A Tragic Symphony
Gustav Mahler
“My Sixth will propound riddles the solution of which may be attempted only by a generation which has absorbed and truly digested my first five symphonies.”
I’ve been listening to a lot of Mahler as of late, and indeed had planned to send some throughout the Easter season. I had hoped to do a write-up on Mahler 2 for Easter, and when that failed, I had planned on a Mahler 8 post for Pentecost. But alas, such a post did not materialise either.
Here then, is Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No 6 in A Minor: Tragic. It is perhaps his least well known, and indeed had passed me by for quite some time. It contains a theme also known as the “Alma Theme” and if you know anything about Mahler’s relationship with Alma, then you know why this symphony might bear the name “Tragic”. I had the pleasure of attending a performance of this on Martinmas last year, and it has stuck with me since. It is grim and foreboding, and sort of transports the listener to another world.
The program for my performance signaled me to listen for two things in the symphony, and I present them here to you. First, there is a motif of “fate” running through the symphony, that is first symbolized by a big A chord in fortissimo by the trumpets that has a percussive marching pattern running underneath. Mahler will return to this pattern in later movements to keep reminding you of fate. This idea of fate also plays into the other most memorable part of this piece: The big ‘ole hammer! I meant to post this in conjunction with the feast of St. Anthony of Padua, who bears the title Hammer of Heretics. At the performance I attended, they actually used a large hammer, which was an odd sight to see. The hammer of fate! It looked so goofy when they brought it out, but it created a loud enough sound to get the point across. Originally Mahler had written in three strikes of the hammer, but being superstitious about the number three, he reduced it to just two. Many performances, including the one I attended, restored the third hammer stroke.
“‘I have tried to capture you in a theme; I do not know whether I have been successful.”
A third thing that I would listen for is the so-called “Alma Theme,” which appears first on the violins in the first movement, and is used again to close out that movement. This is a weird symphony, and certainly not as magnificent as his justifiably more famous ones. There are otherworldly xylophone and cowbells that whilst interesting, seem strangely out of place. When I saw this last year I came away thinking: “Do I like this? I think I like this?” Indeed, I do like it, and I hope you like it as well (especially if you like pizzicato there’s plenty of that to go round whew boy). It is long, so give yourself space to listen to it, but it’s Mahler so you knew that going in. The final movement in particular is a chore, but the more I listen to more I like it.
Happy Listening!
Sancta Caecilia, ora pro nobis!