Gustav Mahler: Symphony No.9 Movement IV Referring back to Bernstein’s theory that every movement represents a farewell to an aspect of life (read more in the previous blog), this movement is a farewell to life itself. The form of the finale can be read in two different ways, either as a Read more…
Gustav Mahler: Symphony No.9 Movement III In his introduction to the symphonic works of Gustav Mahler, Leonard Bernstein claims that each movement of the Ninth Symphony is a farewell in itself, which then feeds into the overriding themes of farewell and death. The first movement is a farewell to passion and Read more…
Gustav Mahler: Symphony No.9 Movement II The second movement has been said to be a ‘dance of death’ or Todtentanz for the original German translation. Adorno was one of the first to publicly characterize this movement, alongside critic Paul Bekker. This movement resonates a previous symphony by Mahler, the Fourth, which uses Read more…