in "world class" universities where they have banged on and on about analysis, the pulling apart of things. They forget the synthesis, bringing things together. However, Richard, here, shows us the true power of analysis examining in detail the genius of Gustave Mahler, the ultimate synthesiser! Well done Professor Atkinson - I'm nominating you for the Nobel!!!
Well this is remarkably great researching for great moments in music, like searching for those peak experiences you only get few in life (if any). This image of heaven "Himmel" in "urlicht" is one of the greatest musical experiences I've ever had too, listening to this sensitive voice climbing up the octave on heaven (Himmel) first time and then again climbing the stairway to heaven literally when followed by the scale upwards. And as you think it couldn't get any better then follows the absolute peak when the oboe solo follows representing such longing within that suspension on melodic climax. You don't want to come down the stairs again afterwards. It is perfect.
Beautiful choices and excellent analysis. The 3rd being a personal favorite, I would have a hard time citing a given passage as 'most beautiful' (My personal favorite Movements are the 2nd & 4th); but that makes Mahler's work so wonderful - each Movement of each Symphony is profound journey, propelled by daring composition and impeccable orchestration.
Yes, those horns and the clarinet solo at the end are one of my favorite moments in any Mahler symphony. That exact moment was my runner-up for the 9th Symphony.
Richard, tell us about Symphony #10! Being a Mahler enthusiast I only came across #10 until very recently, and gosh, the first movement is the best thing that ever happened to humanity.
Omg thank you for respecting the fourth movement of the resurrection, everyone only mentions the finale, and yes while it’s amazing, the fourth movement is just pure nostalgia
It's not possible to mention all of the beautiful parts of Mahler's works without mentioning all of it. Every part of every symphony is totally connected with other parts.
Beaucoup de ces passages sont les plus « extatiques » ou « religieux » ou « solennels ». Merci de partager vos passions avec tant de clarté et de pédagogie. Bravo Richard ! Most of those are actually the most « ecstatic » or « religious » or « solemn » moments. Thanks for sharing your passion with such great explanations and pedagogy. Congratulations Richard !
The 4th symphony, singularly, I find to have beautiful passages in all four movements. I believe I read somewhere that the 4th benefited from significant fine tuning, more so than other works. (Although by the time of the 8th, Das Lied von der Erde, and the 9th, he didn't need to tweak).
Fantastic. You are illustrating so well two of the superb characteristics of Mahler. First, so rarely does he repeat a section the same, there always seems a change in timbre or combinations with other passages. For me, this is the main aspect that makes his music so enjoyable to study and listen to repeatedly. The second is his ability to combine so many different parts together. Many of the greatest musicians can get 3 or 4 different themes combined, but Mahler seems unbounded. Is 6 the most at any one moment? Superb use of combining the visual with the music. I look forward to more presentations.
In Mahler 9, I really like after that section you talked about how it modulates to what seems like a major at first but it is actually C sharp minor, it is just such an eerily beautiful part.
Thank you so much for this. As a Mahler lover you have added an extra dimension to his music. I play the viola and it's wonderful to see the tonalities , visualy as well. Thank you
I went to see Mahler 7th with Berliner Phil and Rattle a year ago. I was so glad when you picked my favorite part from that symphony. On the concert, in that specific moment in the 7th symphony, I think I heard the most beautiful sound and music ever created. I got so much goosebumps and I think I started crying. Words can not describe how beautiful it was. Thank you for making such a great video! Keep sharing your thoughts and knowledge!!
We need a “Most badass moments from each Mahler symphony” video! Anyone agree?
Nice job with your videos! I always learn so much watching you!
Yes, and there are countless examples from which to choose! Just the 7th Symphony could keep you busy for days. 😁😅
@@EElgar1857 Absolutely!!! Mahler 2 is my personal favorite, and it has got a TON of badass moments!
@@VincentGiza-Composerthe col legno bit in movement 1 🤩
Mahler approves of this! Great work my man!
