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!