"And so we come to the final incredible page. And this page, I think, is the closest we have ever come, in any work of art, to experiencing the very act of dying, of giving it all up. The slowness of this page is terrifying: Adagissimo, he writes, the slowest possible musical direction; and then langsam (slow), ersterbend (dying-away), zögern (hesitating); and as if all those were not enough to indicate the near stoppage of time, he adds äusserst langsam (extremely slow) in the very last bars. It is terrifying, and paralyzing, as the strands of sound disintegrate. We hold on to them, hovering between hope and submission. And one by one, these spidery strands connecting us to life melt away, vanish from our fingers even as we hold them. We cling to them as they dematerialize; we are holding two -- then one. One, and suddenly none. For a petrifying moment there is only silence. Then again, a strand, a broken strand, two strands, one . . . none. We are 'half in love with easeful death . . . now more than ever seems it rich to die, to cease upon the midnight with no pain' . . . And in ceasing, we lose it all. But in letting go, we have gained everything." - Bernstein (on the finale of Mahler's Ninth Symphony)
“It’s dark because you are trying too hard. Lightly child, lightly. Learn to do everything lightly. Yes, feel lightly even though you’re feeling deeply. Just lightly let things happen and lightly cope with them. I was so preposterously serious in those days, such a humorless little prig. Lightly, lightly - it’s the best advice ever given me. When it comes to dying even. Nothing ponderous, or portentous, or emphatic. No rhetoric, no tremolos, no self conscious persona putting on its celebrated imitation of Christ or Little Nell. And of course, no theology, no metaphysics. Just the fact of dying and the fact of the clear light. So throw away your baggage and go forward. There are quicksands all about you, sucking at your feet, trying to suck you down into fear and self-pity and despair. That’s why you must walk so lightly. Lightly my darling, on tiptoes and no luggage, not even a sponge bag, completely unencumbered.” ― Aldous Huxley, Island
This is just one music interpretation of the act of giving everything up and the finality of death . Bruckners 9th symphony is especially brilliant at expressing this sensitive issue infact even more dramatic.Both composers were obsessed with the process of dying......
The end of an Age, yes. Innocence once lost can never be regained and yet what is it that remains? I would like to suggest that "we" some how are growing up. But then again, I'm a idealist. I've been wrong before. Sorry about that. And yes, I believe we cannot go backwards in order to find our way forward. What a master work this is. What a supreme work of realization and revelation. What an insight upon human nature. What dreams may come? The voice of Calliope and her sister speak... even more clearly in the Great Silences. Blessings on all of us dear Phil. It's the Forth of July, my birthday, and also that of Charles Ives, the founder of the Prudential Live Insurance Company. Oh yeah, America (USA) too! Have a great day. Blessings, moi
The beautiful thing about watching Lenny was that he just left the world when he conducted Mahler. He was totally immersed - physically - in the music and he just hung it all out there for us mortals to see. His body gives listeners like me cues to listening. Even on the podium he was teaching without knowing it. He was definitely one of the greats. He did it all. Not many others can make that statement. A tremendous film, really. Thanks!
The 4th movement absolutely takes your breath away and reaches into the deepest depths of your soul. The capitulation at the end, as those last dying breaths of music fade into nothingness...tranquil in their exit...acceptance of the inevitable...and peacefully fading into the next life.
That section from 1:05:51 to 1:06:52 is my favorite part, especially with that volcanic eruption of those horns! 😍😍 Such an immense, raw, and emotionally charged build-up that never ceases to give me chills down my entire spine. I think Mahler knew he was nearing the end. Even if he didn't, this was still one incredible "farewell" to the world! 👏🏽👏🏽
Mahler is the only composer that writes about the human mind and heart. The bitterness in our hearts are portrayed here and only here-the masterpiece. Thank you, Mahler. You are my role model. Your music shall run in me forever.
As perplexed, with Brahms, standing on the bridge, wondering if their music would flow into the future as does the stream of water. Assuredly, the music continues to flow into our souls.