Thank you Mahler! I'm honored to have you commenting on my video from beyond the grave!
he may add from the grave: "as long as you don't neglect the other 4580 passages of most intense beauty that I crafted into these children of mine"
Gustav Mahler Hi! I love your works
@@vikli5966 that's not the real Mahler
magicwheel1 yeah lol no shit he’s dead.
The finale of the second symphony is one of the most beautiful and breathtaking passages from any piece of music I've ever heard
I was frozen with goosebumps when I first heard it...
Although quite difficult (because you've been silent for over an hour), it is also beautiful to sing in the choir.
What about the opening to the 5th movement? It starts you up RIGHT after the quiet 4th movement. Not only is it terrifyingly loud, but it's also a very LOOOONG intro.
The low strings make a VAST run for it before everything goes downhill, or in this case, RIGHT UP to probably one of the loudest, strongest, most terrifying, and most gorgeous passages ever. The brass play an angry angry fanfare signifying the apocalypse, letting us know that he'll will be upon our lives. The runs on higher instruments go crazy and right after it dies down, the horn plays a stunning and shocking fanfare in the key of Ab. MY LORD is the whole passage gorgeous.
I'm gonna be singing it in a couple hours for opening night with the Oregon symphony!!!
dont forget the 8th finale, or even the 3rd finale
0:11 - Symphony #1
4:22 - Symphony #2
8:08 - Symphony #3
11:24 - Symphony #4
16:20 - Symphony #5
20:09 - Symphony #6
23:22 - Symphony #7
26:01 - Symphony #8
28:26 - Symphony #9
Thanks
🙏🏻
Grazie ragazzo
Thanks for this! I'll use these to create chapters.
@@Richard.Atkinson it’s an honor from you, I love your videos, keep doing what you are doing ❤️
The moment @ 14:23 was like literally being gracefully lifted into space to see its ever-wonderous expansion
the adagio of Mahler's sixth symphony is some of the most heart-braking and soul searching music ever written : a real gem !
Mahler famously said that he was an outsider in Austria because he came from Bohemia, that he was an outsider in Germany because he was Austrian and that he was an outsider in the whole world because he was a Jew. And yet, and yet...truly he lives on for the whole world because of his wonderful, astonishing, life-giving music, of which there is enough for a lifetime of discovery.
I was introduced to Mahler as a teenager by a friend. Soon afterward I attended one of the premieres of his 10th by the Seattle Symphony. Why turn of the century romanticism speaks so strongly to me is the constant switching between brooding tragedy and glorious harmony always toying with my mind with out of this world dissonance. These ideas express my own life so closely. Like Bach, Mahler was constantly being compared to other great composers but as the highest paid conductor in the world is loved much more after his time. To me this is evidence his music was not only written for his time, but for our time and far into the future. He taught the great composers of our time how to write haunting and complex melodies with modern dissonance and wrote for the whole orchestra not shying away from innovation.
Mahler wrote some of the very most beautiful music in history, according to my taste. I adore and venerate Mahler. Thanks to your analysis I got a glimpse into how this out-of-the-worldish wonder happens. Pure genius. Thank you so much.
It's life-changing music!
Its comforting to know that other people get the same intense enjoyment out of this music that I do. Those particular musical passages that you describe have the same effect on me.
I think I've deprived myself of Mahler far too long. I do thank you for your inspiration.
I'm playing Mahler 4 with my orchestra at the moment and when you said "third movement" I was like absolutely my dude.
Absolutely have to agree with Sym. 4. I still get gooseflesh every time I hear that section.
Yes, it's possibly the most beautiful moment in any music...
Agreed! Richard, I sure wish I had had you as my professor in university; I would have gotten an A! :) Can't tell you how much I enjoyed your Mozart 41, 4th mvt. analysis - brought tears to my eyes. Even though I studied that movement in college and realized how special it is, your passion for the music and the color coding you added just brought to my eyes what I had largely experienced in my ears until then. Something about SEEING the thematic material change and combine throughout the duration of the movement was nothing short of wonderful, and lent more to my realization of the genius underlying it all. Thank you so much, and I hope to see even more in the future!
