by Kenneth Woods | Mar 27, 2006 | Explore the Score, Mahler, Mahler 2 Notes
There is a strong relationship in Mahler’s 2nd between the first and last movement: in essence the finale resolves the questions posed in the first movement, both musically and spiritually. Likewise the 2nd and 3rd movements of the symphony form a pair. Both are...
by Kenneth Woods | Mar 25, 2006 | Explore the Score, Mahler, Mahler 2 Notes, Nuts and bolts
The third movement of this symphony ended with nothing less than “the appalling shriek of this tortured soul.” How magical, then, is the moment that follows? Mahler instructs us that the third, fourth and fifth movements should be played without any break, and so from...
by Kenneth Woods | Mar 22, 2006 | Explore the Score, Mahler, Mahler 2 Notes
As the fourth movement resolves into a vision of heavenly rest one could easily believe that our journey is at its end, but of course this short movement (only four minutes) could hardly balance out and resolve all the issues and challenges the symphony had posed up...
by Kenneth Woods | Mar 21, 2006 | Explore the Score, Mahler, Mahler 2 Notes
The great scene of the end of the world plays out as a march, mostly in F minor. Four flats in the key signature, far from the purity of the C major peroration that preceded it. The final scream Mahler describes is a masterstroke- we’ve been expecting him to...
by Kenneth Woods | Mar 18, 2006 | Mahler
One of the interesting aspects of this particular project is that for most of the Pendleton, Oregon audience, Mahler is completely unknown music. It’s a rare privilege for a conductor to be able to introduce this music, now so widely loved and accepted, to a new...
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