Friday, February 22, 2013
Mahler Symphony Movements, from Greatest to Least Great
In case this is confusing, I'm saying that Symphony #6, movement 4 is the greatest, and Symphony #7, movement 5 is the least great.
6;4---
2;5---
4;3---
9;1---
9;3---
9;4---
1;4---
2;1---
3;6---
6;3 (the slow movement)---
7;1---
4;1---
8;2---
3;1---
6;1---
1;1---
2;3---
9;2---
5;4---
2;2---
1;3---
2;4---
3;4---
3;3---
4;2---
1;2---
3;2---
5;2---
5;3---
8;1---
5;5---
4;4---
5;1---
6;2 (the scherzo)---
3;5---
7;4---
7;2---
7;3---
7;5
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The problem, of course, is that no matter what their individual quality level, they all have functions within the overall work that changes their valence, as it were. So yes, 7:5 is a clumsy movement in and of itself, but if played right it makes a proper culmination to 7 -- assuming the rest of 7 has been played to lead up to it. Levine's recording does a good job with this. Oddly, Bernstein has a good approach to the finale but his overall conception of the symphony falls a bit flat for me. It might work better on someone else's interpretation; Gielen's, say.
ReplyDeleteReally... 4;4 so far down on the list? I know it's disjointed, but doesn't the coda rank up there with some of Mahler's best music? Of course it's pretty subjective. Thanks for sharing your preferences, and also your nice color annotations of the scores in your other videos.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you put the finale of 6 at the best. I definitely agree with that. The chromatic harmony and counterpoint and structure are simply amazing. It seems that you don't like the 7th. IMHO I would put the 4th and 5th movements higher on the list.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zo7H-jSKw5E
ReplyDeleteHere's my opinion, the bits I chose from each movements are my favourite 20 seconds or so from each.
3;6--6;4--9;1--2;5--2;1--3;1--2:3--3;3--8;1--9;3--6;3--6;1--5;1--9;4--2;2--3;2--8;2--2;4--3;4--5;2--3;5--4;1--5;3--4;3--1;4--6;2--1;3--5;4--7;2--1;2--9;2--7;1--1;1--7;4--7;3--4;2--7;5--5;5--4;4
ReplyDeleteSymphonies: 3, 6, 2, 9, 10, 8, 5, 7, 1, 4
2, 9, 3, 4, 1, 6, 5, 10, 7, 8... it does matter what order you learn and fall in love with them, how well you know them, etc. The latter 3 I know the least. I'm surprised Richard doesn't put 5:4 higher on his list...
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