You're absolutely right in pointing out the similitude between that ethereal, hallucinatory passage in the first mvt of Mahler's 7th and the 3rd act of Götterdämmerung. I wouldn't have thought of that, not being enough of a wagnerian. But it should be mentioned that Mahler did conduct lots of operas, including Verdi's, if I'm not mistaken.
best part of symph 4 will always be the last movement for me
I like that Mahler wrote the Urlicht for alto, not soprano.
It helps, too, to have a voice like Anna Larsson's... those octaves...wow....
Yes, what a singer she is.
Amen
What makes the modulation to D in the excerpt from the 4th symphony so special is the sudden addition of the low D in the double basses, this adds a whole new dimension of depth to the sound that makes the high ostinato even more amazing. Great video!
I've been listening to Mahler for over 50 years. It's hard to please everyone but your choices are as good as any. Nice, concise analysis with the color coding in the scores. Well done.
Showing the genius behind Mahler's magnificent works. Thank you.
That horn solo at the very end of the 9th symphony is one that would drive me absolutely nuts in the bars leading up to it. Totally exposed, high risk/low reward and just making that perfect octave leap at the end of a very long and taxing evening of playing. So good when it's perfect like in this recording.
That part in the third symphony just make me cry. It’s so beautiful, the music at some parts cries itself.
Richard, we listened to your “Mahler’s most beautiful passages” UA-cam post this evening to celebrate Mahler’s birthday (July 7). What a treat! Deede and I thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
Thank you , Mr. Atkinson , thank you ..... your work is pure devotion ...... for the most precious flowers blossoming in the most precious garden ..... you are a lover , Mr. Atkinson ..... a lover ...... and this is so important .
God bless you .
Just a personal note of my favorite parts
13:58 Symphony 4
16:40 Symphony 5
27:57 Symphony 8
This is tremendous, thank you. Not only are your choices excellent, but you get into the why and the how. Very instructive for someone like me with only a little formal training, but a growing appreciation of this music.
The brass repeating that whole theme played by the strings in the opening from the Langsam movement of the 3rd is just stunning. Maybe my favorite Mahler moment of them all. Great compilation.
Now you've done it. I now have to got back and get my CDs out and listen once again to his symphonies. Thank you. It's actually much appreciated.
Wow! Agree with you on ALL of them. Please keep doing this!
To me, you've chosen precisely those places that most cut to the soul in these works. When I heard the passage in the 1st, I thought, yes, that's what Mahler is all about...and going all the way through to that incredibly moving passage in the 9th. Just a wonderful video.
Very well done! I especially appreciate that you show not only great moments, but how they grow from their contexts. Greetings from Lucerne.
If I had made this list I couldn’t have picked a favorite section. I would just play the whole 9 symphonies and say those are the best sections but amazing job
Joy of reading the scores and of appreciating their embodiments by orchestra.
Yup, you pretty much nailed what I would consider the most beautiful parts of each symphony. Personally I adore the actual ending of the first movement of the 3rd, but that's more of a triumphant moment rather than straight-up beautiful. For what it's worth, that last bit of your selection from the 9th, with the repeated turn with the celli, bassoon, and horn, is among my favorite 30 seconds of music in the entire classical repertoire. It's such a beautiful, serene, and simple moment and moves me to tears nearly every time I hear it.
Yes, I agree, but also the first part of the sixth movement of Symphony 3. In fact, the whole sixth movement.
I totally agree with all of these except for the 2nd symphony! In the first movement about 3 minutes in, there's an amazing, heavenly melody please by the strings in B major. It gives me goosebumps every time. Then about 11 minutes in, he brings back the charming melody in C major! It's perfect! Fantastic!
Yes, I love that rising theme. It actually comes back a third time near the end of the movement, and this third time is the most transfigured (it was one of the runners-up to be included in this video, along with a few moments from the 5th mvt.).
