Retrospection

Both works in this evenings programme are about looking back.

Beethovens eighth symphony, the last before the revolutionary
ninth, shows us the composer looking back, as if to draw a fnal line
below the Haydn-esque symphonic style, from which his own works
emerged, before obliterating it completely. ny symphony
composed after Beethoven can be seen as looking back. Beethoven
pushed the genre to its limits right at the beginning of the
nineteenth century making him a source of inspiration, reverence
and even fear for all future symphony composers. !ahlers fourth
symphony in particular looks back at earlier models, some even
further back than Beethoven, as a source of inspiration, and has
been seen as having "classical poise# in a way that his other
symphonies do not. $hile Beethoven seems to push at his Haydn
model showing that there is still life in it yet, even if it has to be
Beethovened out of it, !ahler shows that there is no space for his
model in a modern symphonic world, consistently stepping outside
of his model. Both of these pieces show the composer looking back
to earlier styles and responding to them di%erently so as to show
the need for something new. Beethoven pushed his model to the
limits, wringing it of all its potential. !ahler pushed outside his
model, showing its inadequacy and the need for something new.
Beethoven: Symphony No.8
& ' llegro vivace e con brio
&& ' llegretto scher(ando
&&& ' )empo di menuetto
&* ' llegro vivace
Beethoven referred to this symphony as his "little symphony in +#
primarily to distinguish it from the ,astoral -ymphony, his big
symphony in +, but the title reveals a little more than that. &n a way
that none of Beethovens earlier symphonies are, this is a "little#
symphony in the style of his one time teacher .oseph Haydn.
However, Beethoven deviates from his model, adding a typically
Beethovenian weight, to the witty, lighthearted classical style. t
under /0 minutes in length it is Beethovens shortest symphony,
matched only in compactness by the frst symphony, another nod
towards an earlier model. 1ddly, this is Beethovens last symphony
before the monumentality of the ninth symphony. &n it we see
Beethoven collecting up all the loose ends of the traditional
symphonic, pushing it to its limit. $e can almost hear him saying,
"2ow you must do something di%erent#.
)he frst movement is almost minuet-like but with a more fervent
thrust. 1ne of Beethoven3s witty touches is that the frst and last
bars of the movement are the same, a typically Haydnesque move.
fter a 4okey and e%ervescent Allegretto, with metronomic wind
fgures we get Beethovens frst minuet in a symphony since his
frst. Here we see the mature Beethoven handling a lightweight
form which hed replaced with more driving scher(os in almost all of
his other symphonies. &n spite of, and at times because of, this
weight there is still much wit in this movement. )he dance form is
o%set by false downbeats as if daring you to try and actually dance
to it. &n the fnale, Beethoven once again seems more intent on
playful display than in his neighboring symphonies, but he always
achieves this sense of play through his own weighty means. &n this
e5tended rondo, Beethoven e5periments with dynamics,
instrumentation, and concludes with a long, spirited coda. )he
ending is almost comically emphatic, seeming to parody itself
through its repeated cadential motion, in a way that 6udley !oore
would later do in his Beethoven ,iano -onata sketch.
Mahler: Symphony No.4
& ' Bed7chtig. 2icht eilen 86eliberate. 9nhurried:
&& ' &n ;em7chlicher Bewegung. 1hne Hast 8&n an easier tempo.
$ithout haste:
&&& ' <uhevoll. ,oco adagio 8,eaceful:
&* ' -ehr behaglich 8*ery =omfortable:
!ahlers fourth symphony is an enigmatic work, especially seen
ne5t to Beethovens eighth. s discussed above both works look
back, but !ahler does so in a very di%erent way to Beethoven,
presenting it in a highly nostalgic light. He is looking back to a
bygone age, with which the modern world has lost touch. $hen
seen in this light we can begin to understand why this symphony
has had such a mi5ed reception history. t its premiere it was
considered "an e5ercise in sacrilegious modernity# but it is now
seen as evoking "classical symphonic manners#. )hese two things
seem contradictory, but in fact !ahlers "sacrilegious modernity#
lies precisely in his allusion to the classical symphony. His use of a
more classically si(ed orchestra, a standard four-movement
structure and even classically inspired te5tures and forms allows
him to push the symphony in new thoroughly modern directions.
)he frst movement of this symphony is perhaps the most classical
of all the movements. &t is in sonata-form, as was standard for all
classical frst movements, and the violin theme which emerges from
the opening >ute and bell fgures seems almost like a parody of
Haydn or !o(art. )he movement proliferates with classical style
ornamentation and appoggiatura, heightening this feeling of
nostalgia.
)he second movement features a scordatura violin, with all its
strings tuned a tone higher than standard tuning. )his literally
"highly strung# violin represents +reund Hein 8"6eath the +iddler#:
who leads the whole orchestra in Totentanz 8"6ance of 6eath#:.
fter the unresolved tension created by this satanic dance the third
movement is a long adagio, one of !ahlers most beautiful slow
movements. )hough full of long sung melody, even this movement
has moments of cataclysmic break through, as if the passion has
e5ploded beyond the adagio framework set up for it.
)he fnale is a symphonic setting of a song which !ahler wrote in
?@AB, one of the $underhorn songs which were the inspiration for
all of his frst four symphonies. )he solo soprano sings of the
pleasures of heaven and how earthly pleasures seem a torture by
comparison. fter the initial re>ection of heavenly 4oy the turbulent
section uses elaborate imagery to consider mans wrongdoing and
its redemption through =hrists crucif5ion. +rom this the music
returns brie>y to the opening mood before once again getting
e5cited 8though less agitated than before: approaching depictions of
fasting and -t ,eter fshing. Cventually the music calms down and
we hear the opening motif stated again by the soprano
accompanying the fnal stan(a of the songD
Eein3 !usik ist 4a nicht auf Crden,
6ie unsrer verglichen kann werden.
Clftausend .ungfrauen
Fu tan(en sich trauen.
-anct 9rsula selbst da(u lacht.
Eein3 !usik ist 4a nicht auf Crden,
6ie unsrer verglichen kann werden.
=7cilia mit ihren *erwandten
-ind treGiche HofmusikantenH
6ie englischen -timmen
Crmuntern die -innen,
6aI alles fJr +reuden erwacht.
)here is 4ust no music on earth
that can compare to ours.
Cven the eleven thousand virgins
venture to dance,
and -aint 9rsula herself has to laugh.
)here is 4ust no music on earth
that can compare to ours.
=ecilia and all her relations
make e5cellent court musicians.
)he angelic voices
gladden our senses,
so that all awaken for 4oy.
fter this the music seems to evaporate, as if beckoning us to hear
the choir of the heavenly host.