I. (Andante comodo) 0:48 II. (Im Tempo eines gemächlichen Ländlers. Etwas täppisch und sehr derb) 28:20 III. (Rondo-Burleske: Allegro assai. Sehr trotzig) 44:37 IV. (Adagio. Sehr langsam und noch zurückhaltend) 56:24
Ні, це не музика - це щось набагато більше, ніж музика; це зверхмузика; це музичний абсолют; це ядро Всесвіту і в той же час його вершина, його апогей!!! І що характерно - характерно те, що ця музика не сприймається слухом, а лише органами почуттів, і при цьому вмикається все-все-все підсвідоме.
I believe Mahler is musically describing the perfect death in the Adagio. Complete final relinquishment is demonstrated here in musical form. Have no fear.
Real Barbershop Talk: I have served honorably in the Marine Corps with my love for Classical music from High School via College and performing on Stage. Yes, lots of people love Chopin, The Beeth; but for me its Mahler. Symphony #5 3rd Movement and Symphony #9. The 4th Movement I love. I recall it was describe as.."A Human holding on a Ice Cube and its 100 Degrees outside. The Cube represents "LIFE". The Human is trying to HOLD On that that Ice as long as he/she can...until it slowly melts away. Then..it is gone. #AlwaysMahlerFan
I can't state enough how awesome the 9th is. The fourth movement only takes 15 pages in the full score, mainly because the instrumentation is a bit scarce compared to the other movements (it starts all on strings) and the tempo is slower. Still an amazing 15 pages to study. I just love the alteration/modulation in the cellos/double bass in the main theme that comes back multiple times during the movement, it gets to me every time. 56:56
merci beaucoup pour cette merveilleuse vidéo qui me permet de voir la direction sensible et imprégnée de Lenny sur cette symphonie de Mahler que je ne connaissais pas, le dernier mouvement, l'adagio, sehr langsam und noch zurückhaltend me touche particulièrement. Thanks a lot for this wonderful film which enables me to watch the so sensitive direction of Lenny as if he was living the symphony of Mahler, particularly the last movement, Adagio, sehr langsam und noch zurückhaltend which moves me extremely.
That cymbal player waited ages for his moment and then made the most of it! very important part. Tremendous patience and observance-staying alert, waiting for your big moment.
I love how most appreciative comments any music fan makes also includes some sort of condensation against the "other". A constant violent construction of ones identity based on ones musical taste and through exclusion.
So cool to see the VPO playing in the BPO's home turf. I have Bernstein's only recording with the BPO doing this same symphony. Supposedly, Karajan waited till after Lennie had rehearsed and performed this piece before he himself recorded it. Too bad there are only about 2 camera angles.
Mahler, of course, writes admirably for the orchestra. We feel the pleasure to conduct this music when looking at L; Bernstein. His ninth symphony - a quite complex score - is a model of transparency. His recording is a jewel. Here, we have the chance to look at the play of the instrumentists in the orchestra.
I was listening to this while working. Occasionally the music would fully register in my mind, but not often. It reached the final movement, and as the orchestra slowly built, faded, and died, it barely registered in my mind. It was there, it was moving, but I wasn't there. It was only in the cacophony of silence that followed that I realized that it was over, and that I had missed the very thing that I had originally come for. I had squandered beauty on business. The thing that I had wanted passed me by because I was careless, and only in its absence do I want it. For all the platitudes, it still feels more real than anything has in a long time.
I used to think the 3rd’s finale was better than the 9th’s but that was because I was very busy with school and listened to the 3rd’s finale when I had time. After re-listening to this finale when I had time, I became near speechless. It’s incredibly beautiful, almost like it was written with the pen of God. Now I think the 9th is better, and like you I was too busy doing stuff in order to fully take in the music. Satie was right about “furniture music”.
This is a very great work, here are some parts that I like. •The Straussian chaos in parts of the first movement •The two inner movements are fun. The Rondo Burleske has nice dissonance at parts. •The last movement is the most beautiful music can get.
Dans l'ombre, le chef d'orchestre est en quête de perfection Il impulse le tempo et les fait inlassablement répéter pour atteindre l'harmonie L 'énergie véhiculée par le son circule entre lui et les musiciens Les porter puis se laisser porter par eux Lorsque la fausse note arrive, Le silence est une pause nécessaire Une respiration pour écouter, comprendre Pour retrouver la confiance et le plaisir de jouer ensemble Puis dans un nouvel acte, se transcender... Oui, le silence nous garde, nous préserve et c'est très bien ainsi!!
