Symphony No. 9 (Mahler)

Musicologists consider Mahler's Eighth Symphony as the apogee of his symphonic epic; the apogee was followed by three farewell symphonies: “ Song of the Earth ”, Ninth and incomplete Tenth ^[2] .

Mahler wrote the Eighth Symphony in 1906; in the summer of 1907, his eldest daughter, 4-year-old Maria Anna, died; shortly after, doctors diagnosed the incurable heart disease in the composer himself ^{[3] [4]} . “For a person,” writes Inna Barsova , “whose element was continuous movement, movement always and everywhere — in relaxation, in conducting and, most importantly, in creativity,” complete peace, the calculated step, the calculated swing of the conductor’s stick, the calculated creative excitement ” ^[5] . Heart failure endangered his work ^[4] ; according to Otto Klemperer , Mahler, in the old days at the conductor’s desk was almost frantic, began to conduct very sparingly: “... He wanted to live, and live long” ^[6] .

Gustav Mahler in 1909

He wanted to live, but he realized that his days were numbered, and this consciousness determined the nature of Mahler’s last works: “... The world lay before him in the soft light of farewell ...” Bruno Walter recalled. “The“ Sweet Land ”, the song about which he wrote, seemed so beautiful to him that all his thoughts and words were mysteriously full of some kind of amazement before the new charm of the old life” ^[7] .

The idea of ​​the composition, which became Mahler’s Ninth Symphony, dates back to 1905 ^[3] , but by the time the composer directly started working on it, he obviously underwent significant changes. Mahler wrote his last symphonies amid a series of disappointments: in 1907 he was forced to part with the Vienna Opera , relations with the leadership of the Metropolitan Opera , with which he signed a contract at the end of that year, developed so that Mahler was ready to leave this theater ^[8] . The work with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra , about which Mahler wrote to Bruno Walter, was also not satisfying: “My orchestra here is a real American orchestra. Mediocre and phlegmatic. One has to lose a lot of strength ” ^{[9] [8]} . As a composer, he achieved recognition only in a relatively narrow circle - farewell to life was farewell to illusions ^[10] . A.-L. de La Grange believes that the character of this symphony was more directly affected than the composer's health status by the crisis in relations with Alma , as evidenced by Mahler’s handwriting on the manuscript - farewell to youth and love ^[11] .

In August 1909, in Altschulderbach (three kilometers from Toblach ) Mahler finished work on the “ Song of the Earth ” ^[3] , - as Bruno Walter claimed, only a superstitious fear of the number 9 , which became fatal for L. van Beethoven and A. Bruckner , prevented him from calling this work a symphony ^{[12] [13]} . Did Mahler decide that he managed to deceive fate - according to contemporaries, he still remembered the Ninth of Beethoven and told his relatives: “She is also going to Re! and least of all in the major ” ^[10] , but, having written“ A Song of the Earth ”, he then, in August, began work on a new composition, which he fearlessly called“ Symphony No. 9 ”; she was destined to become the last completed symphony of the composer ^{[3] [14]} .

In the fall of 1909, Mahler took the manuscript of the symphony with him to New York “in such a way that it was almost impossible to disassemble”, and rewrote it completely, apparently, already in 1910 ^[12] . The unsuccessful premiere of the Fifth Symphony further prompted Mahler not to rush to publish his compositions - to postpone the first performance for two, or even three years. The premiere of the Eighth Symphony took place only in September 1910, it became the first real triumph of the composer, but Mahler did not have time to conduct the “Song of the Earth”, - the premiere in November 1911 was held by Bruno Walter ^[14] . Under his management, on June 26, 1912 in Vienna , the first performance of the Ninth Symphony took place ^[14] .

“I expressed in it,” Mahler Bruno Walter wrote in the autumn of 1909 about his Ninth Symphony, “something that has long been asked of me outside; maybe it (as a whole) can most likely be placed next to the Fourth (although it is completely different) ” ^[15] . From the composer's early symphonies, in which everything is abundant, the Ninth is distinguished by classical restraint, and there are no extravagant instruments in the orchestra like cow bells, a hammer or steel bars ^[16] . The ninth is one of Mahler’s few four-part symphonies, but this is the only thing left in her from the traditional classic-romantic structure. Compared to the classical cycle - allegro , andante (or adagio ), scherzo and rondo –final at a fast pace –– in Mahler’s symphony everything seems to be upside down: the first part is andante, followed by the scherzo and rondo, the fourth part is adagio ^[17] . If in the classical cycle the first part was the dramatic center of the symphony, and Mahler often turned out to be the finale, then in the Ninth it moves to the third part - Rondo-Burleske ^[18] .

