Some recommended recordings: Again, Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic on Columbia is the best recording: it correctly captures all the different moods, tempi, and atmospheres that this complicated symphony needs in order to succeed, the middle movements drag less, and the finale makes you content and fulfilled. In his second outing with the New York Philharmonic on Deutsche Grammophon is good as well: the first two movements are solid, the middle scherzo drags a bit, the fourth movement is…what it is, and the finale is solid: I think both of these show how Bernstein is the master interpreter of this symphony (who else could be like this for one of Mahler’s least appreciated symphonies?). Sir Simon Rattle and Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra released on BPO’s own label is not bad, it’s a little more light footed, as the final movement almost sounds like Haydn. It’s missing some gravitas but an interesting interpretation, and otherwise inoffensive. Claudio Abbado with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on Deutsche Grammophon is a little too slow and ponderous for the first and last movements. Georg Solti and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on Decca is pretty good, as usual for Solti (he might be the top underdog Mahler interpreter): it’s a little unsure at the start of the first movement but Solti gets over that and sails through the rest of the symphony to give us a very percussion heavy start to the last movement but he makes good use of shifting tempi, so much so, it almost made me like the symphony after hearing Bernstein! Otto Klemperer and the New Philharmonia Orchestra on EMI is a very, very long performance, clocking in at 1 hour 40 minutes! So many drawn out passages, which is interesting but tests the listener’s patience. How can this interpretation be as long as the Third Symphony?! Klemperer sounds like he’s trying to make the first movement sound like the first movement of the Third, so maybe this is his goal? The middle movements are fine, but the last movement is too slow and lumbering, destroying all the fun of the finale.
The Symphony was called “Song of the Night” (Lied der Nacht) by Mahler’s publisher but it was never called this by Mahler himself (as per usual). Similar to his Fifth Symphony, it is in five movements, but unlike the Fifth, the three middle movements are short, bookended by the long opening and final movements, as opposed to equal-length movements. The perceived thematic structure and “program” of the symphony (even though it is absolute music) are colored by the two “nachtmusik” movements in the middle. The Symphony is almost a descent into the night: from visions of the night in the first movement, a night march in the second, night terrors in the third, a night serenade in the fourth, and the return to daylight in the fifth. You can read more musical criticism about this puzzling on the Mahler Foundation’s website. So in a way, this structure is similar to his unfinished Tenth Symphony and its descent into Purgatory/Hell and return to…you tell me when we get to that symphony and its finale! The Seventh Symphony was not well received at the time and I have a hard time liking it very much (minus parts of the finale) – it is not just memorable in my mind.
First Movement: Sonata form. A very good opening motif played on some type of horn, then to trumpet, with strings underpinning it all. The horn and trumpet move like a hunting call, up and down the scales. It definitely sets the eerie night mood right from the start. Then a bouncy march-like motif enters. At moments I get hints of Shostakovich and the pastoral/hunter moments from the Wunderhorn era. The big musical growth and lugubrious nature of the movement reminds me of the first movement of Mahler’s Third Symphony a little too! We begin to hear some “mysterious” moments and then a snippet that reminds me of his Sixth Symphony, perhaps recalling the Sixth’s hero's theme of the last movement?! We hear more development and a string part that sounds very Shostakovich-like and then a development of the march theme in double time to finish out the movement.
Second Movement: Nachtmusik I, Rondo. We have the horns again, sounding like hunter horn calls. Then some bells add more color and the music builds up beyond this initial mood with woodwinds to give the impression of a stirring night to the listener. You can see the horn calls idea was first tried by Mahler in the middle movement scherzo of his Fifth Symphony and developed more here. Is it more effective though?... We then have some short motives that vaguely call to mind the “Pan’s march” sections of the first movement of the Third Symphony. In fact, I just learned the march motif here is actually from a Wunderhorn era lied, “Revelge” – so not too far off! Mahler even mentioned this movement was somewhat connected to Rembrandt’s painting “The Night Watch.” Nearer to the end of the movement (⅔ in) the music changes and becomes playful and dance-like, and gives a nod back to some musical ideas from the first movement.
Third Movement: Scherzo, Schattenhaft (Shadowy). The movement starts out with light, whimsical, strings and woodwind almost dance-like and John Williams-like, but then we get to the middle to end of the movement and it becomes more interesting, with a memorable motif (at least I think it is catchy?) and it turns more into a grotesque, nightmarish dance, a string/woodwind one and then a brass melody. I think this one is the most memorable of the 3 middle nacht movements.
Fourth Movement: Nachtmusik II, andante amoroso. This movement is the night serenade and in my opinion, not as memorable as the first two movements of the middle nacht section, or anything else in this symphony. I can barely remember the melodies…
Fifth Movement: Rondo finale. Beginning with riotous drums, the opening fanfare motif is extremely catchy, spoofing the melody from Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg. Dawn and the daylight have returned, in case you didn’t notice! This fanfare may be one of the best expressions of pure joy coming from Mahler without any sadness, sarcasm, or bittersweet emotions in any of his other finales. We hear more variations on the main motif and a trill like variation/development of it. Now Mahler begins to make nods back to the middle three nachtmusik movements, intertwined with the development of the finale’s themes. We return to the first “tempo” motif again, but it’s recapitulated and further developed. Next we have a slight storminess and bustle, then a quieter string section and soft brass comes in, building up to a regal motif. Bells enter quietly, and we get more variations intertwined with snippets of the nachtmusik and some drama via piercing strings and brass counterpoint, but then we’re back to the bustling music. The movement definitely reminds me of the Rondo finale of the Fifth Symphony a bit. We are greeted with some motive hints from earlier in the first movement of the symphony. Then we have a full throated return to the initial motif. Now we hear, fully transformed, the menacing brass motif from the first movement as a major key triumphant theme joined by louder bells. Then we have a moment of tension and unresolved chords that make us think that this symphony will end like the Sixth Symphony, that it is winding up for some catastrophic hammer blow, but instead we get a fully energetic, joyful, and upbeat ending from Mahler that is very satisfying.
It’s a strong ending to an otherwise puzzling symphony: the mood and music of the finale is so incongruous with all the movements that came before, even if the finale makes musical nods to the rest of the symphony. This finale gets a lot of criticism for its “Mahlerian blatancy,” but I like it!
And links to my preferred recordings:
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