I think I just took part in the premiere of a masterpiece: Stephen
Dankner's Symphony No.  5, "Odyssey of Faith" -- a Mahlerian extravaganza
of 5 soloists, large symphony orchestra, klezmer stage band, and two
(count 'em, two) large choirs.  The only thing we lacked was a children's
choir.  I refer to Mahler, and that's no accident, since Dankner has
heretofore been so admiring of Mahler's work that it's crushed him,
leading him to produce bland imitations of the real thing.  A few years
ago, however, things began to change.  Ersatz-Mahler recedes and something
individual begins to peek out.  The new symphonyshows Dankner coming
into his own, with something personal and powerful to say.  One still
hears traces of Mahler (not that that's necessarily a bad thing),
especially in a string orchestra "Lament," in the use of the klezmer
vulgate within a "high-toned" work, and in the encyclopedic references
to other works of the Austro-German classical tradition (there's a very
telling instance of Schubert's "Der Leiermann").  Nevertheless, for this
work, Mahler is merely an inspiration, rather than an end.

I can't, of course, tell you what the music sounds like.  The program,
however, is a dauntingly ambitious one: a search for faith in the wake
of the Holocaust.  Normally, a subject so heady summons forth embarrassingly
bad music.  I can think of very few pieces so philosophically ambitious
that actually succeed: Beethoven's 9th, Mahler's 2nd and 8th, Wagner's
Ring, Lees's 4th, Britten's War Requiem, off the top of my head.
Comparisons are, of course, inherently invidious, since none of these
works musically resembles the others, but this gives you some idea of
the level of Dankner's ambition.  I think he brings it off.

A side note: Dankner, like Britten in the War Requiem, uses texts
and the juxtaposition of texts brilliantly.  The main progress of the
symphony's "plot" runs as follows: the covenant of God and Israel; the
Holocaust; mourning; redemption.  One must ask how redemption is possible
after the Holocaust.  Dankner, to his credit, supplies no definitive
answer, but the direction of his thought takes shape in his retelling
of the story of Ezekial in the valley of the dry bones and in a poem,
"I Am a Jew," written by a child prisoner at Terezin.  At least one
lesson is the resolution to survive and to live your life in your own
way.

As you can tell, this is a very expensive work to produce (the
choruses donated their services), and Dankner isn't all that well known.
Consequently, a CD will probably not be available any time soon.  I hope
some company does see fit to record it (especially replacing my chorus,
which gave a "game try," but whose efforts simply don't come up to
professional snuff).  The audience received the work with an instant
standing O and brought the conductor and crew back five times (two is
New-Orleans normal, three is exceptional).  Local audiences, I admit,
love to stand up and clap, even when it isn't (in my opinion -- the only
one that *really* counts) warranted.  But that's usually done in dribs
and drabs.  Someone sees somebody else standing and decides it might be
fun or a shibboleth of Culture to stand, too.  In this case, the audience
as one sprang to its collective feets.  A little surprising watching
this from the stage, let me tell you.  And I think it was thoroughly
deserved.  Dankner has just been named Composer in Residence of the
Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra (known locally as the LPO and by me
as La Phil).

We give the second performance tonight.

Steve Schwartz