The document provides a listening guide for Mahler's Adagietto from his Fifth Symphony. It includes background information on the piece, describing how it has been interpreted in different contexts and associated with sorrow. It explores the piece in detail, discussing aspects for listeners to focus on, such as the use of a single instrument and long held notes. It encourages listening to different recordings to compare conducting speeds and feelings conveyed.

1. Mahler’s Adagietto A Listening Guide RSNO Maestro Music 2011

2. In this presentation, we will listen to the ‘Adagietto’ from Mahler’s Symphony No5 We will learn some background information about the piece and how it has been interpreted by different artists throughout history We will then explore the piece in greater detail, and be given some specific musical aspects to listen for in the piece After exploring the ideas in this presentation and listening to different recordings of the piece, we will hear the Royal Scottish National Orchestra perform it live at a Maestro Music concert! Copyright Sophie Lang 2011 2 Intended Learning

3. Before reading any more, LISTEN to the first couple of minutes of the music Before your mind has chance to wander, notice your immediate reaction to the sound Mahler created Try to think of a few words to describe how you think the music sounds Do you think it is…. Beautiful? Sad? Contemplative? Uplifting? Tender? Yearning? Tranquil? Or something else entirely? Listen! Copyright Sophie Lang 2011 3

4. The good news is, there is no right or wrong answer! Listening to music is such a personal experience, often your reaction will be quite different from someone else’s Generally speaking, composers are not trying to force particular emotions from you They may have been thinking of the music in one way themselves, but that does not necessarily mean everybody who listens to it will think of it in the same way Indeed, there have been some very different reactions to this very piece of music Listen! Copyright Sophie Lang 2011 4

6. If it was written for or about a particular personDoes it help to know a bit of background information when listening to music? Copyright Sophie Lang 2011 5

9. The Adagietto is the fourth movement of Mahler’s Fifth Symphony (there are five movements altogether), but is often performed alone ‘Adagietto’ is a tempo marking meaning slow (but not necessarily as slow as an ‘adagio’) The movement has inspired more than twenty choreographers to create ballets to it and has been used in several films, most famously Death in Venice, in which it provided a melancholy backdrop to the sad story Some Background Information Copyright Sophie Lang 2011 8

10. Some Background Information Its use in the film is not the only sorrowful association the Adagietto has had in its history. It was also conducted by Leonard Bernstein at the assassinated senator Robert Kennedy’s funeral. Image source: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/rfk/gallery/images/g_08.jpg Copyright Sophie Lang 2011 9

11. Some Background Information The Symphony was finished in 1902 after Mahler had spent an idyllic summer with his new wife Alma at his country retreat in Austria. Far removed from the melancholic associations it has now, it is likely that Mahler intended the music to have a different feeling altogether. Image source: http://media.keepingscore.org/mahler/photos/steinbach_hut_296px.jpg Copyright Sophie Lang 2011 10

12. Despite finishing the entire symphony after their marriage, the Adagietto itself was written just before the Mahlers tied the knot, at the very time the composer was falling in love He was an extensive letter writer throughout his life, not least during his ‘courtship’ with Alma, and many believe that the Adagietto was written as a kind of love letter to her Willem Mengelberg, a conductor who was close to Mahler, wrote on his score that the piece was a ‘declaration of love’ Certainly it is very tender, and can be heard as a documentation of all the feelings involved in falling in love – the tenderness, the passion, the angst and longing, the peacefulness… Some Background Information Copyright Sophie Lang 2011 11

13. As already mentioned, everybody instinctively responds differently to a piece of music they have never heard before, partly as a result of their current mood or what ‘buttons it pushes’ in them Once a piece of music is heard in a particular context (such as in a film), it is difficult to forget that association That is not a bad thing as such – in fact it can increase your attachment to a piece in a very personal way – but it does highlight how important it is to listen to a piece such as this before becoming biased by knowledge or associations! So what brought about the huge discrepancy in how the music is heard by listeners? Copyright Sophie Lang 2011 12

