Can anyone recommend a handy guide which goes through the symphonies etc, preferably with music examples? I used to have the Faber Cooke Introduction, but thought there might be something better now.
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I haven't read all of it, but the Cambridge Companion to Mahler is good - and goes beyond a mere guide to the symphonies. I also have the Mahler Companion (Oxford) which is certainly bound to be useful, though to my chagrin, I've read none of it!
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Though a close focus on the symphonies is what I wanted! Yes, I had one of those Companions, I think, which had far too much Donald Mitchell and didn't provide the simple guide I'm looking for (simple is the wrong word...).Originally posted by Joseph K View PostI haven't read all of it, but the Cambridge Companion to Mahler is good - and goes beyond a mere guide to the symphonies. I also have the Mahler Companion (Oxford) which is certainly bound to be useful, though to my chagrin, I've read none of it!
Thanks anyway.Comment
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How about this?
Mahler’s 10 symphonies and Das Lied von der Erde are intensely personal statements that have touched wide audiences. This survey examines each of the works, revealing their programmatic and personal aspects, as well as Mahler’s musical techniques.
Paperback less than £20.
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I knew of Floros' Bruckner publications and the one on Ligeti, etc. (all much dearer now...); but I never knew about this one. Looking inside it seems really interesting, with great historical/compositional detail, and listening guides rather like those from Carragan on the Bruckner Symphonies.Originally posted by Pulcinella View Post
The translation reads really well too.... natural flowing English, even in complex sentences.
So I just ordered one - thanks little puppet!
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I need plenty of reading for this time of year. Just got a 2ndhand copy of the Jensen Schumann biography, and George Saunders' Liberation Day. With the New Scientist Saturnalia & New Year Special and Floros on Mahler, I can navigate the long dark days of retreat and quietude..........Last edited by jayne lee wilson; 21-12-22, 21:00.Comment
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Originally posted by jayne lee wilson View Post
Hope it lives up to expectations: I found it merely through an internet search, and it looked good and worth drawing attention to.
A lot more detail than in Philip Barford's old BBC Music Guide, anyway.
I hope there'll still be a copy left for silvestrione, though, if others decide to buy it too.Comment
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David Vernon: Beauty and Sadness (pub May 2022) is the book you might be looking for.
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The Floros book is pretty good although it doesn't really go into much more detail than you'd expect to find in a concert programme or liner note. (Floros has written other more scholarly books about Mahler.) I would strongly recommend it to someone whose knowledge of Mahler's music is basic or less, but I don't think I'd recommend it to people who know the music well. The material on the symphonies in the Cambridge Companion takes up a relatively small proportion of the book, and I didn't much like the pretentious way some of it is written (example: "The abrupt parataxis of differing ‘temporal ruptures’ is treated with particular suppleness in the third movement, the ‘animal piece’ based on Mahler’s Wunderhorn song ‘Ablösung im Sommer’, revealing in microcosm the extent to which the temporality of the subject dictates the progression of the movement.") But I should say I've never come across a book about Mahler's music that I've really liked.Comment
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Although Silvestrione said a book with music examples would be preferable and that one doesn't have any. I think it's written with a great deal of love for the music, and contains a much eloquent description (& is maybe prone to overinterpretation) but I have the impression the author has derived his impressions from listening to recordings and/or concerts rather then getting engaged with scores.Originally posted by Alison View PostComment
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I feel that's a little unfair to Floros: take a look at the first chapter on Amazon and you'll see it goes into great detail about the genesis of the First Symphony, its various versions and revisions, quotes of critical reaction to it, Mahler's own reflections about all this in his letters and other comments, and his own thoughts about the new sounds he was creating. At much greater length than a liner note could ever do (including a longer quote from Mahler's extensive program for the 1st than I'd seen before). Very good on the Jean Paul influence too, especially as I'd just been reading of this writer's much more profound effect on the young Robert Schumann (in the biography mentioned above, by Eric Jensen).Originally posted by RichardB View Post
It is very useful to have all these aspects in one place, relating to each other in a smoothly flowing well-written narrative. And those point-to-point listening guides to each movement, with closely described detail accompanying them, are rarely if ever found in CD or Concert notes; very helpful.
Interesting chapter headings to come, such as: "The Eschatological Question as Subject"... "Mahler's Cosmology and its Sources"... "Life after Death as a Subject"....
...should keep this untutored untrained music lover happy for a while at least!Last edited by jayne lee wilson; 22-12-22, 02:01.Comment
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I don't have to - I have the book and I've read it!Originally posted by jayne lee wilson View Post
I wouldn't want to be seen as unfair on Floros - I have the greatest respect for his writings, I think this is a very well-written book consisting of well-chosen information and insight. It is indeed more detailed than Cooke's volume but I would have preferred it to go further. A more general point about most writing on Mahler (including Floros) is that it tends to lean too heavily on the idea that Mahler's music is basically an autobiography in sound, which I really don't think is the most interesting or appropriate way to look at it - every time I read about the 6th Symphony and see the words "Alma's theme" I feel like shaking the author and demanding that they pay more attention to score and sound than to gossip. But maybe that's just me.Last edited by RichardB; 22-12-22, 08:20.Comment
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Interesting that . I’ve use the phrase Alma’s theme on the lengthy Mahler 6 thread but I’ve no idea who coined it or what basis it has. One can say it sounds like a love theme but why does it ? I suppose if we can Mahler’s work is an autobiography in sound then so are Beethovens 32 piano sonatas …but I’m not sure where it gets us.Comment
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I'm pretty sure where it gets us. To quote RVW, "does it not occur to anyone, that a man might merely want to write a piece of music?" Mahler thought differently, and thank goodness for differing opinions! But I'm squarely with RichardB on this one.Originally posted by Ein Heldenleben View PostComment
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Ah no, I was too slow there...Floros now rather pricey, in hardback! I have gone for the Kindle version, which I don't normally do...Comment
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