Deryk Barker wrote:
>Well there is the opening of the second movement, with the (IIRC)
>pentatonic violin figurations. it's the only bit which sounds vaguely
>oriental to me.
Also the use of the mandolin (I think it is) in the last movement seems
to me evocative of similar Chinese string instruments. But in my opinion
Mahler was wise not to try to imitate Chinese music too closely with a
Western orchestra. Better to throw in a few hints of atmosphere and stick
with your own idiom than try to reproduce a completely foreign musical
language and fall flat on your face (as Puccini and others came dangerously
close to doing, I feel).
Jon Johanning // [log in to unmask]