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1 LP -
139 331 - (p) 1968
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10 CD's
- 429 042-2 - (c) 1989 |
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GUSTAV
MAHLER (1860-1911) |
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Symphonie Nr. 1
D-dur "Der Titan"
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50' 00" |
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- Langsam.
Schleppend / Im Anfang sehr
gemächlich |
14' 31" |
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- Kräftig bewegt,
doch nicht zu schnell |
6' 55" |
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- Feierlich und
gemessen, ohne zu schleppen -
attacca
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10' 37" |
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Stürmisch bewegt |
17' 40" |
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Symphonie-Orchester
des Bayerischen Rundfunks |
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Rafael
KUBELIK |
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Luogo
e data di registrazione |
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Herkules-Saal,
München (Germania) - ottobre 1967 |
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Registrazione:
live / studio |
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studio |
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Executive
Producers |
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Otto
Gerdes |
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Recording
Producer
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Hans
Weber |
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Balance
Engineer |
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Günter
Hermanns |
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Prima Edizione
LP |
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Deutsche
Grammophon - 139 331 - (1 LP) -
durata 50' 00" - (p) 1968 -
Analogico |
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Prima Edizione
CD |
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Deutsche
Grammophon - 429 042-2 - (10 CD's
- 1°) - (c) 1989 - ADD |
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Note |
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Illustration
auf der Taschenvorderseite
"Salome", Ausschnitt aus einem
Gemälde von Gustav Klimt. SCALA
Istituto Fotografico Editoriale,
Florenz |
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The various
phases of Mahler's symphonic
writing reveal an
increasingly powerful
process of evolution, but
even the First Symphony
contains all the really
essential and characteristic
features of its composer's
style, set out with great
clarity. The stepping stones
leading to the First
Symphony were not youthful
intrumental works; Mahler's
concept of the symphony
evolved from his early
songs. The First Symphony
for example, derived its
inspiration and much of its
thematic material from the
"Lieder eines fahrenden
Gesellen" ("Songs of a
Wayfaring Lad").
The first movement is based
directly on the second song
of the cycle: "Ging heut
morgen über Feld". The
wayfarer tells of rambling
gaily across the fields at
dawn, and an uncommonly
potent little tune occurs to
him, which grows happily
into one garland of melody
after another. Against a
shimmering, seemingly
celestial background created
by string harmonics,
sections and tiny fragments
of the melody are heard;
distant fanfares herald the
dawn, descending fourths
produce a feeling of
expectancy, bass figures
ascend, split up, and
finally present the melody
in all the fulnes of its
radiant beauty. This
movement does not follow any
conventional formal pattern.
Neverthless the principal
subject is followed by
subsidiary subjects, clouds
overshadow the wayfarer's
cheerfulness, and the
musical development is
governed throughout by an
overriding dynamic
principle. Anyone who
whishes to can discover
elements of sonata form
without difficulty.
We should bear in mind, when
considering this Symphony,
that the composer was
thinking, when planning it,
of the writer Jean Paul and
his "Titan" Mahler wrote of
the first movement: "Spring,
without end. The
Introduction depicts the
awakening of mature in the
early morning". If we may
draw a parallel between this
and the awakening of happy
feelings in Beethoven's
Pastoral Symphony, we may
similarly compare the second
movement to that work's
"Merry gathering of
countrypeople". However,
Mahler's peasants dance in a
far rougher and cruder
rhythm. They are tough
foresters, who hammer out
the rhythm on the dance
floor woth their heavy
boots. The Trio, in the
style of a ländler, possibly
suggests that these men can
be gentler when they are
with their girls.
By far the most original
section of this Symphony is
the third movement, in a
sombre D minor, which
features the canon "Frère
Jacques", decking it out
with parodistic
counter-melodies. Mahler
gave the following account
of this piece: "The composer
received the outward
stimulus to write this piece
through the parodistic
picture "The Huntsman's
Burial", well-known so all
South-German children, from
an old book of children's
stories: the woodland
animals accompany the
forester's coffin to the
grave. Hares act as bearers;
in front there is a band of
Bohemian musicians,
accompanied by cats, toads,
crows etc., also making
music, with stags, deer,
foxes and other four-legged
and feathered creatures of
the woods processing in a
droll manner". Then,
however, the macabre
atmosphere is dispelled, and
at the centre of the
movement tender inwardness
of feeling takes its place,
to a dreamlike melody from
the fourth of the "Lieder
eines fahrenden Gesellen".
There this melody is set to
possibly artless but
nevertheless moving words:
"Auf der Strasse stand ein
Lindenbaum..." ("By the
wayside stood a linden
tree...").
A repetition of the Funeral
March in a shortened form is
followed by a sudden, wild
orchestral outburst - the
cry of a deeply wounded
heart. This suggest the idea
underlying the fourth
movement: "Dall'inferno al
paradiso". The wounded heart
tears itself away from the
torment of grie - depicted
musically in a tempestuous,
melodically most impressive
Allegro - and soars aloft to
the jubilant consciousness
of inward, heavenly bliss.
Heinrich
Kralik
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