MAHLER AND ME

 The music of Gustav Mahler is perhaps an acquired taste for most.   I have a special affinity for Mahler though, and I think we're "soul brothers" of sorts in a sort of musical, cosmic, spiritual way. (never knew I had a Jewish "soul brother" until Mahler's music bored its way into my soul!).   His is music of incomparable beauty, pathos, depth of emotion and feeling,  and full of fin de siecle Weltschmerz  (that would be the end of the 19th century, by the way).  It rises to the highest highs of musical expression, and is representative of the highest endeavor in the musical arts in all of human history. Mahler wrote some of the most moving music in all of musical art, and, for me, typifies the mystical connection between our inner selves, our innermost feelings and thoughts, and the world around us. Indeed, for the cosmos.   Nobody could weave such a tapestry of human existence in and through our souls as Mahler.

Recently, PBS featured Michael Tilson Thomas leading the San Francisco Symphony through a Mahler retrospective entitled "Keeping Score" (in two parts).  It was, in a word, terrifically done.  Maestro Thomas is, of course, one of America's greatest musical artists and among the world's greatest conductors, and a superb Mahler interpreter.  I was awed at his depth and grasp of all things Mahler.  Obviously, he has a deep, deep affinity for Mahler as well, and the exploration of the beginnings and influences of Mahler's music (primarily the symphonies and Lieder) was magnificently done and very enlightening. I was also awed at just how fantastic the San Francisco Orchestra sounded interpreting Mahler.  I had not heard the SFO in many years, so it was great to hear an American Orchestra do such a fantastic job with the music of this Austrian genius.  (The percussion - and timpani - were particularly outstanding.)

Having just returned from a long performing stint in Europe myself when these shows aired, I am not sure whether the "Keeping Score" show is a PBS regular (or periodic) show or whether this was a one shot deal dedicated solely to Mahler under the inspiration of Thomas, but I was fortunate to view them right around my birthday (which I share with Mahler).  All the happier...

I was very fortunate, in my younger years, to have performed several of Mahler's symphonies when I was a member of the Fort Wayne, Indiana Philharmonic under the expert conducting of Thomas Briccetti (I'm a percussionist).  You can't imagine the joy of being a part of such wonders as Mahler's 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 5th Symphonies and being a part of such a large team of musicians brought together to interpret the art of one of the giants of world music!  It is a sacred experience in my view, not unlike the experience I had when I was a student in Vienna, Austria, and watching Karl Bohm and the Vienna Philharmonic deliver a memorable performance of Bach's "St. Matthew Passion" right around Easter.  (The latter's Wir setzen uns mit Tranen nieder is among the greatest musical pieces of all time; extremely moving, most especially for believers.)  To this day, I cannot listen to the breathtakingly beautiful Adagio from Mahler's Fifth Symphony without being reduced to a puddle of tears, as we performed this work not too long after the passing of my mother (which was an extremely traumatic event for this young - aged 17 - budding musician and percussionist, already playing professionally with an excellent orchestra).  The Adagio is one of the phenomenal "Mahler moments" that is saved only for the most special of occasions, perhaps a musical equivalent of bringing out the sacred Torah scrolls and unwinding them for a liturgical read at one of the great Jewish Festivals.   It connects with the soul in an indescribable way; it cleanses, it purges, it renews and invigorates.   At the same time, it connects one with the indescribable pain that Mahler experienced in his life and which is front and center in much of his music (almost autobiographical - in his case and mine).

Mahler knew a fantastic career, both as composer and conductor of the venerable Vienna State Opera and also the New York Philharmonic (bringing the latter to world prominence in the early 1900s).  He wrote ten incomparable Symphonies (still widely played and loved today - much more so than when he was alive, I think) and vocal pieces.  Being Jewish in Europe in his era (late 1800s/early 1900s), he was also a victim of the virulent anti-Semitism rife in these societies (much of the thought of this era fed into the conflicts of WW 1 and WW 2).  Mahler married late in his life, and thought he had found a soul mate in his beloved Alma (19 years his junior; and also a musician).  They had two wonderful daughters, greatly beloved by Gustav, but it broke his heart deeply when the first-born contracted an untimely illness and died young.  Mahler also suffered indescribable pain when he found out his beloved Alma had been unfaithful to him later in their marriage.

