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CD1842700 MAHLER-8 SYMPHONY(Symphony of a Thounsand)
Product Description
CD1842700 MAHLER-8 SYMPHONY(Symphony of a Thounsand)
LP Recording
Gustav MAHLER (1860-1911) SYMPHONY No. 8 IN E-flat major (1906-07) "Symphony of a Thousand)
Magna Peccatrix - Heather Harper - soprano Mater Gloriosa - Arleen Auger - soprano Una Poenitentium - Lucia Popp - soprano Maria Aegyptiaca - Helen Watts - Contralto Mulier Samaritana - Yvonne Minton - Alto Doctor Marianus - René Kollo - tenor Pater Ecstaticus - John Shirley-Quirk -baritone Pater Profundus - Martti Talvela - bass Chicago Symphony Orchestra Vienna Boys Choir, Vienna Singverein Chorus, Vienna State Opera Chorus
Nuovo argomento Chorus Masters: Helmut Froschauer and Norbert Balatsch Conductor:Sir Georg Solti
For September, both of my Tuesday Blog installments are dedicated to the music of Gustav Mahler, featuring two of his later symphonies his “Tragic” Sixth and this week, his mammoth Eighth. Until 1901, Mahler's compositions had been heavily influenced by the German folk-poem collection Des Knaben Wunderhorn. The music of Mahler's many Wunderhorn settings is reflected in his Symphonies No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4, which all employ vocal as well as instrumental forces. From about 1901, however, Mahler's music underwent a change in character as he moved into the middle period of his compositional life. Here, the more austere poems of Friedrich Rückert replace the Wunderhorn collection as the primary influence. During this period Symphonies No. 5, No. 6 and No. 7 were written, all as purely instrumental works. Two notes in Mahler's handwriting dating from June 1906 show that early schemes for his 8th symphony, which he may not at first have intended as a fully choral symphony, were based on a four-movement structure in which two "hymns" surround an instrumental core. One of these hymns was Veni creator; outlines show that Mahler had fixed on the idea of opening with the Latin hymn, but had not yet settled on the precise form of the rest. From Mahler's later comments, it is evident that the four-movement plan was relatively short-lived. He soon replaced the last three movements with a single section, essentially a dramatic cantata, based on the closing scenes of Goethe's Faust, the depiction of an ideal of redemption through eternal womanhood. As was usually his pattern, Mahler would “compose” one Summer, and “orchestrate” the following Summer. Thus, the Eighth was composed in his summer retreat in Maiernigg in 1906, and planned to pick up the work in 1907 – the same summer where his daughter Maria died, and when he was diagnosed with a heart condition. He also would lose his position in Vienna, and in the ensuing months begin engagements in New-York. Mahler’s Eighth would not get its premiere until three years later, September 12 1910 (108 years ago to the day, tomorrow) in Munich, the last of his works to be premiered in his lifetime. The occasion was a triumph—"easily Mahler's biggest lifetime success," according to biographer Robert Carr. As depicted in this vintage photograph, the nickname “Symphony of A Thousand” comes from the amassed forces in Munich. It is not in fact certain that more than 1,000 performers participated in the Munich premiere. La Grange enumerates a chorus of 850 (including 350 children), 157 instrumentalists and the eight soloists, to give a total of 1,015. However, Carr suggests that there is evidence that not all the Viennese choristers reached the hall and the number of performers may therefore not have reached 1,000.
Click below for a preview.
LP Recording
Gustav MAHLER (1860-1911) SYMPHONY No. 8 IN E-flat major (1906-07) "Symphony of a Thousand)
Magna Peccatrix - Heather Harper - soprano Mater Gloriosa - Arleen Auger - soprano Una Poenitentium - Lucia Popp - soprano Maria Aegyptiaca - Helen Watts - Contralto Mulier Samaritana - Yvonne Minton - Alto Doctor Marianus - René Kollo - tenor Pater Ecstaticus - John Shirley-Quirk -baritone Pater Profundus - Martti Talvela - bass Chicago Symphony Orchestra Vienna Boys Choir, Vienna Singverein Chorus, Vienna State Opera Chorus
Nuovo argomento Chorus Masters: Helmut Froschauer and Norbert Balatsch Conductor:Sir Georg Solti
For September, both of my Tuesday Blog installments are dedicated to the music of Gustav Mahler, featuring two of his later symphonies his “Tragic” Sixth and this week, his mammoth Eighth. Until 1901, Mahler's compositions had been heavily influenced by the German folk-poem collection Des Knaben Wunderhorn. The music of Mahler's many Wunderhorn settings is reflected in his Symphonies No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4, which all employ vocal as well as instrumental forces. From about 1901, however, Mahler's music underwent a change in character as he moved into the middle period of his compositional life. Here, the more austere poems of Friedrich Rückert replace the Wunderhorn collection as the primary influence. During this period Symphonies No. 5, No. 6 and No. 7 were written, all as purely instrumental works. Two notes in Mahler's handwriting dating from June 1906 show that early schemes for his 8th symphony, which he may not at first have intended as a fully choral symphony, were based on a four-movement structure in which two "hymns" surround an instrumental core. One of these hymns was Veni creator; outlines show that Mahler had fixed on the idea of opening with the Latin hymn, but had not yet settled on the precise form of the rest. From Mahler's later comments, it is evident that the four-movement plan was relatively short-lived. He soon replaced the last three movements with a single section, essentially a dramatic cantata, based on the closing scenes of Goethe's Faust, the depiction of an ideal of redemption through eternal womanhood. As was usually his pattern, Mahler would “compose” one Summer, and “orchestrate” the following Summer. Thus, the Eighth was composed in his summer retreat in Maiernigg in 1906, and planned to pick up the work in 1907 – the same summer where his daughter Maria died, and when he was diagnosed with a heart condition. He also would lose his position in Vienna, and in the ensuing months begin engagements in New-York. Mahler’s Eighth would not get its premiere until three years later, September 12 1910 (108 years ago to the day, tomorrow) in Munich, the last of his works to be premiered in his lifetime. The occasion was a triumph—"easily Mahler's biggest lifetime success," according to biographer Robert Carr. As depicted in this vintage photograph, the nickname “Symphony of A Thousand” comes from the amassed forces in Munich. It is not in fact certain that more than 1,000 performers participated in the Munich premiere. La Grange enumerates a chorus of 850 (including 350 children), 157 instrumentalists and the eight soloists, to give a total of 1,015. However, Carr suggests that there is evidence that not all the Viennese choristers reached the hall and the number of performers may therefore not have reached 1,000.
Click below for a preview.
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