Mahler: Music and Musical Style

Mahler's importance to the evolution of modern music is very great; the early
works of Schoenberg and Berg show the influence of Mahler's concepts.
Better known as a conductor in his lifetime, he primarily composed vocal music and
symphonic works. He was inspired by

the concept of universal art, like that of Bruckner which ultimately stemmed from
Wagner;
and the simple folk melodies of the Austrian countryside, that could also be heard
in the pastoral sections of Beethoven's symphonies.
Mahler directed the Vienna Opera from 1897-1907 and the New York Philharmonic
Society from 1909-1911. He brought the Vienna Opera to greatness by:
tightening its musical discipline
raising performance standards
collaborating with important visual artists
Style

Mahler was
NOT an innovator in harmony,
rather, he brought the Romantic era to a culmination
by virtue of the expansiveness of his emotional expression
and the grandiose design of his musical structures.
General style traits
tendency toward constant variation - nothing recurs exactly (evolution of ideas)
polyphonic textures
motivic relationships set in a succession of episodes
use of folksongs
added extra beats to vary the traditional metric feel
used drones and ostinati
frequent modulations
contrapuntally combined melodic lines with no regard for coincidental dissonance
Melodic style
followed Viennese style
tempered by affection for folksongs
fit one of four basic categories
Hungarian-Slavonic and German folk songs
Brahms/Schubert-style Viennese melodies (expressively dissonant)
Chorale or chant melodies
Nature motives (bird-calls, cowbells, etc.)
Harmonic style
tends toward linearity in instrumental music
more traditional harmonic progressions in vocal music
much diatonicism
some chromaticism
most often uses major triad at final cadence
frequent modulations
sometimes ends a work in a different key than it began
Sym. 2 - C --> Eb
Sym. 4 - G --> E
Sym. 5 - C#min --> D
Sym. 7 - D --> Db
Orchestration style
large orchestral forces / palette of sounds
used massive forces sparingly
often thin, transparent texture
preferred "higher" winds sound
colorful
use of voices - preferred women's voices
occasional use of "scordatura"
preferred color and variety over hugeness of sound
Formal Construction
Movements of symphonies are usually in a traditional form
Symphonies 1, 2, 3, and 4 utilized forms that resemble Sonata-Allegro
Symphonies 5, 6, and 7 approach Classical forms but on a large, Romantic scale
Vocal Music

Mahler was very literary minded and wrote many vocal works. Three important early
works are:
The Song of Lament (cantata, 1880)
Songs of a Wayfarer (song cycle, 1885)
The Youth's Magic Horn ("Wunderhorn") (song cycle, 1885)
Later:
Kindertotenlieder (Children Death Songs)
Song of the Earth (a huge song cycle, 1908)
Das Lied von der Erde (song cycle for contralto or baritone and tenor with
orchestra)
Mahler wrote NO OPERAS.
Symphonies

He wrote 9 symphonies (plus one incomplete).

The first four had programs, which Mahler later dropped.
They also incorporated material from his earlier songs.
Symphonies 2, 3, and 4 all used voices.
Symphony No. 1 (1889) - "Titan"
programmatic (the hero's progress through trials of life and death)
material used from "Songs of a Wayfarer" in the 1st and last movements
3rd movement uses minor mode "Frere Jacques" melody as a funeral march
Symphony No. 2 (1888-94) - "Resurrection"
the 1st movement began as a tone poem
some use of "Wunderhorn" songs in other movements
2nd movement has the easy, slow waltz rhythm of the Austrian Lndler
4th movement is an alto solo
finale (after an orchestral section depicting the day of resurrection) includes
soloists, chorus, and orchestra (like Beethoven's 9th)
Symphony No. 3 (1896)
huge orchestral requirements
6 movements
Symphony No. 4
last movement is a soprano solo
Symphony No. 5 (1904)
Symphony No. 6 (1904)

Symphony No. 7 (1905)

Symphony No. 8 - "Symphony of a Thousand"

a secular, Romantic approach to religion

a monumental choral symphony in two parts
"Veni, creator spiritus" (a Latin hymn)
Goethe's "Faust"
Symphony No. 9 (1909)
Symphony No. 10 (1910) - unfinished