Here’s a link to my notes for this weekend’s concerts of the Oregon Symphony – Schubert’s Incidental Music to Rosamunde and Mahler’s Sixth Symphony. Though they are credited to Elizabeth Schwartz (the orchestra’s excellent full-time annotator), I wrote them. Enjoy, and let me know what you think of them – I’m always trying to improve!
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2 replies on “program notes for this weekend”
I think your program notes for the Mahler 6th Symphony are very fine. You give the basic biography of the work, yet you add some very apt and insightful comments yourself( i.e. your paragraph about the Andante). Your quotes citing other writers speaking of this music are particularly well chosen. Best of all is your extended quote from Thomas Mann concerning the peculiar emotions the closing minutes of the work conjure up. Yes, very memorable words about a very special piece that I have known and loved for some 40 years.
I’ve enjoyed your program notes this season. I especially like the personal views of various aspects of the music. It seems that many program notes try too hard to eliminate personal impressions. We were at the Saturday performance of the Mahler. I wasn’t familiar with this work and was somewhat apprehensive with the descriptions. However, it was quintisential Mahler, very wide range of emotions and lots of energy. It was also a great example of why live performance is such a great experience vs. recordings. Just watching the tension and concentration of the musicians and the flow of the music across the orchestra was fascinating, not to mention the manic percussion show.
Looking forward to the Octetlandia concert next Tuesday.