14. The one other big influence on how listeners respond to the music is the way it has been performed since it was written In the case of the Adagietto, the speed that conductors have chosen to conduct it has varied enormously, and that has repercussions on how we hear it So what brought about the huge discrepancy in how the music is heard by listeners? Copyright Sophie Lang 2011 13

15. When Mahler wrote it, conductors such as Mengelberg, and Bruno Walter, both of whom knew Mahler, conducted a much faster tempo than their successors Mengelberg’sfirst recording of the piece lasts just 7 minutes, while Walter’s is a little slower at nearly 8 minutes But by the 1970s conductors were wallowing in the music much more So what brought about the huge discrepancy in how the music is heard by listeners? Copyright Sophie Lang 2011 14

16. Three of the world’s most famous conductors made recordings that were up to double that length: 11 minutes 50 seconds (Herbert von Karajan, 1973), 11 minutes (Leonard Bernstein, 1987) and nearly 14 minutes (Bernard Haitink, 1988)! Conductors nowadays seem to be returning to a quicker tempo Simon Rattle’s 2002 recording, for example, stands at 9 minutes 30 Try and look up a few different recordings on itunes or youtube to compare speeds and notice how the slow ones have a completely different feeling to the faster ones So what brought about the huge discrepancy in how the music is heard by listeners? Copyright Sophie Lang 2011 15

17. The Adagietto, unusually and unlike the rest of the symphony, is written just for the string section of the orchestra This means that the timbre is very unified When the musical line passes between instruments it does so seamlessly So instead of showing contrasts between different instrumental sections, Mahler has to find more subtle contrasts elsewhere This creates a sense of serenity, of nothing disturbing the music or taking us by surprise too much A More Detailed Analysis Copyright Sophie Lang 2011 16

18. Not all composers might have included the harp in a piece for the string section of the orchestra But imagine the piece without the addition of the harp Would it sound more one-dimensional? Certainly the harp helps give a feeling of constant motion in an otherwise fairly static soundscape A More Detailed Analysis Image source: http://etc.usf.edu/clipart/4700/4709/harp_1_lg.gif Copyright Sophie Lang 2011 17

19. Listen carefully to the first few notes of the tune in the violins Once the stage has been set by held chords in the rest of the strings, the violins simply play the first three notes of a major scale It is such a simple way to open the piece, yet it is very effective The rising scale feels like it is leading somewhere, but when we get to the fourth note, rather than playing the next note in the scale as expected, the third is repeated again, before eventually resolving on to the fourth note This is called a ‘suspension’ – it literally does suspend expectations for a moment! A More Detailed Analysis Copyright Sophie Lang 2011 18

20. There is another detail to listen out for in this first phrase, something that recurs throughout this piece Can you hear underneath the violin tune that one single note is being held throughout the phrase? At first this creates a feeling of stability, but it can go on to create a sense of tension: while the other parts are gradually changing the harmonies and creating melodies, it becomes more noticeable that the held note needs to change, to resolve It is a trick that Mahler used repeatedly in the Adagietto A More Detailed Analysis Copyright Sophie Lang 2011 19

21. Sometimes the held note is a low one at the bottom of the texture, sometimes it is in the middle, and sometimes it is at the top There is a beautiful moment near the end when the music has been building in tension for a while, and the violins suddenly jump to a very high note and hold it while the other instruments continue the line underneath When they eventually release the top note and work their way down again, it signals a return a calmer feel, which is how the music ends Listen out for other examples of long held notes somewhere in the texture A More Detailed Analysis Copyright Sophie Lang 2011 20

24. While watching an orchestra play, rather than just listening, everything is heightened: when you can actually see someone playing very loud or very quiet and what goes in to that, it becomes much more effective

25. Visual reminders of particular parts of the music help you recall the music more than if you had simply listened to a recordingLive Performance Copyright Sophie Lang 2011 22

26. So, enjoy some recordings, then come to see it being performed live! Live Performance Copyright Sophie Lang 2011 23

27. Having reflected on my personal experiences, including participation and engagement with professionals, I can listen to a wide range of music and identify and analyse technical aspects, make informed judgements and express personal opinions on my own and others’ work [EXA 4-19a] Copyright Sophie Lang 2011 24 Experiences and Outcomes