In the Ninth Symphony, as well as in the Fourth, lyrics and grotesque are equally represented, and there are also no heroic and dramatic images. But if the Fourth Symphony - the fruit of fatigue and disappointment, as some researchers believe - suggested leaving the world of illusions, then in the Ninth there is no longer any illusion ^[17] . And if in general, during the symphonic epic, Mahler conducted a tense dialogue with himself and almost every symphony disputed the conclusions of the previous one, then in his last incomplete trilogy this dialogism is absent: The Ninth Symphony is perceived as a continuation of the “Song of the Earth” ^[19] . And not only because both symphonies are permeated with one thought and one feeling - farewell to life; the theme of the beginning of the Ninth Symphony was born from the last measures of “Songs of the Earth” ^[19] .

The first part , Andante comodo, written in key of D major, turning into D minor, is a phenomenon of form identity: this is not a traditional sonata form and not developed by Mahler himself (used by him in Songs about the Earth) is variant-stanza. “Here are powerless,” wrote Paul Becker , “all attempts to interpret that do not break with tradition ... There is a decomposition and a new synthesis of the principles of construction existing up to now ...” ^[20] Erwin Ratz found in the first part of the line both sonata form and double variations , and in the structure of the exposition there are signs of song: stanza division and “the genus of a three-part song form” ^[21] . Even more complex was the form of Andante Inna Barsova; in this synthesis of many structural principles, some easily get along with others, some, on the contrary, deny each other ^[22] . “This structural diversity,” the researcher writes, “this fixation of the moments of dynamic collision of compositional principles is the essence of the form of the first part” ^[23] . In the first part of the symphony, Schubert’s and song beginnings are especially pronounced: its main themes are Lieder, German romances; I. Barsova also notes the song type of orchestral texture: it seems to reproduce piano figures from the part of the left hand ^[22] .

The measured, impassive sounds of the harp at the beginning seem to count the hours of life; in its development, this theme gradually acquires the features of a funeral procession ^[24] . In Andante comodo, writes I. Barsova, “strong-willed impulses, flashing, powerlessly wander, ecstatic take-offs give way to endless fatigue, bordering on prostration” ^[25] ; there is no longer any struggle - it has lost its meaning ^[25] . In one of the most tragic episodes of the first part, the conduct ^[26] , there are three psychological plans: one is deeply personal, the other is impersonal, designated by Alban Berg as “chivalrous sounds: death in armor”, and the third, according to I. Barsova , the impression of ironic contemplation of this mourning procession from the side ^[27] . “... The first part,” wrote Alban Berg, “is the best that Mahler wrote. This is an expression of unheard of love for the earth, a passionate desire to live on it in the world, again and again to the deepest depths to enjoy it, nature - until death comes. For she is approaching uncontrollably ” ^[28] .

The second part , scherzo, is German. Im tempo eines gemächlichen Ländler (“At the pace of a calm landler”), written in C major ^[11] . In this part and in the third, Mahler seems to be trying to break out of the world of subjective experiences and returns to the contrast of the First Symphony, where the world of lies and hypocrisy (in the third part) is opposed to a healthy folk principle (in the scherzo, also representing a landler ) ^[25] . But in the Ninth Symphony there is no longer former health, the nationality of this scherzo is devoid of idyllicity; the landler, with his rude rustic humor, is followed by a grotesque waltz , accelerating to a wild, “ expressionistic ”, according to La Grange, whirlwind ^{[25] [11]} . The waltz is replaced by a landler, but this time in slow motion and therefore hardly recognizable (originally this section was called a minuet ); the theme, writes I. Barsova, “freezes in its movement melancholy, as if moved away into the distance and for a long time, closely examined” ^[29] .

The third part is Rondo-Burleske, at the pace of the Allegro assai (fast enough), in key in A minor ^[11] . The dramatic center of the symphony, its only part, in which contemplation gives way to acts, but to acts with a powerful negative charge ^[30] . In one of the manuscripts of this part there is a dedication: “To my brothers in Apollo ” ^[11] . Mahler used the form of the rondo with a song alternation of an unchanging main theme ( refrain ) and constantly updated episodes in the finals of the Fifth and Seventh symphonies , but there the refrain personified the found harmony, in the Ninth it embodied the disharmonious beginning ^[31] .

In emotional terms, rondo- burlesque echoes the second part of the Fifth Symphony, with the first and fourth parts of the tragic Sixth (also written in A minor), and at the same time, even in the most dramatic initial section, there are typical dance rhythms for scherzos; in themes contrasting in the nature of the music, tempo unity is maintained, and this totally uniform movement gives the impression of some hostile perpetuum mobile - not acts, but a fever of senseless activity, manic activity directed towards the abyss ^{[32] [33]} . As if in a sports race, all the instruments of the orchestra take on the role of leaders - soloists ^[11] . Only once the pace drops, and in this slow motion (with the author's remark: “ German. Etwas gehalten. Mit grosser Empfindung ” - “Somewhat restrained. With great excitement”) the theme of the finale ^{[31] [11] is} tied.

