Gustav Mahler By: Marisa Miljkovic

Biography

Facts Born: July 7, 1860 Died: May 18, 1911

Music & Family

Education & Music Vienna Conservatoire – Piano Vienna University – History – Philosophy – Music

Early Career Bad Hall Ljubljana Olomouc Vienna Prague Leipzig Budapest

Compositions Early works – Das Klagende Lied – Lieder und Gesange – Der Tompeter von Sackingen (lost) Later Works – Das Lied von der Erde – Symphony No. 9 -Symphony No. 5 -Kindertotenlieder

Composition History

Symphony No. 5

Listening Guide

I.0:00 Introduction: The theme starts off with a four- note played with a solo trumpet. The melody’s contour is rising and the size of the intervals is shortening. The timbre is hard and brassy. It is also a bit dark and aggressive. For the texture it is dense and heavy because of the loud notes of the trumpet. II.2:08 trauermarsch: The timbre is much more mellow and lush. The dynamics changed from a loud intense sound to a more soft hush sound. It almost has a romantic feel to it because of the delicate texture the violins play. The rhythm has strong beats, but it stays regular. The melody is very smooth and does not have any jagged parts to it. This is also a reason why it reminds me of romantic music. III.2:39 trauermarsch: The timbre has stayed the same with a mellow and lush type tone. It was very soft music and relaxing. There were not any parts that had harshness. The dynamics have also stayed the same with a soft hush sound. The beats have slower gotten weaker, but the rhythm has stayed regular. The melody continued to stay smooth without any random leaps. The pitch also did not stand out because there was not any high pitches or low pitches.

IV.3:09 trauermarsch: The rhythm has strong beats and is fragmented. The texture has changed to dense and heavy. The timbre is harsher and heavy, a bit unpleasant. It is dramatic and loud. The dynamics are powerful and strong, it feels like notes are being thrown into you. Also had a call and response rhythm going between the violins and the trumpets. The melody is not smooth, so it does have some jagged notes to it. Some parts of the pitch can become quite high. I believe the parts that became high were the trumpets. V.4:08 trauermarsch: The dynamics are softening and sound more quite. The timbre is warm and mellow, but still has some aggression in it. The pitch is kept low with all the brassy instruments playing. The melody is chromatic and sounds like a little jagged. It is jagged because between some notes the music takes leaps. The duration is like joined together notes where the whole section is blending together.

VI. VI5:25 trauermarsch: The rhythm is staying regular and the beats are weak. The dynamics are decreasing in volume, almost like they are dying away. As the volume is decreasing the texture is becoming more light and thin. The light and thin texture makes the music feel relaxed. The timbre is light, just like the texture, and soft. The harmony is harmonious without any clashing. The majority of the instruments are playing together and no solos are performed. Overall the piece is kept calm and has nothing that stands out. VII.6:40 trauermarsch: There is a trumpet solo. The Dynamics were intensifying in volume, it was a surge of sound. The timbre is brassy and gives a shrill type of feeling. I could tell all the instruments were being played. It was very dramatic and heavy. The melody had big intervals between the notes. The melody was taking leaps and sounded a little jagged. The pitch of all the instruments is high pitched. The harmony is clashing and discordant. The rhythm has strong beats and the rhythm is irregular. It also has large bangs of the drums.

VIII.8:05 trauermarsch: The sound is similar to that of the previous minute, but there are subtle differences. The harmony is more harmonious unlike the previous minute when it was more clashing. The melody is still jagged, but has smaller leaps. As the music continues it begins to have smaller intervals between notes, more of a stepwise motion sound. The dynamics are still loud and intense, but the timbre has changed to light, pure, and clean tone. The duration is a decelerating and stately being drawn-out. IX.8:55 trauermarsch: The dynamics are decreasing in volume, almost like they are dying away. As the volume is decreasing the texture is becoming more light and thin. The timbre is light, just like the texture, and soft. The harmony is harmonious without any clashing. The majority of the instruments are playing together and no solos are performed. The rhythm is staying regular and the beats are weak.

