Symphony No. 9

Gustav Mahler

Berlin Philharmonic (Herbert von Karajan, cond.)

album cover

Nine Was Enough

Even the mighty Gustav Mahler couldn't escape the Ninth Symphony curse. He was well aware, as he began work on this epic, that many of the world's great composers (Beethoven, Bruckner, Schubert, and Dvořák among them) died before they could finish a tenth symphony, so when his choral work Das Lied von der Erde (see previous page) was premiered, Mahler initially declared it his Ninth so that this gargantuan piece, well under way, could be Number Ten. Just one problem: Das Lied isn't a symphony. Mahler completed the Ninth and was halfway through the follow-up when his heart gave out.

Though it doesn't start out that way, the Ninth most definitely is conceived as a fullthrottle Big Orchestra experience. It also is generally considered a milestone, the last great work of the Romantic era. Mahler inverts the customary emotional topography of the four symphonic movements: His opening and closing segments are cast in slow and ruminative moods, while the middle two movements are brisk, and full of animated dancelike episodes. This can puzzle those expecting the typical arc of an orchestral work, but it suits Mahler's aims: The languid, surprisingly lyrical initial motifs lure listeners in, establishing a hypnotic state that carries through the caprices that follow. By the time the swollen chords of the final movement roll in, there's no need for a sirensblazing finale—a more modest invitation to thought and reflection will suffice.

The shimmer coming from the string section during the fourth movement, one of Mahler's finest, is reason enough to seek out this live recording, which was made near the end of Herbert von Karajan's tenure with the Berlin. The group was deservedly famous for its depth of tone, and while that's evident here, even more remarkable is the ensemble unity; on the stupendous Molto Adagio, the musicians lock into a vibrato pattern that carries from the lowest voice to the highest. This knits the threads of the piece together in a remarkable way—it sounds like the whole ensemble is breathing together. Karajan cultivated that group dynamic, and uses it brilliantly in the symphony's final moments, when Mahler several times pushes things to the edge of tension. Some conductors read Mahler's manipulations literally, creating in the final movement a constant ricochet between peaks and valleys. Karajan, never a composer's errand boy, concerns himself more with the ramp-up and the cooldown, and by taking his time between extremes, celebrates the full magnificence of Mahler's schemes.

Genre: Classical
Released: 1983, Deutsche Grammophon
Key Tracks: Fourth movement: Molto Adagio; second movement: Poco piu mosso subito
Catalog Choice: Symphony No. 5, Chicago Symphony Orchestra (Georg Solti, cond.)
Next Stop: Anton Bruckner: Symphony No. 4, Berlin Philharmonic (Simon Rattle, cond.)
Book Pages: 470–471