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Date: | Fri, 23 Jun 2000 15:50:52 -0400 |
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Bernard Chasan wrote:
>When he had to fill in the"occupation" line on the Austrian equivalent of
>a 1040 form, did he write those in as well as composer and conductor? And
>Sigmund puffed on his cigar and answered:Bernie, sometimes a symphony is
>just a symphony.
That was Vaughn Williams' line - Mahler stated "I have the weight of Modern
composition on my shoulders." and "A symphony should encompass an entire
World."
Another individual commented on the friendship between Richard Strauss and
Gustav Mahler "It was so strange, Richard was so practical, and Mahler was
always telephoning God."
If Doctor Chasan needs more material on Mahler's philosophical and
sociological bent, it isn't hard to come by. But this should not be
strange - many artists of that period had expressly sociological ideas, and
some even melded them with their work. No one has problems understanding
that Strauss' "Also Sprach Zarathustra" has a philosophical subtext, or
Wagner's Ring. Brahms had sociological ideas, but felt that it was
important that music *not* participate in that discourse, because it was
one of the signs of musical radicalism that he held in a certain contempt.
Pablo Massa's posts simply haven't been worth replying to - and the kind
of attempt at cheekiness here is simply embarassing to read. Anyone whose
perused the back of a CD knows that Mahler had ideas other than pure music
at work, but he wanted the musical discourse to be forward in their
presentation, hence the constant setting and withdrawing of programs etc.
As for what Dr. Freud said in his consultations with Mahler (in 1910 and
1911), no record survives...
Stirling Newberry
http://www.mp3.com/ssn
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