Such as...? What passages from the 5th mvt? I sat patiently in the choir for 75 minutes waiting on hard wooden bleachers for the DSO to hit the coolest musical experience of my life.
Even if your favorite passages aren't a choir section, spill them anyway.
Mine: the soprano solo (at 41): O glaube... Du warst nicht umsonst geboren..., and the choir (at 46): Mit flugeln die ich mir errungen...
BTW, Orchestra Hall in Detroit needs to put padding on their bleachers.
@@Richard.Atkinson Its third, transfigured return is beyond beauty..... listen to Tenndstedt cond. who submerges you in it.....
Time to go listen to some Mahler
There are two passages in the finale of the 6th that I find incredibly beautiful: the first is the transition and the first couple of measures into figure 132; the second is the is the 16 measure chorale at figure 161, with Mahler giving such beautiful and lucious chorda through our the lower strings and brass. Loved the video, especially the passages that you showed from the 3rd and the 9th symphonies!
when i heared Mahler for my first time...i started to love my life! How ever your life sucks...you only need to to hear Mahlers 3rd...
the 6th mov. of mahlers 3rd is absolutely exquisite honestly from where you said until the end is gorgeous and as a horn player i love the solo horn playing a pp high Bb it just sits over the orchestra recurring multiple times till the end just beautiful
You have inserted sublime moments. In Mahler's music, sublimity and banality (volute) coexist. These two aspects are met happily in Mahler. I love ALL MAHLER
Very many thanks, Richard! I read music the way a halting 8-yr old reads text. I can follow a single - double, on a good day - line. Your calling out the sections instrument by instrument, by theme, is extremely helpful. At least my eyes and your colors agree as to where I am, so it's working!
Next stop - Bruckner?!
Stay tuned. I've been working on-and-off on an extended video analysis of the monumental fugal finale of his 5th for many months. In the meantime, I do have a short video on his 7th:
ua-cam.com/video/zO6rTT5Dr1o/v-deo.html
I used to have a set of the Groves Encyclopedia, circa 1950's. It was interesting to read the entry for Mahler and how, at that time, there was no consensus as to the strong value of his works. We are so lucky to have relatively easy access to so much music. I hope that Mahler is again discovered by future generations. The existence of so many U.S. symphony orchestras depends upon it.
I’m relatively new to Mahler and obsessed with Symphony No. 2. This is significantly helpful as I go forward and listen more deeply. Thank-you.
Great job and technical analysis. Personally, I fell in love with Mahler's music through the dark and chaotic side of it. Maybe that's the reason why the 6th's Finale it's my favourite piece of music ever written. Anyways, I hope you consider doing a second part called 'The most colossal passages of each Mahler Symphony'. It'd be great :)
Thank you! That is already on my list of videos to make! Until I do, you might be interested in my list of Mahler symphony movements from greatest to least-great. The finale of the 6th is also first place on my list!
richardatkinsononmusic.blogspot.com/2013/02/mahler-symphony-movements-from-greatest.html
There are so many majestic passages in Mahler's music! -And aside from his glorious adagio movements, he composed the most gorgeous finales I've ever heard, bar none! Is it any wonder that Mahler concerts are still sold out, and that there's SRO (Standing Room Only) at those with a decent orchestra, conductor, and chorus (provided the symphony being performed calls for a chorus).
maybe not "the most colossal" - that's could become too superficial ... maybe "the most breathtaking"
Thank you for all this. I have to be careful of my own emotional stability when exposed to such powerful music as this. The 6th passage you deal with is so tragic and hurt, it has all the pain of humanity in it. I can't take it unprepared these days. Bruno Walter wouldn't conduct the sixth, he felt it too suffused with despair, if I have it right. Also the Chorale early in the 4th Movement of the Ninth, that has to be a contender, don't you think. Thanks so much for giving us this analysis. Mahler had the measure of the 20th century all right.
