當(dāng)我是一個(gè)孩子時(shí)我像孩子一樣說(shuō)話，像孩子一樣理解，像孩子一樣思考朋凉。但當(dāng)我成為一個(gè)大人時(shí)，我收起了那些孩子氣的東西醋安≡优恚——《哥林多前書第13章第11節(jié)》
? ? 1901年2月24日是古斯塔夫·馬勒一生中不平凡的一天。下午吓揪，這位40歲的作曲家和指揮家?guī)ьI(lǐng)維也納愛樂樂團(tuán)首次演出了他的前任總監(jiān)安東·布魯克納的第五交響曲亲怠。當(dāng)晚他在維也納歌劇院指揮了上演莫扎特魔笛的盛大晚會(huì)。一個(gè)年輕的名叫阿爾瑪·辛德勒的女人座在觀眾席中柠辞，她將在不到一年的時(shí)間之內(nèi)成為馬勒的妻子团秽。看完了他的指揮之后钾腺，她報(bào)告似地對(duì)她的同伴說(shuō)到：“那張臉徙垫，那些慘白的皺紋，那像燃燒的煤球一樣的眼睛放棒，這個(gè)男人不能在這樣下去了姻报。” 那天晚些時(shí)候间螟，馬勒醒來(lái)發(fā)現(xiàn)自己倒在血泊之中吴旋。醫(yī)生被呼叫過(guò)來(lái)，一個(gè)外科醫(yī)生發(fā)現(xiàn)如果他晚到了半個(gè)小時(shí)的話厢破，一切就會(huì)太遲了荣瑟。馬勒被診斷為上消化道嚴(yán)重出血。
血被止住了摩泪，一周后手術(shù)成功進(jìn)行笆焰。但是馬勒卻被迫停止工作，在維也納的一家醫(yī)院和家里康復(fù)了一個(gè)多月见坑。疼痛還在繼續(xù)嚷掠，還需要在6月進(jìn)行第二場(chǎng)手術(shù)。雖然馬勒是否面臨生命危險(xiǎn)還存在爭(zhēng)議荞驴，但他給朋友的口信中清楚的表明不皆，他相信他面臨著致命的危險(xiǎn)⌒苈ィ“你知道昨晚我差點(diǎn)死去霹娄，當(dāng)我看到兩位醫(yī)生的臉時(shí)我以為這是我的彌留之際。當(dāng)我徘徊在生與死的邊界上時(shí)，我在想是不是就這樣結(jié)束會(huì)更好犬耻，因?yàn)槊總€(gè)人都會(huì)迎來(lái)這樣的結(jié)局”踩晶。并不意外地，馬勒從這場(chǎng)危機(jī)中解脫出來(lái)枕磁，他的觀點(diǎn)也改變了合瓢。他的學(xué)生，指揮家布魯諾·沃爾塔在他身上看到了無(wú)比深刻的現(xiàn)實(shí)與清醒透典。與死神的擦肩而過(guò)以及隨后的術(shù)后抑郁正好發(fā)生在馬勒即將步入中年之際晴楔，這無(wú)疑使他成熟，并重新評(píng)估他自身的存在以及迄今為止的成就峭咒。
? ? 幾代人以來(lái)税弃，音樂家們都希望從約翰·塞巴斯蒂安·巴赫的音樂中尋找到愉悅的指引和安慰，馬勒也不例外凑队。在他康復(fù)的過(guò)程中则果，他將自己沉浸在這位偉大的巴洛克大師的作品中，從中得到了解脫和新生漩氨∥髯常基于巴赫無(wú)與倫比的技術(shù)技巧，馬勒驚嘆于這種被他稱作奇跡般的自由叫惊。在巴赫的音樂中款青，每一個(gè)細(xì)胞都完全統(tǒng)一，好像世界就在上帝手中霍狰，沒有比這更歡愉的事情了抡草。巴赫作為作曲家，他的作品代表了被稱為“絕對(duì)音樂”的最高水平蔗坯。馬勒轉(zhuǎn)向巴赫的懷抱康震，不僅奠定了他第五交響曲大部分內(nèi)容的基調(diào)，產(chǎn)生的前景也影響了他接下來(lái)兩部交響曲的布局宾濒。三部純粹器樂的腿短，非標(biāo)題的音樂，組成了他第二段創(chuàng)作期的核心內(nèi)容绘梦。
盡管馬勒所有的作品都提出了最基本的存在的問(wèn)題橘忱，他提出這些問(wèn)題的方式卻隨時(shí)間變化。在他前四部交響曲中提出的深刻問(wèn)題谚咬，面臨著很大程度上詩(shī)意的神秘背景鹦付。青年的魔法號(hào)角營(yíng)造出來(lái)的瑰麗氛圍以及一本馬勒最喜歡的民間詩(shī)歌集貫穿在這四部曲中尚粘。在其中尋找出的文本和敘述直接說(shuō)明了這些特別的標(biāo)題音樂中蘊(yùn)含的內(nèi)容择卦。但是作曲家在1901年上半年的遭遇給他的藝術(shù)視角帶來(lái)了翻天覆地的變化。在給朋友的一封信中他描述了他對(duì)第五交響曲的計(jì)劃，它不屬于浪漫或者神秘元素秉继，它絕對(duì)沒有人聲祈噪。它不需要語(yǔ)言，一切都將在純粹的音樂中表現(xiàn)尚辑。它將是一首真正的交響樂辑鲤，每個(gè)樂章相互獨(dú)立、完整杠茬，樂章之間僅僅依靠情緒聯(lián)系在一起月褥。
? ? 馬勒的第五交響曲大部分寫于1901和1902年的夏天的麥亞尼希，一座位于奧地利南部卡林西亞州的湖邊小鎮(zhèn)瓢喉。作為一個(gè)自承為假日作曲家的人宁赤，他的原創(chuàng)性工作通常局限于這些暑假當(dāng)中。其它更程序化的作曲工作栓票，像編曲和謄抄通常都在常規(guī)的樂季當(dāng)中進(jìn)行决左。馬勒的指揮工作占據(jù)了他大部分時(shí)間，留給他的空閑已經(jīng)不足以產(chǎn)生新的想法了走贪。因此佛猛，重新拾起他的創(chuàng)作動(dòng)力會(huì)遇到許多困難，直到1901年的7月上旬坠狡，馬勒才能夠認(rèn)真地開始譜寫這首交響曲继找。然而一旦開始，之后的進(jìn)度非常迅速逃沿。到那個(gè)夏天結(jié)束時(shí)码荔，他完成了第一樂章葬禮進(jìn)行曲，這與他早期的交響曲中的那些毫無(wú)關(guān)聯(lián)的絕望形成了鮮明的對(duì)比感挥。風(fēng)暴般激烈的第二樂章為第一部分收尾缩搅，龐大的819小節(jié)的諧謔曲構(gòu)成了樂曲第二部分。用馬勒的話來(lái)說(shuō)這是一部出色的復(fù)調(diào)杰作触幼，其中的要素都是必要而經(jīng)過(guò)了充分的融合和轉(zhuǎn)化硼瓣。樂曲的第三部分，也是最后一部分完成于第二年夏天置谦，由兩個(gè)樂章組成堂鲤。為弦樂和豎琴而作的柔板——被認(rèn)為是馬勒獻(xiàn)給新婚妻子阿爾瑪?shù)臒o(wú)言情歌，和另一個(gè)狂歡的終曲——回應(yīng)巴赫的擁抱媒峡。
