Mahler 9

Especially the Rondo-Burleske, I'm totally not pulling anything, this stuff is intense, especially followed by the lush Adagio.

I love it so much, I got the score! The orchestration is a masterpiece, it's beautiful just looking at the score.

12 and a half minutes of total excellence.

Check it, I recommend the Claudio Abbado + Berlin Philharmonic recording.

I hope Mahlertitan is proud of me.

I like Mahler 5 the best.

I like Mahler 5 the best.

To quote Karajan: Timeless

The famous adagio, from the movie Death in Venice, is particularly beautiful. I also love the final movement.

Mahler... what can I say about Mahler? What is there to say that could truly do his genius justice? His symphonies are sublime, to say the very least! As for the 9th, it's an excellent piece, but certainly not my favorite of his. The 1st is a masterpiece, and probably the one that I listen to the most, but I'd say that the 2nd is probably my favorite, mainly because of its ending, which never fails to move me to tears.

And then... there's the 8th.

I would go as far as to say that the 8th symphony (also known as the "Symphony of a Thousand") is the greatest piece of music ever written. Though it's rarely performed with 1000+ performers, it is still an amazing experience to see/hear live, I'm sure. The end, which depicts the soul's acension into Heaven, is probably one of the greatest musical moments throughout all history... listen to it here - http://www.johncareycompositions.com/reque...hler8ending.mp3

As you see, I'm an avid Mahler fan!

On looking Mahler up, I gather he wrote rather long symphonies.
My one and only text book says (sic) "It was suddenly realised that Mahler hadn't written big long boring symphonies of the Brahms type which you had to listen to carefully from beginning to end in order not to miss the themes, but had, in fact, simply strung together hundreds of attractive little tunes and it was possible to go into a coma for a lot of the symphony and still get involved when you came to again."

So I'll give him a listen. The article goes on to talk about the 7th being dubbed "the Mad" so I'm wondering if that's the best or worst place to start. I have a few eurostar journeys coming up so anything good to pass the time....

If he's anything like Berg, I should like his work.

On looking Mahler up, I gather he wrote rather long symphonies.
My one and only text book says (sic) "It was suddenly realised that Mahler hadn't written big long boring symphonies of the Brahms type which you had to listen to carefully from beginning to end in order not to miss the themes, but had, in fact, simply strung together hundreds of attractive little tunes and it was possible to go into a coma for a lot of the symphony and still get involved when you came to again."

So I'll give him a listen. The article goes on to talk about the 7th being dubbed "the Mad" so I'm wondering if that's the best or worst place to start. I have a few eurostar journeys coming up so anything good to pass the time....

If he's anything like Berg, I should like his work.

Start with the 1st Symphony. It's definitely the best introduction to his works. Then, I would suggest listening to the 2nd symphony, which is a good deal longer, but an incredibly powerful piece. If you enjoy this, then you will probably enjoy the rest of the symphonies as well. Some will probably take several listens before they sink in, but this is the case with most works of their length. The 9th will probably be your favorite, because it's the closest thing to Berg's music that he completed.

Don't forget the song cycles either.

I don't think Mahler wrote enough to really judge his genius.

I don't think Mahler wrote enough to really judge his genius.

The lenght of his 9 symphonies make it up to like 18 or 19 moderately lenghted symphonies. There's also the song cycles, specially Das Lied Von Der Erde, which is wonderful. But nothing beats Schubert Song Cycles

Start with the 1st Symphony. It's definitely the best introduction to his works. Then, I would suggest listening to the 2nd symphony, which is a good deal longer, but an incredibly powerful piece. If you enjoy this, then you will probably enjoy the rest of the symphonies as well. Some will probably take sever listens before they sink in, but this is the case with most works of their length. The 9th will probably be your favorite, because it's the closest thing to Berg's music that he completed.

Don't forget the song cycles either.

Thank you for the advice.

Thank you for the advice.

No problem! I'd be happy to share some recordings with you if you're interested.

Best regards.