Carnegie Hall: Simon Rattle Conducts Mahler No. 6

On Monday evening I returned to Carnegie Hall for the third time in five days to hear another wonderful concert.  On this occasion Simon Rattle, who is curating a Perspectives series at the Hall this season, led the Philadelphia Orchestra in a performance of Mahler's Sixth Symphony, the "Tragic."

The irony of this work, the most pessimistic of all Mahler's symphonies, is that it was written during one of the few happy periods of his life.  He had married the beautiful, and much younger, Alma Schindler only two years before and at the time of composition was busy raising a family.  Perhaps he felt that such happiness could not last, or more likely simply did not allow his personal life to enter into his work as a composer.  Still, there's no denying the sense of foreboding that accompanies the hammer blows in the final movement.  Originally there were three such blows but in Mahler later removed the last, that which according to Alma portended his own death, and replaced it with a moment of stillness.

In many ways, the No. 6 was the closest the composer came to the traditional symphonic structure first formulated by Haydn and then later further developed by Mozart and Beethoven.  It even has a definite key signature (A minor) as well as the conventional four movement structure.  The order of the movements, however, has been a source of controversy almost from the beginning.  In the first edition of the score, Mahler placed the scherzo as the second movement and followed it with the andante as the third.  Almost at once, though, he changed his mind.  In all three performances he personally conducted, he reversed the order and placed the scherzo after the andante.  He then contacted his publisher and directed that an errata notice should be put in all copies of the original score noting the change.  There have been many scholarly arguments among musicologists over the years as to which is correct.  Personally, I believe the wishes of the composer should always be respected and that the revised order should therefore prevail.  At bottom, though, I suspect it's more a matter of taste than anything else.  There are a large number of recordings by respected musicians that support each position.  The one I own, with Leonard Bernstein conducting the Vienna Philharmonic, is scherzo / andante.  At Monday's performance, however, Rattle opted for the andante / scherzo ordering.

Another point of contention is the subtitle "Tragic."  Mahler went back and forth over the course of his career in his feelings for programmatic titles.  It should be noted that the sobriquet was not set forth on the original score, nor anywhere else for that matter, except on the program title page for the 1907 Vienna performance.  Nevertheless, it's difficult to think of any other description for this work that is so apt.  Even in the gentle andante there is a sense of doom lurking in the background only to arrive full blown in the final movement.

None of these scholarly arguments really matter.  The important thing is the music itself.  The No. 6 is a masterpiece by arguably the greatest composer of the twentieth century.  Many years ago, I saw Bernstein lead a memorable performance with the Vienna Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall.  On Monday evening at the same venue, the symphony was given an extraordinary performance that allowed the audience to appreciate the scope of Mahler's genius.  Rattle's conducting was outstanding and he was given full support by one of the country's best orchestras.