FRIDAY, JULY 15 GUSTAV MAHLER (1860-1911) Symphony No. 5
Premiered on October 18, 1904, in Cologne under the direction of the composer. In a conversation with Sibelius, Mahler famously declared that, “A Symphony must be like the world — it must contain everything.” His Fifth Symphony seems to do just that, as Mahler broke free from music inspired by folk tales and song. In fact, right from the start of his Fifth, Mahler refers back to the greatest symphonist of all — Beethoven. The opening funeral march brings to mind Beethoven’s Third, and the four-note motif played by the trumpet invokes the beginning of Beethoven’s Fifth. The trajectory is clear: a journey from darkness to light, from despair to hope, from loneliness to companionship. In February 1901, Mahler came within an hour of bleeding to death from a hemorrhage. It took two surgeries and much rest for the overworked composer to fully recover. The “summer composer” — as he referred to himself — would pen much dark
music during the following summer at his villa at Maiernigg, including four of the Rückert Lieder and the first two movements of his Fifth Symphony. While the funeral march expresses deeply felt grief, the ensuing movement communicates despair and anger. The central Scherzo movement is full of drama, situated partly in the country (Ländler) and partly in Vienna (Waltz). Then something remarkable and unexpected happens: the unsurpassed tenderness and beauty of the Adagietto shines into the darkness of Mahler’s world. According to his friend Willem Mengelberg, it was his “declaration of love to Alma! Instead of a letter, he confided it in this movement without a word of explanation. She understood and replied: He should come!!!” The movement runs straight into the celebratory Rondo-Finale, which leaves no doubt of the outcome: Mahler’s bleak “and-of-theworld” experience is replaced by pure bliss. -Siegwart Reichwald
One of Strauss’s last wishes was that Kirsten Flagstad should be the first to sing his last songs.
TEXTS AND TRANSLATIONS STRAUSS Four Last Songs I. FRÜHLING — HERMANN HESSE
I. SPRING — HERMANN HESSE
In dämmrigen Grüften träumte ich lang von dein Bäumen und blauen Lüften, von deinem Duft und Vogelsang.
In dusky graveyards I dreamed long of your trees and blue skies, of your scent and your birdsong.
Nun liegst du erschlossen in Gleiss und Zier von Licht übergossen wie ein Wunder vor mir.
Now you lie uncovered glittering and ornamented bathed in light like a jewel before me.
Du kennst mich wieder, du lockst mich zart, es zittert durch all meine Glieder deine selige Gegenwart!
You recognize me, you entice me gently, A shudder runs through my body your blissful presence!
2016 Summer Institute & Festival
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