Très bien ressenti et exprimé ! Mais sauriez vous par hasard où était donné ce concert ? Ce n'est pas précisé. Merci pour votre réponse à un fan de Lenny !
The loss of Innocence. Death without dying. Life without hope. Never again will I come into this world. It's history is written in blood, blood that cannot be washed away by either time or distance. I never wanted this. Since today (July 4th) is my birthday, I think I'll listen to a little.... Bless all of you and Lenny where ever you are who brought this might work together. Excellence remains... and cannot be denied. Even unto the ends of time. Chopin's Nocturnes, Bach's Organ Works, Satie's Gymnopdies, and yes, this work by Gustav shall most likely outlast us all. You can already hear it in the Silence. Do I hear laughter in this sunrise? Our sunrise. Is it our laughter or does this laughter rise from another generation yet to come? Am I (we) a victim or a merely a survivor? Or something else entirely. Blessings upon us all... this day and from this day forward. Moi
Oh, Mahler's 9th.. what a sum of musical culture and tribute to classical music legacy (rip LVB) while being such authentic in itself.. Mahler at his best
As does Brahms and Tchaikovsky as a music professor has demonstrated to me. Cannot find Brahms 2nd with Bernstein and Vienna posted anymore, but much discussion about a lonely soul. This and his (Mahler's) 1st are two of the most magnificent "soulful" pieces of music I can find, in my opinion. if a composer can touch our soul, then he/she has had success. Even if it is more than 100 years later! If only Mahler knew what we are sharing. I understand that one of Mahler's concerns was about music (his and other's) which might continue to live.
Mahler, à son zénith, Bernstein, au sien ! Mais sauriez vous par hasard où était donné ce concert ? Ce n'est pas indiqué. Merci pour votre réponse à un fan de Lenny !
So this is where all the people who can make a RU-vid post without being offensive/racist/abusive/etc. come? Must come here more often. Mahler's 9th - drawn here by it's reference in St Elmo's Fire, and very glad I was. Great stuff :)
I had listened to Bernstein's lecture about this piece, and I can't see why he thinks that it has to do with 3 kinds of death. 1st one being what Mahler saw about his own death. I find it a very beautiful piece despite the fact of how long it is. Symphony number 3 is by far the longest with 6.. count them.. 6 movements. The 5th movement being the shortest. Thanks a lot for posting this guys.
Celebration of life rather than contemplation of death? We know that tragedies struck him as they do with all of us, but his expressional output was music. I find many meanings of our moments of life in this piece. The third movement (to me) as allegro assai is more celebratory than funereal. I wish I could find the quote of a music professor sharing that Mahler and Brahms were standing on a bridge and it was Brahms who woefully asked if their music would endure time, to which Mahler said something to the effect of 'it is like the water, it will flow forever". Not all of life's events end in a major chord crescendo.
La interpretación musical seguirá siendo la misma. Lo que si ha avanzado de manera significativa es la forma cómo se captura el audio y el vídeo. Antes se utilizaban medios analógicos (vinilo y cintas magnéticas). Hoy la tecnología digital ha revolucionado la calidad en la grabación de este tipo de eventos. Un saludo cordial y respetuoso.
Sr. estamos hablando idiomas totalmente diferente, yo no me refiero a los medios técnicos empleados para una determinada grabación que evidentemente esos han cambiado yo, a lo que me refiero es al contenido interpretativo y mire este aspecto, no es el mismo nunca, jamás, ni con el mismo director y orquesta un día y al siguiente. Me comprende ahora?
Mahler is one of my favorite composers, but he's an acquired taste for many. There's no need to judge someone who doesn't like this music. I personally prefer the five movement 10th Symphony whose Finale moves me far more than the Finale of the Ninth Symphony.
Conducting is fun..... when the baton becomes one of the instruments of the orchestra. Knowing that every musician is equally important contributing to the expression of the piece.
