Mahler’s heart-wrenching Adagietto!

[@drnickyp]

Bernstein is buried with the score of Mahler 5 open at the Adagietto laid across his chest.

[@SamsonCheung]

Wow !

[@jamesboswell9324]

More Mahler!

[@noahfreeman8158]

I'm always blown away by how great composers can make so much out of relatively simple orchestration. The second movement of Tchaikovsky's 4th Symphony is similar, relatively small forces but unbelievable musical depth.

[@ocelotsly5521]

I think Loki was pre-empting the Rondo with his barking. Lovely analysis of a remarkable work.

[@thomasmelancon6004]

Heart-rending , Gut-wrenching.

[@ethanwarren9006]

Videos on KZbin about this piece start and end with describing the ambiguity of the tonality in the first bars. It's such a treat to hear you talk about the whole piece.

[@oliverpeters7485]

Thank you very much for your analysis of this absolutely magnificent piece of music. What I really like is your “story telling” of the music and your passion. I discovered Mahler roughly 40 years ago and am still flabbergasted by his dissonant harmonies which are soul tearing when he reaches the climax. It is a shame, that he died too early as one wonders where he would have gone with and beyond his 10th symphony. Maybe, you could spend some time on the latter?

[@mcrumph]

As someone who reads literary criticism for fun, I completely agree with your statement on analysis. I am neither a musician nor a composer, yet your videos should only be seen as a boon to the music you speak of & I would further say that, at least for me, watching your videos reminds me that there are beautiful things out there in the world & it is not just a burning pile of garbage. Plus, I really enjoy seeing the numbers roll up on the views & likes.

[@themusicprofessor]

Thank you!

[@tomhenninger4153]

Thanks again Professor! Love your insights. I’m not very familiar with Mahler. I will listen to the 5th now.

[@themusicprofessor]

Enjoy!

[@bachissimp1792]

I been losing my connection with music because I could not understand it anymore As days pass Hearing music for me has become vague and meaningless, the only way that I can get a glimpse of music and "feel" it is to analyze But unfortunately I don't have the ability and knowledge to analyze myself These videos of yours bring tears to my eyes, because in this world of pain and confusion I get to live and feel what I once loved

[@themusicprofessor]

Thank you! I'm really pleased it is helpful.

[@erikleveille7231]

Hello, Professor, violinist here and like most of my colleagues around the world I've performed the Adagietto numerous times, and the complete symphony as well. Goodness, no need to apologize for your wonderful, heartfelt analysis of this essentially flawless movement. Your joy was my joy, and I absolutely teared up as you dug into all the harmonic complexities and ambiguities that Mahler enlists as witnesses to his ardor for Alma. The moment that completely undoes me, however, is one that you highlighted- those bell-like Cs that quietly peal throughout the strings leading to the most basic of counterpoint by contrary motion: C-D-E-E-F in the seconds, and C-Bb-Bb-A in the firsts, rarified by those exquisite Luftpausen. You can dig into Mahler anytime and I'll be here for it. Your joy is infectious.

[@erikleveille7231]

My orchestra in NE Wisconsin performing the Adagietto. kzbin.info/www/bejne/fKWXZWueorWLms0si=KLaXud2AC07Atevk

[@themusicprofessor]

Thank you so much. Lovely to have a reaction like this from a musician who knows the music from the inside! And thank you for sending your terrific performance.

[@erikleveille7231]

@@themusicprofessor ❤️

[@SpaceMalakhi]

Professor, are you reading my mind? I just rediscovered Mahler's 5th and fell in love with it, especially the last two movements (the rondo is absolutely marvelous)

[@themusicprofessor]

Congratulations!

[@Bob_O_]

Having first encountered the Adagietto by way of its use in Visconti’s film adaptation of “Death in Venice,” I thought for years it was merely schmaltzy and clichéd. Thank you for helping me appreciate the rich complexity and novel features of the composition. In early March I’ll be in Disney Hall for an LA Philharmonic performance of the 5th, Dudamel conducting, and will finally hear the Adagietto with newfound understanding of its transcendent beauty.