X.9:33 trauermarsch: The dynamics are getting louder once again. It sounds like the music is intensifying. The timbre is mellow and warm. As the music continues it changes from the mellow and warm to a more heavy and raspy tone. The melody is smooth, but changes to chromatic after a bit. The harmony is consonant and not clashing. I believe it is being played in a minor note. The pitch is not extremely high or low, it stayed at a constant normal pitch. XI.10:54 trauermarsch: The pitch has turned into a high one. The pitch has a shrill type sound to it. I believe the shrill pitch sound was created by the trumpets playing really loud notes. The dynamics of the bit are rising and getting louder. The timbre is dark and has a rich and lush sound to it. The texture is unique because it is dense, but also has a delicate feel to it. The rhythm was hard to pay attention to because it changed often. The changed from a regular to irregular and finally to a strong beat with a regular pattern.

XII.11:48 trauermarsch: In this bit you could clearly hear the violins playing. All the instruments were playing softly, except the violins. The rhythm stayed at a constant and regular pattern without any changes. The dynamics are once again getting louder and so are the instruments. The timbre was light and has a very pleasant and relaxing sound to it. From the last minute I enjoyed that it had no high pitched sound standing out from the other musical components. The melody was smooth and had no leaps. XIII.12:00 sturmisch: The melody is smooth for the most part, but it does have some jagged parts to it. The jagged parts were mainly caused by the random loud notes from the violins and trumpets. As for the timbre it is dark. It sounds like a rich and muddy timbre. It changed from a light to this more dark and heavy one. The dynamics are interesting because they change from getting louder to getting softer all the time. In the beginning of this piece it was getting louder, but as the music continued it changed to getting softer. Then a little while later it changed again to getting louder. I would say it did this about five times before it stayed with getting louder. When it was getting louder it sounded like the music and instruments were becoming more intense.

XIV.13:01 sturmisch: The beginning was a climax with all the instruments being played. The dynamics have stayed the same. The dynamics are getting louder, but occasionally stop getting louder and try to get softer. I have noticed this occurs a lot in the symphony where dynamics are constantly changing. The timbre is as well been kept the same at a heavy and dark tone. The rhythm does alternate between a regular and irregular pattern. XV.13:30 sturmisch: Throughout this bit it has sounded like a climax. The entire bit sounds like it is leading to something very dramatic. I would say the dynamics are getting louder with every second. I could also say for the notes that they are becoming more dramatic and loud. The pitch is still kept within a normal range. By that I mean it is not a high pitch or low pitch, but kept in the middle.

XVI.14:03 scherzo: The rhythm was irregular and had strong beats to it. The strong beats were the drums in the background. Once again the dynamics were getting louder. The sound was intensifying in a jagged pattern. One moment it would be getting louder and increasing then the next it would all stop. The pitch would also sometimes get high whenever the dynamics were getting louder. XVII.14:30 scherzo: The Dynamics were intensifying in volume, it was a surge of sound. The timbre is brassy and gives a shrill type of feeling. I could tell all the instruments were being played. It was very dramatic and heavy. The melody had big intervals between the notes. The melody was taking leaps and sounded a little jagged. The pitch of all the instruments is high pitched. The harmony is clashing and discordant. The rhythm has strong beats and the rhythm is irregular. It also has large bangs of the drums. There is a trumpet solo in the beginning. XVIII.15:00 ends.

Bibliography Mangum, John. "Symphony No.5." LA Phil. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 June Alsop, Marin. "Tackling Mahler's Fifth Symphony." NPR. NPR, n.d. Web. 09 June Hansen, Kelly D. "Gustav Mahler – Symphony No. 5 in C Sharp Minor: IV. Adagietto." Last.fm. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 June "Classical Net - Basic Repertoire List - Mahler." Classical Net. Classical Net, n.d. Web. 09 June "Mahler, Gustav." PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 09 June "Gustav Mahler Biography." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 14 June 2014.