“Mahler did revisions all the time,” Gittleman said. “Career-wise, Mahler was a conductor first and a composer second. Once he conducted a symphony, he made revisions, based, we assume, on what he learned in rehearsal and performance. And Mahler didn’t just do this to his own music. In their archives, much of which are viewable online, the New York Philharmonic has the scores Mahler used when he was their Music Director in the early 20th century. Pieces like Beethoven’s Ninth are filled with Mahler’s ‘retouches,’ his ‘improvements’ on Beethoven’s orchestration. ‘Perfection’ and ‘passion for the music’ were Mahler’s middle names. To the extent that he had political and professional problems with people, it was largely a result of the fact that they didn’t share his perfectionism or his passion.”
Referred to as “The Giant” because of its size, the symphony contains appealing emotional flavors from sadness and thoughtfulness to energy and warmth. The work was written during a hopeful period for the composer.
“Mahler’s Fifth, like Beethoven’s Fifth which the DPO recently played, starts in struggle and ends in triumph,” Gittleman noted. “The first and second movements are tragic and angry. The third is a lively and sentimental folk dance. The fourth and fifth are a love song (without singer) and the happiest, most boisterous, most joy-filled finale you’ll ever hear. And I think it’s all because Mahler was, for once, happy. He had just married the young and beautiful Alma Schindler, hence the fourth-movement love song, and everything was great. Alas, it didn’t last long. The next couple of years were full of troubles, and his Sixth Symphony is, perhaps inevitably, titled ‘The Tragic.’ So, in the long run, there was no joy for Gustav Mahler. But at least for this symphony, there is.”
In addition, the first-half of the concert features Schoenberg’s “St. Anne Prelude and Fugue” and Bach’s Motet No. 1, “Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied” (“Sing unto the Lord a new song”). Schoenberg particularly developed the 12-note chromatic scale and also arranged several works by Bach, including Bach’s Prelude and Fugue, also called St. Anne.
A descendant of professional musicians, Bach, who joined a church choir at age 15 and earned his education by singing, dedicated his works to God throughout his life. “Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied” is demanding, but a beautiful testament to the composer’s pedigree and his use of the motet, a popular choral form in Bach’s time. The DPO will be joined by the Dayton Philharmonic Chamber Chorus under the direction of Hank Dahlman.
“Bach’s six extant motets, are, as a group, among the greatest masterpieces the composer ever produced, right up there with the Brandenberg Concertos, the St. Matthew Passion, and the B minor mass,” Dahlman said. “They hold a unique and very special place in the choral repertoire. And ‘Singet dem Herrn’ is considered by many to be the greatest of his motets. ‘Singet dem Herrn’ is highly virtuosic, technically challenging, artistically peerless, and one heck of a blast to sing!”
WANT TO GO?
What: "Mahler's Fifth"
Where: Schuster Center, Second and Main Streets, Dayton
When: Friday and Saturday; 8 p.m.
Cost: $16-$65
Tickets: Call Ticket Center Stage (937) 228-3630 or visit www.daytonperformingarts.org
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