I first heard his 1st Symphony in the late 50s on a "free" record my Mom got for grocery shopping at the Grand Union Supermarket in Farmingdale, NY. I was captivated immediately. I didn't hear his 2nd or 3rd symphonies until decades later, in the late 80s in Berkeley, CA at Tower Records. "Hey, what's that playing? I hear it a lot these days."
"Sir, that's Mahler's 2nd Symphony". Ahhhhhhh, I should have known.
Now, I have multiple copies of ALL of his symphonies, and, Wesendonck Lieder (Ann Evans' at the 1994 Proms).
"Most beautiful passages of each Mahler symphony" should just be the entirety of the Resurrection.
More like the entirety of the symphonies 1-9
Beautiful Choices from pieces of Mahler's Symfonies. It inspires me for my own music.Thank you Richard.
Breathtaking, glorious and wonderful .Not only is the music great but your analysis and visuals is wonderful. It , the written score gives you an idea of what conductor have to deal with. You have brought such beauty to my spirit particularly welcomed in the time of upheaval and covid.
Thank you very much. I send you kisses and hugs of appreciation
It took many hearings of Mahler 1 to grasp that that expanded romance in the last movement is only briefly hinted at in the opening of the 1rst movement as a little seed in winds. Realizing this made that Mahler 1 last movement romance all the more impressive.
Thank you for this video. Mahler composed so, so much great parts in his symphonies but you managed to chose very interesting and good parts on them.
YES you nailed my favorite moment of Mahler 2. The soloist in the City of Birmingham Orchestra video on UA-cam with Simon Rattle does it THE BEST
Wonderful video. There's no doubt that Mahler composed some of the most sublimely beautiful music of all time. The harmony in the passage from the 9th is truly haunting, full of pathos.
Majestically communicated, Frogthoven! There was no one like Mahler before he was born; and there's been no one like him since he left us. The man was "one of a kind" and a genius who was granted a great (and deeply appreciated!) gift.
I actually listened to Mahler's 8th for the first time earlier today. It's hard for me to listen to long pieces of music without spacing out a bit, but I can tell you that I very much remember the moment you talked about. The dynamic that the chorus enters in is perfect. It's so quiet, and so beautiful. I am glad I came across this video today. Perhaps, with time and practice, I'll be able to sit down and listen to an entire 1-2 hour piece of music without spacing out. Like I said though, you chose the perfect passage for the 8th.
Great video. Having performed all of the Mahler symphonies, what Mahler does amazingly well is to sink into those time bending moments with his superlative orchestration and use of dynamics. He was really in tune with the gestalt of breathlessness and expansion.
What a wonderful job Richard- one of the most enjoyable videos I have ever seen on You Tube..I'm a Mahler lover so this really moved me and educated me. Thank you.
Mahler 3's movement 1 has really beautiful moments as well.
There has been so many great melodies till now and there will be many later and that is why human mind amazes me. Mahler's music contains every explanation you want to make of it. Every single one.
Color coded analysis saved my life. Thanks
Thank you so much for your offering of these passages. I agree with many, although it would be wonderful to see another offering on the most exciting passages in each of the 9 symphonies--of which there are many. Thanks again.
I was already planning to do this before you suggested it! Stay tuned...
I really appreciate and enjoy your presentations, Richard. I really enjoyed your analysis of the Bruckner 5th, and now your work on Mahler's symphonies here is just great. Great use of the scores, great camera work, and intelligent, insightful commentary. All this from a former music major and present listener and student of symphonic scores.
Master orchestrater .. magically musical .. brass chorales.. Thanks for this ..
Great fantastic!!! many thanks for this video
I agree with you, very good selection
Thank you for this! As a great lover of Mahlers music for more than 40 years, I mostly agree with your chooses.
I agree with most of all except for the 9th. I mean, that excerpt is beautiful, but from the last cello solo until the magical end of the symphony is breathtaking, specially the Abbado in the Lucerne Festival with those 2 minutes of silence at the end.
Anyway, congratulations! I think that you must have listened to the whole Mahler cycle, which is hard, and read the scores, which is harder!
I enjoyed that Richard, excellent work, well done.
