Deconstructed: Mahler’s “Titan”

Sunday, February 23, 2025, 3:00 p.m.
Gershwin Performing Arts Center | Murrieta Mesa High School

Today’s Program

Gustav Mahler (1860 – 1911)

Symphony No. 1 in D Major
Edition for chamber ensemble by Klaus Simon

1. Langsam. Schleppend
2. Kräftig bewegt, doch nicht zu schnell
3. Feierlich und gemessen, ohne zu schleppen
4. Stürmisch bewegt

There will be no intermission in this afternoon’s concert.

Thanks to the Murrieta Valley Unified School District for their support of this concert.

About Our Artistic Director and Conductor

Members of the California Chamber Orchestra

California Chamber Orchestra musicians in this concert are members of The American Federation of Musicians, Local 325

Program Notes

Austrian composer Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) wrote his First Symphony between 1887 and 1888 while he was in his twenties. At the time, Mahler gained recognition as a conductor rather than as a composer, holding conducting positions in Leipzig and Budapest. Like many of his later symphonies, this first large-scale orchestral work reflects Mahler’s deep love of nature, his fascination with folk music, and his ability to weave personal emotions into symphonic form.

The First Symphony premiered in 1889 in Budapest and originally included five movements, featuring an additional movement titled Blumine that Mahler later removed. While the work follows a traditional four-movement symphonic structure, it also carries elements of a tone poem—a musical narrative—which Mahler initially reinforced by providing a written program to audiences. He later abandoned this practice, preferring that the music speak for itself.

The symphony opens with an ethereal introduction, evoking the sounds of nature. Mahler’s orchestration creates the impression of a vast, awakening world, with distant hunting calls in the horns and delicate, shimmering strings. The main theme of this movement is drawn from Mahler’s own Songs of a Wayfarer, specifically Ging heut’ Morgen über’s Feld (“I Walked Across the Fields This Morning”). This melody, first presented by the woodwinds, expresses a simple, joyful love for nature. Yet Mahler juxtaposes this beauty with moments of tension and grandeur, foreshadowing the emotional contrasts that define the entire symphony.

The second movement is a lively dance, based on the Austrian Ländler, a rustic folk dance that Mahler transforms into a boisterous waltz. This movement reflects the influence of Mahler’s Austrian upbringing, as well as the rich café music culture of Vienna. The contrast between the lively Ländler and the elegant waltz provides a sense of nostalgia, as if recalling a distant memory of childhood or simpler times.

Mahler’s third movement is strikingly different in character. It opens with a solo double bass playing the familiar tune of Frère Jacques but in a haunting minor key. This funeral march, eerie and unsettling, is interrupted by contrasting sections, including a klezmer-like passage that reflects Mahler’s Jewish heritage and a reference to another Songs of a Wayfarer melody, Die zwei blauen Augen von meinem Schatz (“The Two Blue Eyes of My Beloved”). This juxtaposition of musical styles, from somber to playful, creates a dreamlike, almost stream-of-consciousness effect, as if Mahler is piecing together fragments of past experiences.

The final movement erupts with a dramatic outburst—what Mahler called “a cry of a deeply wounded heart.” This tempestuous music, filled with stormy turbulence, takes the listener on an intense emotional journey. Mahler originally described the finale with the phrase Dall’Inferno al Paradiso (“From Hell to Heaven”), a fitting depiction of the movement’s trajectory from despair to triumph. In a masterful symphonic conclusion, Mahler brings back themes from earlier movements, even hinting at Blumine, before leading to an exhilarating, triumphant ending. The symphony closes in radiant D major, with a resplendent brass chorale that seems to proclaim victory over the struggles that came before.

This performance features a chamber orchestra arrangement by Klaus Simon (b. 1968). Inspired by the tradition of Arnold Schoenberg’s Verein für musikalische Privataufführungen (Society for Private Musical Performances), Simon has created numerous reduced orchestrations of large-scale works by Mahler, Schoenberg, Berg, and Ravel. His adaptations allow for intimate performances of these masterworks while maintaining their expressive depth and dramatic impact.

Mahler’s First Symphony remains one of his most beloved works, a testament to his ability to blend folk elements, personal narrative, and symphonic grandeur into a compelling and deeply human musical experience.

— Dana Zimbric

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