[@themusicprofessor]

Superb! Enjoy the performance in March. Sounds exciting.

[@maiaka_]

I’ve heard an interpretation of these 2 last movements of the symphony. It’s like the 4th movement represents an anxious Mahler pouring his heart out to Alma, and the 5th represents his joy after Alma reciprocates. I think it fits fairly well.

[@themusicprofessor]

That's very interesting.

[@maiaka_]

@@themusicprofessor I thought so too.

[@ThalesF75]

My favorite Mahler pieces are the 9th and the 2nd, but the 5th also really hits home! Amazing analysis, as always - thank you Professor! By the way, hope to someday see Tapiola on the channel.

[@themusicprofessor]

Tapiola is a wonderful piece. I'd love to do it at some point (and other Sibelius pieces). It would be quite complicated...

[@craigkowald3055]

The 9th and 2d are my two favorite pieces of music. The 5th is also a tremendous work. I have had the privilege of performing 1-7 and 9. As great as these works are to hear, they are even greater to perform.

[@ftumschk]

I loved that impromptu bit of --Bach-- bark at the end ;)

[@seajaytea9340]

Thank you for your analysis and presentation. I appreciate, very much, your pedagogical approach and it helps me "see" the music more clearly. Mahler is a composer that I am usually intimidated and overwhelmed by. While I have spent a good amount of time listening to the first two symphonies, I feel lost & a bit inadequate as I progress into his works. I am not formally trained in music, and Mahler, more than any other composer, reminds me of that. This video helps me to realize that I can enjoy the music completely, without complete understanding.

[@themusicprofessor]

Thank you so much! I'm really pleased it was helpful.

[@davidhowe6905]

Thanks! The point at around 38:00 reminded me of those who feel that a scientific understanding of nature takes away the sense of wonder. I feel it deepens the wonder.

[@okb0ss336]

Great video as always! If i could make one request as to what you might cover in the future it would be the love duet from the second act of Tristan. The harmony and use of intstrumental color seems to me absolutely sublime, not to mention pretty much unprecedented historically

[@johannesharrer1420]

Thank you very much for your comments and your incredibly great analysis of this wonderful piece of music. It is one of my most admired pieces. Best regards from Vienna

[@themusicprofessor]

My warmest regards to the city of Mahler!

[@climate42]

It's hard not to love this movement. My favorite though is the scherzo. It's just mind bending. I like many of mahlers symphonies but the 5th just edges out the others.

[@themusicprofessor]

The scherzo is a remarkable thing!

[@andrewlord3398]

You picked my favourite Mahler symphony and this movement is a marvel. The harmony at the start with its avoidance of a clear V chord has fascinated me for years. You are calling out all these gorgeous harmonies but the movement seems to reside in its own unique sound world. He finds new chords via chromatic voice leading. But it’s the end of the movement that is most stunning: you said ‘bold’ but that’s such an understatement. He holds the second inversion tonic for as long as he dares, maintaining ff and not reducing volume until the cadence so that you hardly hear it. This massive climax seems to simply evaporate. if you fancy talking about the wonderful final movement, I’d be delirious… esp the closing minutes where tempi, themes, keys, orchestration all change every few bars and somehow it works. The ending is my second fave behind Sibelius 5. How about a series on interesting endings of 5th symphonies!!! Thanks for another brilliant video

[@leestamm3187]

Many years ago, I heard someone describe the final movement as "unbridled joy," a fitting description for one of my favorite pieces of orchestral music.

[@themusicprofessor]

Sorry about the understatement! Interesting suggestion. Thank you.

[@pascalgalipeau1796]

Thank you for sharing! Love it

[@Richard-b5r9v]

Dirk Bogart in the movie Death in Venice was fantastic with the music of Mahler as the background music

[@themusicprofessor]

I believe he Dirk Bogarde had a horrible time filming it because the makeup they put on his face burned his skin.

[@andycarter9845]

20:00 strong echoes of badalamenti and twin peaks in that viola line and harmony

[@themusicprofessor]

Talented composer. I suspect he knows his Mahler.

