The Fifth is Mahler’s most accessible symphony,perhaps because it is structurally the most reassuringly conventional, withless of those shattering outbursts that send the music and the listener reelinginto whirlwinds of emotional spin like clarion calls from some mysterioussphere meant only for visceral thrill. The Fifth is beautiful and melodiouswork, almost too tidy and optimistic for this most restless of composers. Itcoincided with a happy time in Mahler’s life. He had fallen in love and marriedhis beloved Alma Schindler and was the successful conductor of the ViennaOpera. Yet, as always, Mahler’s optimism expresses barely contained turmoil,like some wild bird before flight. If the Fifth symphony is arguably the mostbeautiful, it comes with internal strugglea halfhearted plea for happiness.
The first two movements complement each other. Thefirst begins with a magnificent horn ensemble leading into a brief funerealtheme, which misleads us awayfrom what will be a typically Mahlerian outburst, but is quickly broughtunder control. This will be a happy work no matter what! The secondmovement begins ominously, but soon subsides into one of Mahler’s mostbeautiful passagesagain suggesting an uncharacteristically taming effect ofthe composer’s poignant efforts to reign in his emotions. It concludes with asudden chorale motif, which will be reprieved in the famous finale.
The third movement attempts a quaint diversion fromthe subdued turbulence of the first two. It begins with a gentle tune andtrails off gently, not before laying the groundwork for another ofMahler’s supremely beautiful horn solosmelancholy, gentle yet passionate, butwith a sense of nostalgia continuing throughout the movement.
The beautiful adagio of the fourth movement isalmost too well known, having formed the background for Dirk Bogarde’sobsessive homosexual longing for a young boy in the film adaptation of ThomasMann’s Death in Venice, but theconcluding fifth movement finale is the most surprising of all. Herbert vonKarajan found it unbearably moving, yet coming from a composer who would havebeen Beethoven’s soul mate had he lived into the 20th century, the finalmovement is almost too comfortable for Mahler despite the beauty of itscomposition. Its conventional structure along the theme and variationmodecomfortable yet compellingbrings familiar satisfaction, especially withthe magnificent concluding chorale. It’s as if Mahler had resigned himself intoa more Brahms mood. There is no hint of the coronary drumbeat Sixth symphony tocome or the haunted, insomniac sleeplessness of the magnificent Seventh. No twoMahler symphonies are alike. Each is a unique utterance, but the Fifth, posedat midpoint of Mahler’s creations, remains one of the most moving,classically rendered and perennially contemporary.
Edo de Waartconducts the Milwaukee SymphonyOrchestra, performing Mahler’s Fifth Symphony and Bernstein’s FirstSymphony, Sept. 26-27, Uihlein Hall.
