I have a question: I’ve been listening to different versions of Schoenberg’s Chamber symphony no 1 and in the second section (track 2 in both Rattle versions) I hear strong echoes of Mahler’s 7th symphony, esp. the first Nachtmusik (I think - not absolutely sure).
Any thoughts on that ?
Oh absolutely. It's a fascinating connection, because Mahler's Seventh hadn't yet been performed in public when Schoenberg's work was written, so if he knew it, it was from the score or from private performances. You're right, too, in pegging the "scherzo" section of the Schoenberg work, but it's the second Nachtmusik, the "Andante amoroso," where the motif originates.
Other connections between the two works are more tenuous, but both have a strong emphasis on the interval of the perfect fourth, and the chains of fourths found in the first movement of Mahler's symphony find their way into every corner of Schoenberg's. We do know that Schoenberg loved and admired the Seventh.
