Mahler Five

The background of the Fifth Symphony is intimately tied to Mahler’s romance with Alma Schindler. He was smitten, and the love affair developed rapidly. Mahler proposed to Alma by sending her the Adagietto of this symphony. The movement is his love song to his bride, and one cannot help but think that the entire work is at least in part inspired by Mahler’s passion for Alma. Psychologically speaking, the Fifth proceeds from tragedy to triumph. The work opens with a lone trumpet announcing a funeral march. Mahler’s music wails with grief. He paints a huge canvas of cosmic emotion, using enormous brushstrokes of sound for the largest possible gestures. The effect is electrifying. Weber composed the first of his two clarinet concertos in a whirlwind of creativity – he reputedly wrote the first movement, and orchestrated it, in a single day! It has become one of the cornerstones of the clarinet repertoire, appealing to both player and listener with its joyous charm and fresh vitality.