Mahler's 9th (was:orchestration)

> From: Christopher Bailey <cb202@...>
> To: <metatuning@yahoogroups.com>
> Sent: Monday, February 04, 2002 4:15 PM
> Subject: [metatuning] orchestration
>
>
> Mahler is an interesting case: in Symphonies 2, 3, 6, the orchestration
> seems thick, strong, invulnerable.
>
> In nos. 1 (yes, it is not necessarily a chronological phenomenon) 4, 5, 7,
> and 9, (I don't know 8 well enough to comment), we see a lot more
> experiment, particularly with
>
> 1) klangfarbenmelodie techniques ---i.e. a very rapid passing
> of the melody between different, heterogeneous families and instruments
> and combinations
> 2) counterpoints with bizarre combinations. . .for example,
> in the last movement of #9, there is a very soft counterpoint between two
> lines, one in the upper-mid register, played by flute, and another in the
> very low register, played by basses(!) This may not sound like a big
> deal, but when you hear it, it's wierd! It sounds, as I say, very
> "fragile". . . . . and yet, moving (emotionally), at the same time.

here's an excerpt from my (still 12-edo) computer realization
of the last movment of Mahler's 9th, illustrating the passage
Christopher is referring to [about 2 megs, 4 minutes of music]:

http://www.ixpres.com/interval/monzo/mahler/9th/Mah9-4x.mp3

the part he says is flute is mostly violin, sometimes doubled
by flute.

check out the awesome chord at 3:38 -- totally jazz harmony:
a dominant chord with a sharp 11, which simultaneously can
be interpreted as a tritone-substitution "dominant"-type
chord as frequently used in bebop.

by this time, Mahler had learned a bit from hanging out
with his younger colleague Schoenberg.

-monz

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