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The Music Room => General Classical Music Discussion => Topic started by: Bonehelm on February 17, 2008, 12:08:30 AM

Title: Favourite parts of Mahler 5?
Post by: Bonehelm on February 17, 2008, 12:08:30 AM
For me it has got to be the Funeral march movement and the out-of-this-world beautiful Adagietto. For some reason I just don't find the finale very exciting or satisfying, maybe it's because I have only listened to it a few times. But the 4th movement is always soothing no matter when or where I listen to it  0:)
Title: Re: Favourite parts of Mahler 5?
Post by: Symphonien on February 17, 2008, 01:32:56 AM
Aren't we allowed to like the whole thing?
Title: Re: Favourite parts of Mahler 5?
Post by: Lethevich on February 17, 2008, 01:35:24 AM
Quote from: Symphonien on February 17, 2008, 01:32:56 AM
Aren't we allowed to like the whole thing?

;D You rebel!
Title: Re: Favourite parts of Mahler 5?
Post by: O Delvig on February 17, 2008, 09:27:12 AM
It's all downhill after the first two minutes.  :) :) >:D
Title: Re: Favourite parts of Mahler 5?
Post by: BachQ on February 17, 2008, 09:29:52 AM
1st mvt
Title: Re: Favourite parts of Mahler 5?
Post by: paulb on February 17, 2008, 01:25:30 PM
Quote from: Perfect FIFTH on February 17, 2008, 12:08:30 AM
For me it has got to be the Funeral march movement and the out-of-this-world beautiful Adagietto. For some reason I just don't find the finale very exciting or satisfying, maybe it's because I have only listened to it a few times. But the 4th movement is always soothing no matter when or where I listen to it  0:)

good gawd
how many times have i read this about any Mahler sym

"oh i absoluetly love movements  such and such, but not really such movement".
man its all or nothing.
Title: Re: Favourite parts of Mahler 5?
Post by: (poco) Sforzando on February 18, 2008, 02:11:22 AM
Quote from: paulb on February 17, 2008, 01:25:30 PM
good gawd
how many times have i read this about any Mahler sym

"oh i absoluetly love movements  such and such, but not really such movement".
man its all or nothing.

no its not.
Title: Re: Favourite parts of Mahler 5?
Post by: Grazioso on February 18, 2008, 04:11:47 AM
Quote from: spaghetti on February 17, 2008, 09:27:12 AM
It's all downhill after the first two minutes.  :) :) >:D

I more or less have to agree, and that's coming from someone who considers Mahler and LvB to be the two greatest traditional symphonists. The work isn't bad by any stretch of the imagination, but the opening is the best part, and I find a number of his other symphonies much more enjoyable on the whole.
Title: Re: Favourite parts of Mahler 5?
Post by: MojaveJoe on February 18, 2008, 08:44:11 AM
I agree and would say, by far, the fourth movement (Adagietto - its a 5 mvmt symphony). It is one of the most beautiful pieces of music I have ever heard and is probably his most popular work. However, this board voted Shostakovich and Prokofiev over Tchaikovsky so popularity might not hold much water around here  :)

Cheers!
Title: Re: Favourite parts of Mahler 5?
Post by: Ephemerid on February 18, 2008, 08:52:46 AM
I enjoy the adagietto, but by and large, I have a very hard time with all the Mahler I've heard.  I've listened to the 5th a few times since I downloaded it (Abbado). 

This is an unfair comment to make, but what I'd like to say is Mahler desperately needed an editor. 
Title: Re: Favourite parts of Mahler 5?
Post by: MojaveJoe on February 18, 2008, 09:02:15 AM
Quote from: Ephemerid on February 18, 2008, 08:52:46 AM
This is an unfair comment to make, but what I'd like to say is Mahler desperately needed an editor. 

I tend to agree...hope that wasn't blasphemous!

I love the 9th symphony, but I think it would have been even greater with a bit of editing.

Reader's Digest Mahler anyone?

Cheers!
Title: Re: Favourite parts of Mahler 5?
Post by: Benji on February 18, 2008, 11:39:15 AM
Quote from: Ephemerid on February 18, 2008, 08:52:46 AM
I enjoy the adagietto, but by and large, I have a very hard time with all the Mahler I've heard.  I've listened to the 5th a few times since I downloaded it (Abbado). 

This is an unfair comment to make, but what I'd like to say is Mahler desperately needed an editor. 

I disagree.

"A symphony must be like the world. It must contain everything"
Gustav Mahler

Enough said.  ;)
Title: Re: Favourite parts of Mahler 5?
Post by: BachQ on February 18, 2008, 01:19:08 PM
Quote from: MojaveJoe on February 18, 2008, 09:02:15 AM
I love the 9th symphony, but I think it would have been even greater with a bit of editing.

Have at it.  No one is preventing you from unilaterally editing Mahler's score, and thereafter publishing your finished edits for others to perform.
Title: Re: Favourite parts of Mahler 5?
Post by: greg on February 18, 2008, 01:38:27 PM
Quote from: MojaveJoe on February 18, 2008, 09:02:15 AM

I love the 9th symphony, but I think it would have been even greater with a bit of editing.


lol, really? That symphony is one of the only things in the world that actually arrive AT perfection....


as for favorite parts in Mahler 5...... definetely the 1st movement, especially the quieter sections with the subdued death march. It's so mellow and sad  :'(
and of course the start of the development section, with the shrieking expressionism of the violins- that's soul right there!
Title: Re: Favourite parts of Mahler 5?
Post by: BachQ on February 18, 2008, 04:22:03 PM
Quote from: GGGGRRREEG on February 18, 2008, 01:38:27 PM
lol, really? That symphony is one of the only things in the world that actually arrive AT perfection....


as for favorite parts in Mahler 5...... definetely the 1st movement, especially the quieter sections with the subdued death march. It's so mellow and sad  :'(
and of course the start of the development section, with the shrieking expressionism of the violins- that's soul right there!

