Day 279: Bernstein & Beethoven
36yearsago.com
Vienna 1971—A Student Journal
A year of music, study, travel, sightseeing &
friends.
Day
279 — Bernstein & Beethoven
07-May-1972
(Sonntag–Sun.)
TRANSCRIPT
Mahler’s 4th in the morning. Not as enjoyable as
others because I ended up in the regular
“stehplatz”—too many people. About Mahler: he sounds
more “his style” in his writing than most other
composers—idiomatic motives that instruments play
(glissando) (harp, slowly). See snippet below.
Night saw Fidelio.
Very good production. Good music. Singing also went
very well.
REFLECTIONS
Mahler
4. Apparently,
I’m in standing room way in the back of the
Musikverein for a concert of Mahler’s
Symphony
No. 4. The
concert is less enjoyable due to the large number of
people in standing room. As this concert is in the
morning, I assume that this is a continuation of the
Bernstein-Mahler concert series. I comment briefly on
Mahler’s idiomatic writing and musical style, noting
a prominent rhythmic motif that Mahler uses in the
second movement (see below).
Fidelio. At night,
I went to the opera to see Beethoven’s
Fidelio.
Following is a nice YouTube video of the
Overture
to Fidelio. You will
see some very nice horn parts and video close ups.
Mahler isn’t the only one who likes to play with
motifs—talk about passing around of rhythmic
motifs—look at Beethoven as well. The king of motifs
(motives).
Link:
Beethoven’s
Overture to Fidelio
on YouTube
John
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