How about the 10th? Even though it wasn't completed by him, it's too brilliant to be left unmentioned I think.
He was nearly 75% or more there. 1st and 3rd complete with 2nd, 4th and 5th full of notes. The entire melodic lines are there and Dyrek Cooke's version is as close as we're likely to get to one of Mahler's greatest works. There's so much beauty in the 10th that it has now gained a rightful place in the repertoire including a solo piano version.
A popular song of the 1940's taken (consciously or not) from Mahler's Third Symphony was "I'll Be Seeing You (In All The Familiar Places)", popularized by Billie Holiday and Jo Stafford. Even the title of the song has a "Mahlerian" ring to it.
@2:05 - Agree, listen to Elgar's variation 12 from Enigma Variations. The cello section plays the theme in one of the middle section that variation.
I first heard Mahler 8 during my first mushroom trip. Needless to say the experience changed me forever, but the most striking moments for me were, by a considerable margin, the ending of part I and that piccolo passage before chorus mysticus.
thank you for this moments of pure beauty
Just what I needed. Mahler! By heart: The cello-passage of second mouvement of the fifth, . Also sublime! Etc..
Thanks a lot for the excellent presentation.
I saw Mahler's 4th a few nights ago with the New York Phil. The ending of that 3rd movement never fails to bring goosebumps.
Stay tuned for one of my next timpani/bass drum videos, that will talk about that moment again (for the 3rd time on my channel!).
Wow, I got my degree in music and really miss listening to Mahler. Think I will do some later.
100% agree on the passage from 6. Might be the passage that I fell in love with Mahler with.
My favorite music of Mahler was written by Schumann in the D Minor Symphony of 1841&51. After a sunny moment in the 3rd mvt, a leap into an uncanny psychological space (uncanny in Freud's sense, a memory of something possibly unpleasant or frightening) where there is a fanfare over agitated but pp accompaniment. The section is called Langsam; it is followed by Lebhaft in D major. The Langsam section prefigures Bruckner and Mahler, if only for a few moments. Once again, thanks for the excellent work!
I left out an important part of Freud's 'uncanny,' its familiarity. A memory of something unpleasant or maybe frightening but familiar. This is specifically in the sense that a child remembers but does not understand what it's experiencing. I think this describes the Schumann very nicely.
Bravo! Richard! Bravo Mahler! thanks for that wonderful analysis
I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Thank you for this beautiful selection. I'm not sure that I could make a selection like that myself, as I love too much throughout Mahler's symphonies. I agree for example with how the Urlicht from the 2nd contains extraordinary passages, but the ending of the finale also makes my hair stand on end. Just a shame you didn't include Das Lied von der Erde - Mahler's unacknowledged symphony, or the 10th. I know the latter is controversial, but there is too much original Mahler material in it to leave out, and the tantalising glimpse it gives us of his intended musical direction is just too enticing for me to ignore. Though once again, with both of them there is an embarrassment of riches of beautiful passages.
Dude I’ve binging through your vids like fries. Keep doing what you’re doing👍
I've worked 40 years in "world class" universities where they have banged on and on about analysis, the pulling apart of things. They forget the synthesis, bringing things together. However, Richard, here, shows us the true power of analysis examining in detail the genius of Gustave Mahler, the ultimate synthesiser! Well done Professor Atkinson - I'm nominating you for the Nobel!!!
Well this is remarkably great researching for great moments in music, like searching for those peak experiences you only get few in life (if any). This image of heaven "Himmel" in "urlicht" is one of the greatest musical experiences I've ever had too, listening to this sensitive voice climbing up the octave on heaven (Himmel) first time and then again climbing the stairway to heaven literally when followed by the scale upwards. And as you think it couldn't get any better then follows the absolute peak when the oboe solo follows representing such longing within that suspension on melodic climax. You don't want to come down the stairs again afterwards. It is perfect.
