Das Lied von der Erde

I've decided to reboot my blog, and have also decided that I really should make up a schedule for updates, lest I let this blog lapse again. So, new update schedule: every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. I think that should prove satisfactory and it will avoid my biggest work days.

In my continuing musical education I decided to listen to Mahler's penultimate symphony, Das Lied von der Erde. (When I say listen, I mean I listen to it with a score in front of me.) It's not a standard symphony, since each movement is really a song. All the songs are poems by ancient Chinese poets that were translated into French and then German and I understand the translations aren't great (partly because of Mandarin Chinese's austerity and economy) but Mahler certainly seemed to like the poems. So do I. And the music works. There are six movements, the first five being roughly equal in duration to the last.

I call the symphony penultimate because on principle I've decided to exclude Mahler's 10th, which was incomplete at his death. This symphony doesn't have a number because Mahler noted that Beethoven and Bruckner had written 9 symphonies and then died.

Anyway, it's a pretty strange symphony. Mahler's known for his excess, but this symphony is pretty austere. I feel like I don't understand it at all, and that perhaps I simply don't have the right temperament to understand it. The music has a lot of big empty spaces on the score, which is something more characteristic of Shostakovich, say. (By that I mean there are usually only a few instruments playing at a time and almost never the entire orchestra.) The bassoon part is not so good, but the oboe part is. I definitely don't understand how the songs' melodies interact with the orchestra. I liked the third and sixth movements the best.

The third movement is Von der Jugend (Of Youth) and is only 3 minutes, which probably qualifies it as the shortest of Mahler's symphonic movements. It has a pretty fast tempo and is the only one which uses the pentatonic scale quite obviously. (Old Chinese music uses the pentatonic scale.) The last movement is Der Abschied (The Farewell) which foreshadows some of the key motives of the 9th symphony - the turn, the falling second, 3-2. It's 27 or so minutes long, which is pretty expansive even for Mahler. The tamtam is used to chilling effect, and the music is quite empty, vast and desolate at some points. The singing borders on recitative. The movement is in C minor, but the end is in C major (+A) and seems to represent the finding of inner peace - the acceptance of things as they are. Or not - you can interpret it however you want.

Speaking of inner peace, I myself am doing something uncharacteristic - reading about religion. Specifically, Unitarian Universalism. Now, we all remember Senator Church, but let us not forget his son Forrest Church, a Unitarian minister. He co-wrote a book called A Chosen Faith, An Introduction to Unitarian Universalism. So that's my current reading. I'm only 40 pages or so in, but I'll report back once I finish the entire book.

And a postscript: Remember Barack the Magic Negro? Ugh - the Republicans have picked a new chairman, Michael Steele. He's the former LG of Maryland, a failed Senate candidate in 2006, and HE'S BLACK. But he was probably the best choice of chairman for the Republicans, at least from their viewpoint. I can see him trying to broaden the party. I would have preferred Katon Dawson, who entered politics because he was pissed at the enforced desegregation of his high school. He also was a member of an all white country club until last year. (Actually, I think he might still be a member.)

Time to work on math, I think! Bai!

Music Performance

Back in November I was talking to my Latin professor, at first about the topic for my final paper, but then about music. He said something to the effect of that it must be wonderful to play in orchestra, to feel like you are an integral part of the whole.

Back in December I decided to give my parents copies of the recordings of any ensembles I had played in at Swarthmore (orchestra and chamber stuff). I was in an ensemble that played Appalachian Spring in fall 2007 and our recording held up really well, I was impressed with how good we sounded.

Anyway, my Latin professor's comment has been kicking around in my head since then. What do I feel in orchestra? Do I ever feel like I am an integral part of the whole? The truth is I do not. I know I am (at least a bit) important, since I'm the only bassoon. But usually I'm just concentrating on my part (don't screw up) without trying to pay attention to my surroundings. Appalachian Spring - it was quite a revelation to finally hear everyone else. I was pretty narrowly focused on my own part, or listening for a cue to signal hey I've gotta start playing again soon. I'm particularly thinking of the strings here - during the rehearsals, I only paid attention to them if they screwed up. I paid more attention, perhaps, to the flute and clarinet and piano, partly because they were closer to me, partly because their tones were distinct, partly because I was relying on them for cues more than the strings. Orchestra - pretty similar situation. I pay attention to the cellos, I guess, when my part is doubling them and Andrew (orchestra director) says we need to blend better. I'd say when I'm consciously trying to fit inside the sound of another group in the orchestra, that's when I feel most like an integral part of the whole. But that doesn't happen too often, so I guess you can take that as a sign that I am a poor musician, or at least that I'm not as good as I think I am.

Mind you, I know I suck in college. I was good in high school. Back then I never thought too much about trying to consciously fit into the ensemble. In my defense, bassoon is a peculiar instrument - there never are very many in any ensemble (except a bassoon ensemble) and they provide color. (For instance, I provide the color blue.) When the bassoon is exposed, it is meant to be heard and to stick out. If not the composer is writing badly.

Anyway! I feel troubled that I don't feel like an integral part of the whole in orchestra. I have no idea what to do about it. I feel another question coming on: well, that sensation is supposed to be an incentive to do orchestra. Why do I do orchestra? For fun. It gives me something to do. I enjoy playing bassoon. The music we play is (generally) more interesting than the music from HS. The folks in college orchestra are much better (better behaved and smarter) than folks from HS band or orchestra. The orchestra needs a bassoon. Probably some other reasons that I forget. I find orchestra worthwhile and I intend to do it until I graduate. But I feel a little sad that I'll never feel like an integral part of the whole.

An appendix on piano: I've always liked playing piano better than bassoon - bassoon doesn't get the melody too much, solo piano always gets the melody. No eight-note chords or thundering octaves on bassoon. I always feel like I'm performing for an unseen audience whenever I practice piano, unless I'm in the early stages of learning a piece - when I'm playing it hands apart and trying to see how it fits together, what the patterns are. Is that weird? Maybe! I'll probably have much more to say about piano in future entries.

Upon rereading this, it occurs to me that I may have been making an unconscious metaphor about alienation at college, or something. You probably shouldn't take it that way. At college, I don't feel alienated. Mostly I feel busy and that I have too much work to do. And when I'm as busy as I usually am I can't waste that much time on angst. Unless it's angst about classes! :D If you would like to read a metaphor about alienation I suggest the Metamorphosis, by Franz Kafka.

When I was writing a xanga I randomly sometimes inserted moments of Zen. Today I was reading a blogger on the Atlantic, Ta-Nehisi Coates, who I like to think of as the senior black blogger (ala Larry Wilmore) for that magazine. Moment of Zen. Hope that link works.