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To The Last Breath: Mahler's Symphony #9 Finale
Let's get this out of the way: I don't listen to Mahler very often.
Gustav Mahler was the very first composer I sought out and listened to on my own - not as a recommendation, nor from prior familiarity. As a fledgling classical listener, Mahler's works blew me away by their sheer scale - I could never quite name what I'm hearing. It was pure sound, unlike anything I'd ever heard before.
As time went on, I started listening to other composers much more often, and Mahler fell out of my rotation in favor of mostly Romantic composers (namely Brahms, Tchaikovsky and Dvorak.) The sheer scale and length of his works make them difficult, for me, to listen to often.
Recently, I've started listening to some Mahler again, gradually and carefully - and it strikes me completely differently now as a more experienced listener.
What prompted me to write this is a particular movement I held close to my heart ever since I first heard it, at the very start of my journey into classical music - the final movement's of the ninth symphony.
Some other title
There's no easy way to say it -
This is a devastating piece.
As I've come to learn through my listening (and with the help of this great channel), classical music is about the emotional response. A composer has the power to directly influence your feelings through the music to a great extent - and all great composers realize this deeply and act on it.
Gustav Mahler does it like no other, and this piece does so to the greatest extent I've heard.
Right off the bat, the composer demands your full and utmost attention, and does not let it go. The orchestra itself is massive in size and scale, and is constantly in motion within itself.
It all starts with a simple theme. Reminiscent of perhaps a sorrowed wail, it instantly feels drenched in sorrow. The string call out the theme, and as it fades the orchestra moves into motion in something of a big, heavy sigh.
This fatal feeling lasts throughout the orchestra, masterfully weaved with other feelings - some joy, some anger, some yearning - yet from the first note to its last, this movement feels final. This is a statement about death, and it does not let you forget this for a mere moment.