[@dabeamer42]

I've never looked at this score before -- thanks for the exposition. Mahler isn't in my wheelhouse, other than his earliest stuff (first symph and the song cycles). I guess maybe I'm just too impatient to wait for all the little semi-resolutions that Gustav includes. As you were forging ahead thru the chromatic middle section, I found the orchestration "worth the price of admission". Also, I was suddenly reminded of Barber's Adagio for Strings, which I first encountered in the full string orchestra version. I played cello, and I remember being stunned when I realized that at one of the highpoints of that piece, the cellos are on a high D-flat that is _two_ _octaves_ above the violas (playing at the bottom of their register). I remember thinking something like "ummm... that kinda breaks the rules, but it works". Perhaps you could put that piece on your to-do list?

[@themusicprofessor]

OK - happy to look at Barber's Adagio some time, yes.

[@tomparnell3803]

Another wonderful video; thank you. Exactly right re the false dichotomy of analytical vs emotional response. The analytical understanding (IMO) is layered with the emotional response in a way that enriches both. I might pompously conclude: analysis is in fact the ultimate tribute one may pay to a work of art.

[@johnpaterson6112]

I have read that the two symphonies featuring large choral forces (2 and 8) were popular in the early 20th century.

[@themusicprofessor]

Yes. There was critical bewilderment at the premiere of the 2nd in 1895 but the audience were amazed by it. The review in New York said "There are blood and iron in the music; there are tenderness and poetry of true elevation... in many respects a remarkable work, one that cannot fail profoundly to impress.” The premiere of the 8th in Munich in 1910 was a huge success - the biggest of his career. But much of Mahler's creative life was blighted by negative and hostile receptions.

[@nicolasgomezamin4076]

I love your videos! Perhaps an interesting one would be about the similarities between the Adagietto and the song Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen from Rückert-Lieder. It would be fantastic to hear your insights about it!

[@themusicprofessor]

Thank you. Yes, you're right: they are like different versions of the same piece aren't they? I think I may even slightly prefer 'Ich bin der Welt'.

[@allanlees299]

The more I understand how music works, the more it means to me. I think the Keats position ("Newton has unwound the rainbow") is simply laziness and our modern world is already indolent enough. Thank you so much for your expositions and your clear love of music in so many of its forms.

[@themusicprofessor]

I forgive Keats for saying it so beautifully

[@nickmorton9938]

I don't know whether analysis in itself helps generate the emotive response to music. (Although, I have actually transcribed this movement for piano, so that I can experience it more intimately. By the way, I don't know how you sight read directly from the score!) But, I do know that knowing a piece well can heighten the experience of listening. I find that I am listening ahead in some sense: the knowledge of what is coming makes the emotions so much more powerful as each critical point arrives.

[@themusicprofessor]

Yes, all true: analysis doesn't heighten emotion, but I think the point I wanted to make was that it doesn't detract from it. Understanding a piece doesn't mean you don't love it.

[@c05.63]

Mahler 5th is one of the most Perfect Symphonies ever Written, I loved your playing analysis, and Yeah definitely is better to know how it works, I think was Nobel Prize Physicist Richard Feynman Who said something like "Who can call himself a poet if only speaks of Jupiter as a Celestial God but keeps quiet if its a Astronomical Entity Made of Methane", something along those lines, not the exact quote, but yeah, the Analysis does it far better, after all, composers look up to their predecessors work to do their own, if we don't analyze this great music which hope we could have of Creating something of similar caliber?, or at the very least perform it properly.

[@nigelhaywood9753]

Loki wants his own channel! He wants some pieces that are more dog-relevant...more of those ultra high notes. Thanks for another great video. I've heard the piece so many times but was never really aware of all that he misses out, especially in the harmony at the beginning.

