Gustav Mahler’s ‘Ninth Symphony’ is coming to Abu Dhabi – here are five facts about it

The Abu Dhabi Classic will kick off its latest season in an existential style.

In the first of two concerts at the Emirates Palace, the prestigious Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of the Netherlands will perform the seminal works of Gustav Mahler Ninth Symphony on Wednesday.

Premiered at the Vienna Music Festival in 1912, just a year after the Austrian Bohemian composer died of a heart attack, this rousing work made Mahler accept his impending death.

As such, this symphony is seen as a farewell letter to the world and has been hailed as the greatest symphony of all time.

“Despite the situation, a lot of joy can also be found in music,” said Ronald Perlwitz, curator of Classics Abu Dhabi. “The symphony also sends a strong and profound message about the joys of life and calls us to seize this moment every day.”

To understand enduring status, Perwitz breaks down some of the features and themes of his work.

1. The Curse of the Ninth Symphony

Mahler’s superstition about writing the Ninth Symphony is no joke. The famous composers Ludwig van Beethoven and Franz Schubert died after composing their ninth major works, and Mahler didn’t take any chances.

After completing his Eighth Symphony, he wrote Song of the Eartha piece structurally similar to a symphony, which he labelled an orchestral loop.

Ecstatic to beat the Ninth Symphony, Mahler set out to compose the actual symphony, but died before its premiere, leaving behind an incomplete work.

While the superstition eventually disappeared from popular thought, Perwitz said it was a common fear among composers of the time.

“This is especially serious for Mahler,” he said. “By composing earth song, It was indeed a symphony, but with a different title, and he told his wife he thought he had conquered the curse. As it turns out, that’s not the case with him. “

2. Knowing that he is about to die

Mahler’s heart problems increased in his later years.

Ninth Symphony Considered his meditation on death and the afterlife – two issues he also addresses in his work Second “Resurrection” Symphony First performance in 1895.

However, Perwitz said it was in the ninth stage that Mahler really showed his soul.

“It’s incredibly moving and full of sentimental longing,” he said. “It’s like an older person looking back at his youth and what’s happened since then.

“There’s a lot of contrasting emotions here, from deep nostalgia to these parts that sound super strong and rough. But the overall feeling here is one that’s not dark but nighttime.

“It’s Mahler’s voice in the face of fate, so the music is both brave and beautiful.”

3. It’s a surreal trip to the past

A highlight, Perlwitz says, comes in the second movement, which Mahler describes as a “menuetto infinito,” meaning a dance that is repeated over and over again.

The work takes on a surreal quality as he takes listeners on a whirlwind journey of the voice of his youth.

“We heard all the dances he heard in Austria,” Perlwitz said. “The way he puts them together is incredible because he twists them and they feel more like pieces.

“What Mahler did was bring us into his mind, and we heard his past memories.”

4. It was groundbreaking

until Ninth Symphonythe long-form classic works mainly follow a strict system.

“Usually they start with a fast movement, then slow again, then pick up the pace again, towards the end,” explains Perlwitz.

“But on his ninth, Mahler turned it upside down and started very slow, then super fast, and then ended up super slow.”

Perlwitz points out that this is not a rash attempt to break the rules. Instead, new and innovative formats served the message Mahler was trying to convey.

“In Western culture at the time, there was a deep-rooted belief that the meaning of an artwork and its form should be unified,” Perwitz said.

“Mahler destroyed that. There was no unity to the work. Instead, we got glimpses and fragments. By doing so, he created the feeling of saying goodbye to the world.

“All of our lives don’t end in a neat way. Instead, it can get messy and chaotic at times.”

5. The silent combination

Ninth Symphonyespecially in the fourth and final movement, which slows to a crawl.

Perwitz says this is the conclusion of Mahler’s existential search for the meaning of his own life. “There is a lightness in the music,” he said. “That’s the sense of transcendence Mahler feels when he’s ready to leave the world. It’s just amazing.”

The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra will perform Mahler’s Ninth Symphony at the Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.Show at 8pm; tickets available from AED 75 at ticketmaster.ae

Scroll through the gallery below to see images of the lineup Abu Dhabi Classic 2022

Updated: 11/9/2022 3:15AM