"It is terrifying, and paralyzing, as the strands of sound disintegrate ... in ceasing, we lose it all. But in letting go, we have gained everything." -- Leonard Bernstein, re: Mahler's 9th
I too thank you, Mateus, for posting this wonderful performance - such a treat for those of us who never saw Bernstein conduct. I pity Ron Walker below, who found himself in the desert of incomprehension. And Ron, for future reference, you got the quote wrong, the author wrong - and why show off your failure to feel something?
Very interesting seating position of string section. If I see this correctly, from left to right, Bernstein has 1st violins, 2nd violins, violoncellos and violas on the right most, with basses behind the violas. Anyone here has any background info on how this seating position came across? For example, Gergiev does 1st violins, violas, cellos and 2nd violins. There is no doubt who is the conductor that came the closest to what Mahler is, but just wondering if that is also something Mahler himself intended. Any info would be gladly appreciated!
Henry-Louis de La Grange's final volume of his Mahler biography pretty much dispels the myth of the dying Mahler writing his swansong about his impending death. Bernstein's philosophical and historical interpretation of the meaning of the music, what he said about it, is dated now in many ways, though his musical sense of the score and how he conducted it is unquestionably great and indelible. I recommend this book; it will reshape the way you hear, and think about, the Ninth.
You are absolutely right: Mahler was healthy physically and mentally when he composed the Ninth as well as the astonishing draft of his nearly 2000 measure Tenth, the entire 5 movements composed in a burst of creative vigor in July and August of 1910. And the glorious Finale of the Tenth is quite different from the bitter sweet ending of Das Lied von der Erde, and the heartbreaking Finale of the Ninth.
Mateus - can you advise when this was recorded , the orchestra + date. the music is astonishing ! i also love Barshai's 9th on BIS. that digs deep also.
O grande Bernstein na profunda dramaticidade da 9ª Sinfonia , chamada "do Adeus", porque Mahler dizia que após um compositor realizar sua "Nona", morreria. Ele batizou a que seria sua verdadeira e belíssima Nona de "A canção da terra", segundo ele, para tentar "enganar o destino". E não concluiu a sua décima, concluída por Dereck Cooke, que na verdade seria a 11ª. Grande Gustav Mahler!!!
I. Andante comodo...................................................................................00:37 II. Im Tempo eines gemächlichen Ländlers. Etwas täppisch und sehr derb....28:19 III. Rondo-Burleske: Allegro assai. Sehr trotzig...........................................44:38 IV. Adagio: Sehr langsam und noch zuruckhaltend......................................56:21
+pokejing I. Andante comodo................................................................................... 00:37 II. Im Tempo eines gemächlichen Ländlers. Etwas täppisch und sehr derb.... 28:19 III. Rondo-Burleske: Allegro assai. Sehr trotzig........................................... 44:38 IV. Adagio: Sehr langsam und noch zuruckhaltend...................................... 56:21
There is not a single recording of Bernstein conducting Mahler’s 9th symphony with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. Where can I find it or there is no such recording?
@Joseph C Owens I'm curious, do you have any other versions to suggest to listen to? Bernstein still nails it IMO, but I'm keeping an open mind and would be glad to discover another interpretation of this amazing work!
gunnsgthartman The theory is that Karajan capitalized on the Bernstein visit and preparation/recording of this work with the BPO in 1979 to make his '81 recording.
Stunning performance ! Maybe a tad too slow at the end. I don't know of any other artist that touches reaches such depths of emotion greater than Mahler.
+Vince Major The slowness of this page is terrifying: Adagissimo, he writes, the slowest possible musical direction; and then langsam (slow), ersterbend (dying-away), zögern (hesitating); and as if all those were not enough to indicate the near stoppage of time, he adds äusserst langsam (extremely slow) in the very last bars. It is terrifying, and paralyzing, as the strands of sound disintegrate....
Even this performance isn't the slowest it's been done. When Bernstein recorded this symphony with the Concertgebouw, it truly felt like he was trying to stop the world with music. You might or mightn't like it, but it definitely beats this performance for the slow prize.
'any species capable of producing...the music of Johann Sebastian Bach cannot be all bad'. dec. Dr. Lewis Thomas (NYTimes article by Roger Rosenblatt) /Retired Sloan-Kettering Memorial Cancer Director.