I get chills when I hear the featured section from No 7
Beautiful choices and excellent analysis. The 3rd being a personal favorite, I would have a hard time citing a given passage as 'most beautiful' (My personal favorite Movements are the 2nd & 4th); but that makes Mahler's work so wonderful - each Movement of each Symphony is profound journey, propelled by daring composition and impeccable orchestration.
These were all fantastic choices although I personally think the end of movement 1 of the 9th is the most beautiful moment in that symphony. :P
Yes, those horns and the clarinet solo at the end are one of my favorite moments in any Mahler symphony. That exact moment was my runner-up for the 9th Symphony.
Richard, tell us about Symphony #10! Being a Mahler enthusiast I only came across #10 until very recently, and gosh, the first movement is the best thing that ever happened to humanity.
I could bet that you were str8 curling into a ball crying after you finished listening for the first time.
Thank you very much for this very interesting video. Terrific work!
Wonderful work, Richard. Thank you.
Excellent analyses of this beautiful music by Mahler, Richard. Thanks for posting.
*4:44** • YES! YES! YES!*
it always gives me goosebumps!
And also _Anna Larsson_ and _Abbado_ together .. *uow!*
Omg thank you for respecting the fourth movement of the resurrection, everyone only mentions the finale, and yes while it’s amazing, the fourth movement is just pure nostalgia
It's not possible to mention all of the beautiful parts of Mahler's works without mentioning all of it. Every part of every symphony is totally connected with other parts.
Beaucoup de ces passages sont les plus « extatiques » ou « religieux » ou « solennels ».
Merci de partager vos passions avec tant de clarté et de pédagogie. Bravo Richard !
Most of those are actually the most « ecstatic » or « religious » or « solemn » moments.
Thanks for sharing your passion with such great explanations and pedagogy.
Congratulations Richard !
Getting into Mahler can be daunting. Thank you for making this video, Richard
Great picks! I seriously get goosebumps listening to Mahler!
i was not expecting the mahler 4 moment to get me tearing up... There's a performance of it near me, I think i might actually cry then haha
Listening to end of that movement is one of the most ethereal things a human can experience.
The 4th symphony, singularly, I find to have beautiful passages in all four movements. I believe I read somewhere that the 4th benefited from significant fine tuning, more so than other works. (Although by the time of the 8th, Das Lied von der Erde, and the 9th, he didn't need to tweak).
Thank you for your hard work, it makes me want to discover his music.
I would add that low brass melody and cymbal scrape in the last movement of the 2nd. That part gives me chills
Of course that's one of the greatest moments, but I don't think "beautiful" is the best word to describe it.
Richard Atkinson magnificent then, as it shows the calm power of the brass section in a way that words cant describe
Fantastic. You are illustrating so well two of the superb characteristics of Mahler. First, so rarely does he repeat a section the same, there always seems a change in timbre or combinations with other passages. For me, this is the main aspect that makes his music so enjoyable to study and listen to repeatedly. The second is his ability to combine so many different parts together. Many of the greatest musicians can get 3 or 4 different themes combined, but Mahler seems unbounded. Is 6 the most at any one moment? Superb use of combining the visual with the music. I look forward to more presentations.
In Mahler 9, I really like after that section you talked about how it modulates to what seems like a major at first but it is actually C sharp minor, it is just such an eerily beautiful part.
Thank you so much for this. As a Mahler lover you have added an extra dimension to his music. I play the viola and it's wonderful to see the tonalities , visualy as well. Thank you
As soon as I saw the title of this video, I thought of the passage you selected from his 6th symphony. Yay!
Thank you for this splendid presentation.
You're welcome!
Thank you Richard Atkinson for your selective choice of most the most gifted composer , a true late german romantic
I went to see Mahler 7th with Berliner Phil and Rattle a year ago. I was so glad when you picked my favorite part from that symphony. On the concert, in that specific moment in the 7th symphony, I think I heard the most beautiful sound and music ever created. I got so much goosebumps and I think I started crying. Words can not describe how beautiful it was.
Thank you for making such a great video! Keep sharing your thoughts and knowledge!!
I have a similar response when I listen to these.