Pain is a theme in Mahler's music.  But so is joy.  He takes us from the lowest depths of abject despair, isolation, and loneliness to the highest mountain peaks of human joy.  That is why his music is so engaging, so gripping, so phenomenal (adjectives fail me now; Mahler has to experienced).  I think of the long drives I've done from time to time and how Mahler's music has carried me along the way.  How about the awesome 6th Symphony?  As aforementioned, it takes us from the lowest depths of despair to the highest highs of human feeling (the violin and flute interplay in the Andante)  and back to abject despair again, heralded by the awesome "Hammer of Fate" ("BANG!!!" - performed by a percussionist with, yes, a giant wooden hammer!) and ending with an emphatic negative. (I was privileged to hear the Vienna Philharmonic perform this live under the direction of Leonard Bernstein, one of the premier Mahler interpreters, in Vienna's Musikverein.  It was literally a "religious" experience.)

And how about the Fifth Symphony, with the aforementioned Elysian  and exquisite beauty of the Adagio, and ending with the awesome, positive affirmation of life in the last movement!  And the Adagio of the 9th?  Masterpieces all (not to mention the 1st, 2nd, etc.,etc.)

Mahler can rip your heart right out (the 6th...), but such is life.  It is a series of highs and lows, and I've had my share.  (Perhaps one of the several reasons why I have such an affinity for Mahler and love for his music.)  In the earlier part of the past decade (early 2000s), my whole life was challenged with such unbelievable loss and psychological pain that it was only in turning to fellow friends and travelers like Mahler (and Job, and Ecclesiastes' "Teacher," et.al.) that I was able to get through it.  It was as if my life was emblematic of the "Titanic" going down - all I could see were the words "Titanic" and "Liverpool" at the back of my "boat" before it dove below the icy, dark waters, never to surface again.  But defeat and suffering are part of the human experience and part of our journey, from which we can choose either to learn from, pick ourselves up and start over again (the path I chose) or wallow in defeat, never to rise again.  "To live is to suffer," as the Buddhists affirm and Christians realize as well.  Weltschmerz indeed. 

How we react and overcome pain, suffering, and loss define us in the long run.  And my friend Mahler serves as one of my (several) Sherpas guiding me along the difficult climb to the celestial city.   

Mahler is for those of us who think and feel very deeply.  We tend to be romantics trying to negotiate a terribly unromantic age; an age devoid of hardly any depth, respect for art and the classics, integrity, and a willingness to open our souls to the world and really experience it (when we turn off our 100 Megawatt "force fields" every once in a while!).

We lost Mahler at the young age of 50 in 1911.  He was constantly suffering from ill health most of his adult life.  He had lost his youngest daughter,  and the unconditional love of his erstwhile soul mate Alma.  Terrible loss; terrible suffering, but what beauty also arose from this composer's pen.  Life is full of both - loss and joy.  For me, great music is a conduit through which we can access the divine, no matter what our specific beliefs.  Music and art give us a "window" into divinity, I believe.  The way they interact with the human soul defies materialistic description.

Einstein had just such an experience upon hearing Bach being performed in a chamber music setting.  (I believe it was upon hearing Bach's Violin Partita #2; the Chaconne, etc.)  He said that "now he knew there was a God," (I'm paraphrasing), as only a divinity could impart such indescribable musical beauty to humankind through the conduit of a human composer.  For me, the same can be said of Mahler.  When I hear (and experience) Mahler, I am confident that there is a God.  For sure, Mahler was a conduit for the Divine in the writing of so many phenomenal and timeless musical masterpieces.  Can you hear it, too?

Thank you, Gustav Mahler, for so enriching my life (and our world) with such wonderful music. 

TTC


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustav_Mahler