Symphony No. 1

Here we are again now on to the second movement of this beautiful symphony.

 II. Kräftig Bewegt, Doch Nicht Zu Schnell (Vigorous, Agitated, But Not Too Fast)

This is the scherzo. But it is not just any scherzo, it has been doctored up by mahler. Usually the scherzo would have a minuet and trio. But because Mahler doctored it up it became a Länder. A Länder is an precursor of the Austrian waltz. The one thing that is amazing about this movement is that some of the music is original and some is apart of folk music and tavern music. Yes tavern music is in one of the greatest symphonies of all time. But it adds a sense of humor and lightness needed after the twist and turns of the movement I. Not only that it also shows us into his past. His father owned a tavern and the Mahler family lived right above it. The video below is from the Mahler episode of "KeepingScore". As you'll hear you will see that there is common ground with the tavern song being sung. At the end of the week if you already haven't looked up the symphony to hear I will be posting a link to the whole symphony. When you hear the second movement you feel the tavern feel and the swaying of the drunken soilders. Along with the feeling of wanting to waltz.

Thanks again for reading and sometime this week again I will post more information about Mahler's 1st symphony!

100 years Ago.....

Just 100 years ago my favorite composer of all time died. But he was quoted to say one thing that has come to reality is "My time will come" and boy has it come. During this year some of the major orchestras have started and are running the whole symphony cycle of Mahler's symphonines. To me this is exciting and has opend up so many more avenues to the world to be more informed on Mahler and his fantastic symphonies. Tonight I will be discussing one of my personal favorites. His First symphony!

Mvt. I Langsam. Schleppend. Wie ein Naturlaut. Im Anfang sehr gemächlich.

That line above translates to "slowly. Sluggishly. As a natural sound. In the beginning, very slowly."
At a young age in his home town Iglau, Moravia which is now Jihlava of the Czech Republic. He lived a mile or so from the countryside. Where this inspiration as a child evolved into his music. Mahler had a fasination with nature. Have you ever just heard just a constant noise at night. A single pitch just going on forever. That is the begining of this movement! Just that sensation brining us back to nature and listening closer. You begin to find other hints such as the cuckoo bird making its chirps. Then triumphant fafares to a melody from Mahlers song cycles entitled "Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen" or "Songs Of a Wayfarer". Just brining us back again to the sounds of nature. Its as if you are on a path in the wood and its bright and beautiful. Here is the piece from "Songs of A Wayfarer" he used
Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen Ging heut' Morgen übers Feld by Kennycarter92

Now here it is in the context of the first symphony...
Symphony No. 1 in D I. Langsam.2 by Kennycarter92

Now sometime again this week I will be posting the rest of this symphony and information about it. Sorry it took so long to get back to write something new. I'll try to write more this new year. Thank you!

Welcome

Welcome to the Musicians Spot!
 This blog is to expose and express ideas about music. I want this blog to be used as kind of a listener's guide to any types of music. If you guys have suggestions on pieces to talk about please don't hesitate to send me a message on Facebook. Please come visit and post your ideas and how the music makes you feel, what you like or dislike. Thanks for reading and coming to the blog. I've been wanting to post something like this and I thought what the heck lets do it! So here is the first piece to start of this blog. I'm not going to explain much about this piece but I really like it and you can do the research if you like. I will post a new blog every Monday so come and read!! Sit back, relax and enjoy Wagner's "Prelude to Act III from Lohengrin".