1st mvt is awesome
Title: Re: Favourite parts of Mahler 5?
Post by: Danny on February 18, 2008, 04:29:18 PM
Easily the Adagietto, even if I do love the entire symphony.  ;D
Title: Re: Favourite parts of Mahler 5?
Post by: Sergeant Rock on February 19, 2008, 04:22:55 AM
Quote from: Dm on February 18, 2008, 04:22:03 PM
1st mvt is awesome

I once took my parents to hear the Fifth (Matthias Bamert and the Cleveland Orchestra). Thinking my mother would like the mellow Adagietto best, I asked her, after the symphony had ended, "Wasn't the slow movement beautiful?" She turned to me and said, "I liked the funeral march better." I was totally shocked! Way to go, Mom!

That said, I have to admit the Scherzo is my favorite part. That is the very heart of the symphony (the Adagietto is a mere interlude really, especially when played the way Mahler probably intended...polished off in eight minutes). But my very favorite bit of the Fifth is the appearance of the great chorale theme near the end of the second movement and its triumphant return near the end of the Finale. Done properly, it definitely provides an emotional tingle.

Sarge
Title: Re: Favourite parts of Mahler 5?
Post by: ChamberNut on February 19, 2008, 04:26:35 AM
Quote from: paulb on February 17, 2008, 01:25:30 PM
good gawd
how many times have i read this about any Mahler sym

"oh i absoluetly love movements  such and such, but not really such movement".
man its all or nothing.

Good thing for you Paul that Pettersson symphonies are 1 gigantic movement.  :D
Title: Re: Favourite parts of Mahler 5?
Post by: greg on February 19, 2008, 04:31:54 AM
Quote from: Sergeant Rock on February 19, 2008, 04:22:55 AM
I once took my parents to hear the Fifth (Matthias Bamert and the Cleveland Orchestra). Thinking my mother would like the mellow Adagietto best, I asked her, after the symphony had ended, "Wasn't the slow movement beautiful?" She turned to me and said, "I liked the funeral march better." I was totally shocked! Way to go, Mom!
better than when i took my dad to see it...... he's like, "i don't know...."

the whole symphony is great, really.... some days i might even like the 2nd movement better.
Title: Re: Favourite parts of Mahler 5?
Post by: Sergeant Rock on February 19, 2008, 05:19:00 AM
Quote from: ChamberNut on February 19, 2008, 04:26:35 AM
Good thing for you Paul that Pettersson symphonies are 1 gigantic movement.  :D

And yet still very inconsistent: for example, measures 178 through 265 in the Eleventh Symphony really suck. I always skip that part  ;D

Sarge
Title: Re: Favourite parts of Mahler 5?
Post by: MISHUGINA on February 19, 2008, 05:22:49 AM
There is probably no other movement that has so much duality and conflict as the 2nd movement. Yeah call me weird, but I love that movement best. That doesn't mean the rest of the movement are least interesting to heard anyways.
Title: Re: Favourite parts of Mahler 5?
Post by: Sergeant Rock on February 19, 2008, 05:43:53 AM
Quote from: GGGGRRREEG on February 19, 2008, 04:31:54 AM
better than when i took my dad to see it...... he's like, "i don't know...."

I had fairly good luck with my parents. They didn't complain too bitterly when I forced them to attend every Mahler concert in Cleveland and Akron during the 70s- They heard 1. 2, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 9. Sometimes they even enjoyed it  ;D  I remember Dad got a kick out of the near-Meistersinger quotes in the Finale of the Seventh. He was grinning from ear to ear when I looked over at him. That was during my evangelical phase, when I was trying to make a Mahler convert out of everyone. I've mellowed since then, passing the torch on to you young dudes.

Sarge
Title: Re: Favourite parts of Mahler 5?
Post by: Bonehelm on February 19, 2008, 08:16:58 PM
I repeatedly listened to the Scherzo, and can make no sense out of it so far. All other movements seem to enjoyable...

Have heard late Bernstein, Abbado, Karajan, Mehta and Rattle.
Title: Re: Favourite parts of Mahler 5?
Post by: Dana on February 19, 2008, 08:39:22 PM
Quote from: Ephemerid on February 18, 2008, 08:52:46 AMThis is an unfair comment to make, but what I'd like to say is Mahler desperately needed an editor.

      I disagree as well. Climaxes are only worth as much as you prepare for them - the ending of the scherzo (my favorite movement) is proof of that. The french horn writing is terrifically entertaining and diabolical in this movement. I especially enjoy the part near the end where he works the orchestra into a frothy frenzy, cuts out for the solo horn, and then brings the whole orchestra back - what a catastrophe! And then just when the symphony seems resigned to yet another failure, Mahler opts for the surprise major ending! What a rousing finale to the second part!
Title: Re: Favourite parts of Mahler 5?
Post by: Dana on February 19, 2008, 08:43:33 PM
      Incidentally, I also enjoy the Adagietto, but it depends on who does it; the performers often try to make it too "hot," per se, but I prefer it more beautiful than passionate. Maazel comes close here.