盡管這首曲子1904年10月在科隆的首演并不成功瘟栖，但馬勒沒有退縮：“我現(xiàn)在的創(chuàng)作就像是一個(gè)成年人，一個(gè)有正確經(jīng)驗(yàn)的人谅阿。雖然我的熱情達(dá)不到以前的高度半哟，但我完全掌控著我的力量和技術(shù)酬滤。我感到我是情感表達(dá)的主人，能夠?qū)崿F(xiàn)任何我想做的事情寓涨《⒋”
When I’m a child I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, and I thought as a child. But when I became a man, I put away those childish things. ーFirst Corinthians chapter 13 verse 11
February 24 1901 was an eventful day in the life of Gustav Mahler. In the afternoon, the 40 year old composer and conductor led the Vienna philharmonic in their first performance of fifth symphony by his former mentor Anton Bruckner, that evening he conducted a gala performance of Mozart’s The Magic Flute at the Vienna Opera. A young woman named Alma Schindler who would become Mahler’s wife in less than one year later was in the audience. After watching him conduct, she reportedly said to her companions: that face those pale cheeks those eyes like burning coals, this man can’t go on like that. Later that night, Mahler awake to find himself lying in a pool of blood. A doctor was called and then a surgeon who noted that if he’d arrived a half hour later, it would’ve been too late. A severe hemorrhage in Mahler’s upper intestinal tract was diagnosed and the bleeding was eventually stopped. A successful operation was performed a week later but Maher was forced to abandon professional activities for more than a month while convalescing at a Vienna hospital and then at home. Painful symptoms continued required a second operation in June. While the extent to which Mahler’s life was actually in danger has been debated, a remark that he made to his friend clearly indicated that he believed the peril he’d faced was mortal. You know last night I nearly passed away, when I saw the faces of the two doctors I thought my last hour had come. While I was hovering on the border between life and death I wondered whether it wouldn’t be better to be done with it at once, since everyone must come to that in the end. Unsurprisingly Mahler appears to have emerged form this crisis with altered perspectives. His disciple the conductor Bruno Volta noted in him a deepen realism and sobriety. The fact that this brush with mortality and bouts of post-operative depression that followed occurred just as Mahler was entering midlife certainly made him ripe for a reassessment of both his existence and his accomplishments to date.