[@themusicprofessor]

Yes, perhaps I should do a Loki-focussed video soon. Have you seen this? kzbin.info/www/bejne/sHu5kmBqq75gpJIsi=xrHWQPGzUoErCkBw

[@perrinhugo8234]

​@themusicprofessor this is amazing! For dog relevant works, it appeared that Elgar was very fond of them, despite being forbidden by his wife to get one for quite a long time. He ended up sharing his life with one after she was no longer in the equation and composed a piece about her. I've read that he even talked to his dog at the end of his birthday concert at the BBC, but that's not a facechecked information, even though I want to believe! Also Schostakowitsch once said something along the line that dogs die faster because they love more intensely, a sentence I carry daily. (Also 40min of listening thought about Mahler is always incredible, thanks for that :))

[@themusicprofessor]

Absolutely right. I believe Elgar had a spaniel called Marco and a Cairn Terrier named MinaI, and Ethel Smyth had a beloved dog (oddly also called Marco!) Many composers were animal lovers. Mozart had his beloved starling, Wagner had loads of dogs, Britten had his dachshunds, Stravinsky loved cats etc.

[@eriksamko6341]

Highly enjoy your videos, always reignites my love for these pieces. Would love an analysis like this on Salome.

[@themusicprofessor]

It's wonderful...but it would take literally weeks to do!

[@tommccanna7036]

Thanks for analysing the music vertically. Playing the viola in this piece I'm more aware of the melodic direction, even in the accompanying harmony, with all the appoggiaturas, passing notes and auxiliaries, many of which are chromatic (there's your Sehnsucht!)

[@themusicprofessor]

It must be fab to play!

[@tommccanna7036]

@@themusicprofessor Indeed, and the viola part isn't too demanding technically - apart from that glissando over a ninth, which needs co-ordinating with the firsts' wider glissando.

[@beluch2768]

Another wonderful exploration, thank you. Analysis does deepen one's joy and understanding of the music, as you say. Two minor points: he calls Alma "meine Sonne", my Sun (which is a lot more than a sunbeam); and, respecting your description of Bernstein's slow tempo as "indulgent", I notice that the score says "sehr langsam", then aeusserst langsam" (extremely slow), then "wieder sehr langsam", so perhaps he had some justification. Please give us more of your uniquely insightful videos.

[@themusicprofessor]

Thank you. Very interesting. What might be a better translation of Meine Sonne"? I love Bernstein's conducting - I think, if he had a fault, it was an inclination to be a little self-indulgent but of course it's magnificent and the tempo works.

[@beluch2768]

@@themusicprofessor Why not just "my sun" (= meine Sonne)? I agree about Lenny's self-indulgence. There are terrible videos on KZbin of him chewing out Jose Carreras and Christa Ludwig. A petulant egomaniac. I'm still hoping you'll do a deep dive into something of Scriabin's, maybe just the op. 8, no. 12 etude (marked Patetico), which seems to me the ultimate short piece for piano. I think this Victor Merzhanov performance is the best. Don't know if they'll let me attach the link but here goes: kzbin.info/www/bejne/anS5ip-LfceqpNU

[@themusicprofessor]

Thank you. Interesting Scriabin suggestion. Will bear it in mind...

[@RickMalteseERP]

I love this movement but it’s one of those rare times where I wonder if the analysis takes something away from its beauty. Perhaps it’s like you say he is an amazing orchestrator and the clashes on piano are more harsh but thanks for demonstrating the simplicity and pop like harmony.

[@themusicprofessor]

Well of course the piece itself is much more beautiful without me playing and talking over it! But maybe this just gives a few insights.

[@RickMalteseERP]

@@themusicprofessorkeep up the good work. We want to know why these works move us. It’s interesting that it’s not that difficult to play by ear many of the passages. It has something to do with what you were saying I believe that the overall harmonic progression is basic and that his treatment of dissonance and resolution has a profound effect, especially considering how long he waits before the resolution.

[@leestamm3187]

A very interesting discussion. It works in a varied range of tempi, though becomes more funereal than romantic if played too slowly. It's worth pointing out that Mahler took it at a considerably faster tempo than we hear in modern times. Mengelberg's recording of the piece is at a similar speed, for those who might be interested.

