Chicago SO; Wiener Philharmoniker; Claudio Abbado - Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 1; Symphony No. 10 (Adagio) (1988)

Mahler's First Symphony was originally conceived as a tone poem in two parts. Loosely based on Jean Paul's novel Titan, the structure was this: Part I: "From the Days of Youth," Music of Flowers, Fruit and Thorn – 1. Spring and No End; 2. Flowers; 3. In Full Sail; Part II: "The Human Comedy" – 4. "Stranded!" Funeral March in the Style of Callot; 5. D'all Inferno al'Paradiso (From Hell to Heaven). These titles were accompanied by more extensive programs describing the metaphorical content of each movement. In Jean Paul's Titan we have a youth gifted with a burning artistic desire that the world has no use for, and who, finding no outlet or ability to adapt, gives way to despair and suicide. Mahler apparently saw himself in this figure, as he described this work as autobiographical in a very loose sense. On the other hand the music, some of which Mahler actually accumulated from various earlier works, contradicts this program in so many ways, especially in the triumphant conclusion, that Mahler later withdrew it. He eventually came to scorn the application of specific programs to his symphonies in general.

Mahler left a substantially complete first movement of his tenth symphony, marked Adagio and published a few years after his death. It is a meditative, tragic movement, rising to a screamingly dissonant chord pierced by a high trumpet note. Mahler died after sketching out the rest. Musicologist Deryck Cooke discovered around 1960 that the composer had written at least a melodic line from the beginning of the second movement to the end, sometimes with detailed indications of instrumentation and harmony, sometimes with less information, sometimes with nothing but the melodic line. He used this sketch to produce a "performing version" in which to Mahler's material he added, where needed, countermelodies, harmonies, and orchestration. Later Cooke redid his completion, using a larger orchestra. The interior of the symphony comprises two scherzos divided by a movement called "Purgatorio," based on the accompaniment to one of his early Wunderhorn songs. The first scherzo is grotesque, the second more dramatic, with a great deal of good humor. The fourth movement ends with a muffled bass drum stroke, an effect Mahler observed at a New York City fireman's funeral procession. The final movement is a struggle movement, faster in tempo, not yielding easy answers, and reprising the screaming chord of the first movement. Is this completed version valid? Many conductors, including arch-Mahlerite Leonard Bernstein, did not think so. This writer accepts it as fascinating listening which is never less than at least a good imitation of Mahler, and frequently coming close to the genuine article.









Chicago Symphony Orchestra (No. 1), 1981
Wiener Philharmoniker (No. 10), 1985
Claudio Abbado, conductor

Tracklist:

Symphonie No. 1 in D major (54:33)
01. 1. Langsam (16:21)
02. 2. Kraftig bewegt, doch nicht zu schnell (7:19)
03. 3. Feierlich und gemessen, ohne zu schleppen (10:54)
04. 4. Sturmisch bewegt (19:59)

05. Symphonie No.10 - Adagio (24:27)