APH and Mahler

After the two accounts of the journey to Heidelberg this blog stays there for one more day. During my studies in Heidelberg I had the pleasure to play in the Akademische Philharmonie Heidelberg, a notedly excellent "laymen" orchestra. As on January 24 they play their semester concert I wrote this short article about the one piece they will play so those of you living in Heidelberg will consider attending the concert. :)

Yes, there really will be only one piece in the whole concert: Mahler's sixth symphony. If you look at the embedded video further down you will see why there is only this one piece: It lasts almost one and a half hours. So why should you listen to a single piece of music that lasts one and a half hours? In this case very simple: There is a hammer in the symphony! :D Yes, a hammer, a big, wooden hammer. The blows of fate. Or simply the horror of whoever sits in front of the percussionists ... Already without playing the symphony it grieves me that I cannot be there to see my colleague play the hammer. (I would not want to take it away from him - he was born to play the hammer. :D )

Ok, enough kidding. (Thoug the hammer IS real!) This symphony very impressively demonstrates what music can "do to you". Often Mahler's sixth symphony is called the "tragic" symphony although he himself did not use this title. Nevertheless, the title fits the music so if you let yourself get into the music you might well be taken away with it. Should you listen to the video further down or listen at least to the beginning and the end you will notice how long it takes the audience until they applaude. This might happen in the concert next week as well. The beginning already will show you what to expect from the symphony and give you an impression why it is called "the tragic". The end proves it again. Although it is sometimes problematic to take pieces out of a whole but only listening to the end (if you have only little time to spare, even for great music ;) ) from 1:19:33 on you will again get a good proof of the title, especially at 1:20:16 (needs a few seconds in advance) and from 1:21:04 to the end ...

Mahler - Symphony No. 6 a-moll conducted by Paavo Järvi, recorded in Kloster Eberbach. (What a coincidence, we played there with the Akademische Philharmonie not too long ago. ;) )