Final - Adagio, German Sehr langsam und noch zurückhaltend (“Very Slow and Restrained”). After a feverish rondo-burlesque, it is perceived as a liberation from the world of deeds ^[34] . La Grange notes Mahler’s courage: no one dared to build the whole part on such a simple motive ^[11] . The Ninth Final is the same “Farewell” as the final part of the “Song of the Earth”, it has the same tenderness and transparency ^[11] . Merging with nature, the central idea of Mahler’s First Symphony , takes on a new meaning: in the ninth finale, writes I. Barsova, “a passionate experience of the beauty and harmony of existence, now personified by nature alone, is replaced by an increasingly clear foreboding of death, which is also part of nature” ^[34] .

The opening theme of the finale, filled with the majestic calmness of the chorale , sounds solemn, but the movement of the theme is carried out irregularly, which gives the chorale exceptional emotional tension; the culmination of this topic is similar to an electric discharge, and a decrease in tension is accompanied by new outbursts of feeling - like instantaneous illuminations that gradually lose their brightness ^[35] . The second topic, the antithesis of the first, on the contrary, is ascetic and impassive; it arises in the bowels of the chorale and causes associations with rarefied mountain air: the enormous coverage of sound space, writes I. Barsova, is combined here with the ethereal texture of the outlines ^{[34] [36]} .

The finale of the Ninth Symphony is perceived as a continuation of the finale of the Third , only “with a different end”: if in the Third code of the finale there is an apotheosis of the topic, then in the Ninth, according to the author’s remark (“ersterbend”), the initial theme gradually fades away for a very long time, “dies” , - as if it had not yet been realized then, in 1896, the estrangement from earthly sufferings now turned into a clear awareness and acceptance of one’s fate ^[34] .

Compared to the Eighth Symphony (“Symphony of a Thousand”), the Ninth Orchestra looks very modest, it is even inferior to the composition of the Fifth Symphony: in addition to the string quintet , 4 flutes , piccolo flute , 3 oboes , English horn , 3 clarinets , clarinet piccolo , bass clarinet , 3 bassoons , contrabassoon , 4 French horns , 3 pipes , 3 trombones , tuba , percussion group - 2 timpani , triangle , snare drum , cymbals , big drum , tom-toms , bells , 3 low bells - and 2 harps ^[10] .

The premiere of the Eighth Symphony on September 12, 1910, according to contemporaries, was the first true triumph of Mahler the composer ^[37] , and although it did not have the resonance that Mahler expected, after this premiere he could consider himself a recognized composer: listeners did not shared more on shiky and applauding ^[38] . The success of the Eighth predetermined the attitude to the last works: critics no longer mocked them, as before, and the composer's early death, just eight months after the triumph, did not have to do this - Mahler’s burial, according to Bruno Walter , was carried out “with an unprecedented crowding of people ” ^[39] . The only exception was the anti-Semitic press: one of its prominent representatives, according to the already established tradition, called the Ninth Symphony “a giant weed in the symphonic garden” ^[40] .

Mahler and in 1910 considered the Eighth Symphony to be his most significant work, but if you interview his fans, including musicologists, the first positions, writes German researcher , they will take “ Song of the Earth ” and the Ninth Symphony ^[41] . Both compositions complete the classic - romantic tradition of the 19th century and anticipate New Music ^[42] ; in the Ninth Symphony, both the form of the first part, and its special expression, which Fisher describes as a “crisis of the ability to speak music,” and a noticeable weakening of the power of traditional tonality clearly anticipate the works of composers of the New Vienna School ^[43] .

The first performer of the symphony, Bruno Walter, also performed its first recording - in 1938, with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra ^[44] . Many conductors, not at odds with contemporary critics, considered the Ninth one of the best, if not the best Mahler's symphony ^[45] ; only Leonard Bernstein recorded it eight times; Otto Klemperer , Carlo Maria Giulini , Herbert von Karajan returned to her again and again ^[44] . And it is no coincidence that the recordings of this symphony have been repeatedly awarded various music awards, including the Grammy Award: recordings by K. M. Giulini (1976), L. Bernstein (1979), G. Sholti (1982), P. Boulez (1995 ) ^[46] . In total for 2014, there were 168 records owned by 99 conductors ^[44] .

In the USSR, the first record of the Ninth Symphony, as well as a number of other works by Mahler, was made in 1964 by Kirill Kondrashin with the Moscow Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra , and he also owned the second record (in 1967), which turned out to be the last: new records appeared already in the post-Soviet era ^{[44 ]} .

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