[@themusicprofessor]

Yes, fascinating! Mengelberg's recording in 1926: quite sprightly! kzbin.info/www/bejne/aHm0oX2ahLeLbNksi=hXLLyrx5bQin9e4V

[@rdbury507]

13:55 - "Forgive my terrible German." It wasn't that terrible, but I did hear my German tutor: "No, 'zonne', not 'sonne'." For future reference, the text can be found in the Wikipedia article; I don't think you gave a link to in the video itself or the description. (FWIW, the German is public domain, but the translation isn't. It's not entirely clear, but it seems to by a Wikipedia editor, in which case it's under a CC license, meaning you can use it only if you give an attribution, which you can do in the video description.) Anyway, the translation is pretty loose and rearranged from the original. The verb "klagen" is very interesting here; the closest approximation in English is probably "lament" in this context. But it would be strange to say "I lament my longing to you" in English, hence the rephrasing and reworking of the original. To me there's something very Wagner-esque about the melody here.

[@themusicprofessor]

Ah yes. I'll credit that.

[@BsktImp]

Absolutely bizarre looking back now, but at school for some unfathomable reason we found the German directions amusing: _"Nicht schleppen!"_

[@moreadagio]

Wonderful exposition, exquisite composition. This video is a nice companion to Bernstein in the Norton Lectures discussing the Adagietto as an exemplar of beauty expressed through chromatic ambiguity. The unresolved suspensions, the little dissonances, the darksome, tragic turns - it’s as if Mahler was able to foresee what was coming, yet through it all his love was undying. Musically, it all goes back to the Tristan chord, doesn’t it? By the way, here’s something to take your breath away: kzbin.info/www/bejne/o5CzlJKXYrx1idUfeature=shared - Mahler on ice, it gives me chills every time.

[@themusicprofessor]

Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir on fire!

[@historicalpiano]

Begins: "we're going to talk about good stuff: Mahler..." :)

[@0reason2exist]

That glissando 😂

[@adude9882]

Ah yes, how did I know that our old friend Sehnsucht would put in an appearance?

[@the_eternal_student]

I thought composers and conductors had the same skill set, hearing multiple voices at once.

[@themusicprofessor]

Yes. Some can hear multiple voices better than others.

[@christophbader3713]

Nice content as always. Mahler might be the composer, that I have the most difficulties to come to terms with. I really like listening to movements at a time, third symphony, second, ninth and what not. I know, there is some structure - but I never feel it. The sonata forms grow and grow and I loose myself not anymore knowing, where I am and where we are heading to. Not in an interesting way, more in a bored way. Never happens with Bruckner or Shostakowitch. I might also have an issue with Mahlers absence of humor. And his absolutely awful Kitsch German lyrics. I see, he is a great composer. I really do. But still,.. on my book, my favorite of Mahlers Symphonies is Shostakovichs fifth.

[@themusicprofessor]

I can understand the difficulty. Mahler is one of the most 'knowing' of great composers. He seems almost too aware of his own gifts and their impact on the listener. I know some listeners who find this manipulative! Not sure about your comment on the lyrics since he chooses Rilke, Goethe and other fine writers to set. The Wunderhorn texts are archetypal 'German Romantic' lyrics and I think he was drawn to their folksy simplicity. As for form, well I'd say he was a master really: the big movements are certainly immense but they are brilliantly put together. The scale is certainly challenging though.

[@christophbader3713]

@@themusicprofessorYea, manipulative is something, that comes to mind. I have somehow difficulties to trust. I like to become overwhelmed, but it just does not happen. But I absolutely understand, that he is a great composer. I think, Mahler extends some Klopstock with his own lyrics in the Second Symphony. I refer maybe more to Songs of the … fahrende Geselle… I heard them sometimes live and … got hung up with the lyrics completely…

[@christophbader3713]

I do not want to sound to nagging. I tried often. Chailly, I tried Janssons, I tried Bernstein. Well time spend anyways.

[@themusicprofessor]

He does extend Klopstock. I guess I find that rather moving... as if he's trying to make himself believe it! His poems aren't great German literature but I think they are adequate for what he wants to express and he sets them very well!

[@kerndeorksen5828]

Glenn Gould thought Mahler was wonderful. He would go the Toronto zoo and sing Mahler to the elephants.

[@coreylapinas1000]

she's mid tbh. Gustav was too good for her.

[@BenTrem42]

/*sigh*/ sorry, but nope ... NoGo!