For generations musicians have turn to the music of Johann Sebastian Bach for enjoyment instruction and consolation and Mahler was no exception. During his recovery he plunged into the great baroque master’s work and emerged refreshed. Marveling at what he called this miraculous freedom which is based on his unparallel skill and technique. In Bach all the cells are united as the world is in God. There’s never been playfully greater than this. This renewed embrace of Bach as composers whose arts represents the highest standard of so called absolute music would not only fundamentally determine much of the content in Mahler’s fifth symphony, the outlook it generated also give rise to the two symphonies that followed. Resulting in a trilogy of purely instrumental, non-programmatic symphonies that formed the core of his second creative period. While all of Maler’s works address basic existential questions. The manner of that address changed over time. The profound issues raised in his first four symphonies are confronted with a largely poetic mystical context. The fanciful atmosphere of Des Knaben Wunderhorn or the youth’s magic horn and an anthology of folk poems and songs that was one of Mahler’s favorite books is pervasive in this tetralogy and the narratives and texts he found in this collection directly inform the substance of this explicitly programmatic works. But the composer’s experiences during the first half of 1901 brought about a decisive shift in his artistic vision. A change he described in a letter to a friend about his plans for his fifth symphony. Neither romantic or mystical elements belong and human voice has absolutely no place in it. It doesn’t need words, for everything is to be expressed in pure music. It would be a proper symphony, each movement independent, complete in itself and linked to the others solely by affinity of mood.
Mahler’s fifth was primarily written during the summer month of 1901 and 1902 in Mayance. A lakeside hamlet in southern Austrian province Carinthia. As a self-described holiday composer, his creative work was usually confined to these summer vacation periods while the more functional aspects of composition such as orchestration and copying took place during the regular concert season when Mahler’s conducting schedule occupied much of his time and left him in a frame of mind that wasn’t conducive to developing new ideas. As a result reestablishing his creative momentum was often a struggle and Mahler wasn’t able to begin composing this symphony in earnest until early July of 1901. Once begun, however, the work proceeded quickly. By the end of that summer he completed the opening funeral march which in its unrelating despair stands in contrast to those in his early symphonies. The vehement stormy second movement that closed the work’s first part and the massive 819 bar scherzo that forms the entirely of the symphony’s second and a brilliant masterpiece of polyphony in which the material is in Mahler’s words, so thoroughly needed that there is not a single grain in it which isn’t blended and transformed. The work’s third and final part was written the following summer and consists of two movements, an adagietto for strings and harp that is thought to be an instrumental love song for Mahler’s new wife Alma, and a Ronda-Finale that is a veritable orgy of joyous Bahian counterpart. Although the symphony’s premier in Cologne in Oct of 1904 was unsuccessful, Mahler remained undeterred. My present creative work is that of an adult, a man of right experience. Although I no longer attain my former heights of enthusiasm, I’m now in full command of my powers and technique.? I feel that I’m master of my means of expression and capable of carrying out anything to which I put my hand.
Transcribed and translated from Boston Symphony Orchestra Channel by Kane 28/3
