Mahler’s last works, the 9th and the unfinished 10th symphony, continue and extend the valedictory atmosphere of the Song of the Earth.
The ninth opens with a cortège which alternates lamenting funereal march with a more impassioned music; it follows with a scherzo-like a mixture of ländler and Viennese and French waltzes; then comes a Rondo-Burleske, full of Mahlerian dark parody and grotesqueries; and, lastly, an Adagio in D-flat which, at the end, slowly thins and fades until we are left with silence.
As for the tenth, Mahler’s fears of the so-called ‘curse of the ninth symphony’ were, is seems, justified; when he died on 18 May, 1911, only the opening Adagio’s orchestration was sufficiently complete to allow concert performance.
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Course materials:
Below (still battling on!) is some general stuff – useful for intervals, key signatures, etc.
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