Mahler · Gustav Mahler
Mahler Symphony No. 5 in C♯ minor
The Adagietto is a love letter to Alma
- Key
- C♯ minor
- Composed
- 1902
- Premiere
- 1904 Cologne
- Duration
- About 70 min
- Movements
- 5 movements
- Instrumentation
- Woodwinds 4·3·3·3 (including piccolo, English horn, D clarinet, bass clarinet, contrabassoon) · Brass 6·4·3·1 · Timpani · Percussion (snare drum, bass drum, cymbals, triangle, tam-tam, slapstick, glockenspiel) · Harp · Strings
The story behind this piece
He wrote this piece in the summers of 1901 and 1902 at his villa in Maiernigg on the Wörthersee. In between, in November 1901, Mahler met Alma Schindler, and by the time he returned to the villa the next summer, they were already married.
The fourth-movement "Adagietto," played by strings and harp alone, is, according to the conductor Willem Mengelberg, Mahler's declaration of love to Alma. Mahler and Mengelberg played this movement in about 7 minutes, but later some conductors stretched it to nearly 12.
This movement became widely known when it was used in Visconti's 1971 film Death in Venice. In 1968, Leonard Bernstein conducted this movement at the funeral Mass for Robert F. Kennedy.
It was premiered in Cologne in 1904 with Mahler conducting, and the response was mixed.
What to listen for
- Opening of the first movement: a solo trumpet opens the piece with a funeral fanfare. It's a heavy first phrase for the trumpet player.
- Third movement: the horn solo is so prominent that the horn player sometimes steps forward and plays standing in front, like a concerto soloist.
- Fourth-movement Adagietto: played by strings and harp only, without winds or percussion.
Listen · Score
- Hear the full piece on YouTube · hr-Sinfonieorchester · Andrés Orozco-Estrada
- Free scores on IMSLP (full score and parts)
Credits