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Untitled Document
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MAHLER, G: Symphony No. 8, 'Symphony of a Thousand' |
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Composer: |
Gustav Mahler |
Artist: |
Kwangchul Youn, Edith Mathis, Izabela Klosinska, Hans Sotin, Jadwiga Rappe, Boaz Daniel, Margaret Jane Wray, Dagmar Peckova, Piotr Nowacki, Eike Wilm-Schulte, Jane Eaglen, Julia Hamari, Glenn Winslade, Donald Grobe, Trudeliese Schmidt, Alessandra Marc, Christiane Boesiger, Eugenie Grunewald, Anthony Michaels-Moore, Peter Lika, Johan Botha, Wojtek Drabowicz, Barbara Kubiak, Marta Boberska, Ewa Marciniec, Timothy Bentch, Kenneth Riegel, Susan Bullock, Ricarda Merbeth, Jane Henschel, Martina Arroyo, Stella Grigorian, Norma Procter, Eberhard Kraus, Julia Varady, Franz Crass, Erna Spoorenberg, Elza van den Heever, Elisabeta Marin, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau |
Conductor: |
Rafael Kubelik, Klaus Tennstedt, Bertrand de Billy, Michael Gielen, Antoni Wit |
Choir: |
Slovak Philharmonic Chorus, Polish Radio Choir, Warsaw Philharmonic Choir, Vienna Boys Choir, Warsaw Boys Choir, Aurelius Sangerknaben Calw, North German Radio Chorus, Europe Choir Academy, Wiener Singakademie, London Philharmonic Choir, West German Radio Chorus, London Symphony Chorus, Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University Choir, Bavarian Radio Chorus, Regensburger Domspatzen, Munich Motet Choir, female section, Eton College Boys' Choir |
Orchestra: |
Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, Austrian Radio Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, South West German Radio Symphony Orchestra, Baden-Baden, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra |
Lyricist: |
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe |
Label: |
Naxos |
Catalogue No.: |
8.550533-34 |
Format: |
CD |
Barcode: |
0730099553322 |
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Gustav Mahler (1860-1911)
Symphony No. 8
Soprano I (Magna
Peccatrix) - Barbara Kubiak
Soprano II (Una Poenitentium) - Izabela Kłosińska
Soprano III (Mater Gloriosa) - Marta Boberska
Alto I (Mulier Samaritana) - Jadwiga Rappé
Alto II (Maria Aegyptica) - Ewa Marciniec
Tenor (Doctor Marianus) - Timothy Bentch
Baritone (Pater Ecstaticus) - Wojciech Drabowicz
Bass (Pater Profundis) - Piotr Nowacki
Warsaw
National Philharmonic Orchestra
Warsaw National Philharmonic Choir (Henryk Wojnarowski, Choirmaster)
Polish Radio Choir in Kraków (Wlodzimierz Siedlik, Choirmaster)
Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University Choir (Kazimierz Szymonik, Choirmaster)
The Warsaw Boys Choir (Krzysztof Kusiel-Moroz, Choirmaster)
Antoni Wit
Described by the composer as his "gift to the whole nation",
Mahler's Eighth Symphony has had an equivocal reception even judged by
the standards of his symphonies as a whole. Coming after three purely orchestral
symphonies, each with its distinctive and provocative take on triumph and
adversity, it might seem a throwback to his second and third symphonies, with
their quirky though compelling hybrid of symphony and cantata. Yet the Eighth
Symphony, in many respects, is the most integrated and organic symphony that
Mahler had yet attempted - the result, in large part, of a genesis whose sheer
suddenness and rapidity took even its composer by surprise.
The summer of 1906 found Mahler determined to avoid the
intensive composing of previous years. Thus he arrived at his Maiernigg retreat
with numerous themes for a four-movement work, but little intention of seeing
them through to fruition. One such was for an orchestral movement inspired by,
but not setting, the hymn 'Veni creator spiritus' - and it was the words of
this hymn (or, at least, Mahler's recollection of them) that inspired him to
set the text to music in a matter of days. The remaining movements of the
original plan, corresponding to a symphonic slow movement, scherzo and finale,
were not so much abandoned as redistributed across the setting of the final
scene from Part Two of Goethe's Faust that evolved over the ensuing
weeks.
The choice of texts is significant. The Whitsuntide Vesper
hymn 'Veni creator spiritus', generally attributed to the ninth century cleric
Hrabanus Maurus, Archbishop of Mainz, stems from a 'Dark Age' that was even
more obscure a century ago than now: the Goethe text is the visionary
conclusion to the philosophical second half of his greatest work; not so much a
bridge from the Enlightenment to the Romantic eras as an abstraction relating
to both but belonging to neither. The remoteness of both these texts from 'contemporary'
aspirations made them communicable only through an all-embracing musical
realisation such as Mahler was ideally equipped to undertake.
Part One sees thunderous organ chords presage the opening
lines, here resplendent on full chorus [CD 1 / Track 1]. This dies down,
whereupon the soloists introduce a supplicatory new theme [1/2], taken up
quietly by the chorus, and leading to a forthright choral restatement of the
opening theme. An ominous orchestral postlude leads into the depths [1/3],
where anxious choral voices are met by a conciliatory response from the
soloists. There is a brief pause [1/4], after which woodwind, brass and pizzicato
strings have a crepuscular interlude, leading to a group of tranquil themes
shared among the soloists [1/5]. A majestic orchestral response [1/6] sees the
chorus launch an elaborate double fugue; an energetic development of the themes
heard so far, joined at length by the soloists in the ascent, martial and
fervent by turns, to an effulgent restatement of the opening chorus [1/7]; the beginning
of a compact reprise that proceeds swiftly through the main themes so far
heard. This reaches a brief climax, then robust strings [1/8] introduce the
coda, in which all the musical forces are united in a final outpouring of
triumph.
Part Two opens with a lengthy orchestral introduction,
evoking the craggy outcrops and wild precipices described by Goethe. The two
main themes (which will inform all of those subsequently heard), a questioning
idea for upper woodwind over pizzicato strings and a glowing chorale-like
melody for strings and lower woodwind, alternate as the music reaches a stark
climax, the first theme re-emerging as a recessional. A passionate third theme
breaks in [2/2], bringing with it the second theme in intensified guise. This
gradually returns to the first theme [2/3], joined by the chorus representing
holy Anchorites who shelter among rocky clefts. The second theme reappears,
also with chorus, before an abrupt change of expression brings the arrival of
Pater Ecstaticus [2/4] in a glowing apostrophe to love attained through
suffering. This latter is dwelt upon by Pater Profundus [2/5], in anguished
tones that utilise the third theme of the introduction.
A orchestral postlude leads to the joyful appearance of
Angels and Blessed Boys [2/6], then the more reserved response of Younger
Angels [2/7]. The ominous idea heard near the start of Part One is recalled [2/8],
as More Perfect Angels (with solo mezzo-soprano) consider the unearthly union
of Faust and Gretchen, then Younger Angels [2/9] join with Doctor Marianus [2/10]
in anticipating the arrival of Faust's soul in its chrysalis state, there to await
the benediction of the Queen of Heaven (Mater Gloriosa, or the Virgin Mary).
The chorus, joined by Penitent Women and Una Poenitentium (Gretchen), similarly
pay homage in the most beatific music of the whole work [2/11], upper strings
underpinned by harp arpeggios and harmonium chords.
A sequence of solos now for three women who were present at
Christ's crucifixion: Magna Peccatrix [2/12], Mulier Samaritana [2/13] and
Maria Aegyptiaca [2/14], each considering the importance of repentance as the
means to salvation. Una Poenitentium looks forward to the emergence of Faust in
his cleansed condition [2/15], and Blessed Boys wistfully contrast their
unformed state with the wisdom that Faust will impart [2/16]. Gretchen turns to
await him [2/17], and Mater Gloriosa sends out her greeting from on high (the
only appearance of the third soprano in the whole work). Doctor Marianus urges those
on earth to yield to the redeeming gaze of their heavenly queen. The exalted
mood is intensified by the chorus, before an orchestral interlude, with its
magical interplay of harp and celesta, plaintively fades to silence. Now the
Chorus Mysticus [2/18] gradually builds in a vast crescendo of praise to the
Eternal Feminine: drawing on themes from across the work, and culminating with
the return of the very opening music in a coda of exultant affirmation.
"Try to imagine the whole universe beginning to ring
and resound", was how Mahler himself described the impact of these closing
pages. Such was conveyed to the audience at the first two performances, given
in Munich on 12 and 13 September 1910, four years after the work's completion,
and according to Mahler his greatest triumph as a composer, only eight months before
his death. The size of the forces arrayed led to its being dubbed 'Symphony of
a Thousand', a subtitle Mahler never sanctioned but which came to represent the
symphony as a musical albatross to later generations. Yet this apparent excess
is essential to its nature: one which uninhibitedly combines the sacred past
and the secular present in an act of confidence toward the future.
Richard Whitehouse
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