# Understanding Mahler's 5th, Part 6 (Finale)



## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

Understanding Mahler's Fifth Symphony

_*Part 6: V - Rondo-Finale*_*

Form*

0:00~0:33 Introduction (D major)

0:33~2:28 Theme group 1 and fugato (D major)
2:28~3:24 Theme varied (D major->B-flat major->D major)
3:24~4:19 Theme 2 (B major)
4:19~5:22 Codetta (B major->G major->D major->A major)

5:22~6:24 Variations (C major->B major->D-flat major->D major)
6:24~7:28 Full tutti, variation on Theme 2 (D major)
7:28~8:28 Variation (B-flat major->D major->C major)

8:28~9:28 Recapitulation (D major)
9:28~10:26 Fanfares, modulating (B-flat major->C major)
10:26~12:20 Slower tempo (F minor->F-sharp minor->G major)
12:20~12:45 Speeding up (F major->A minor)

12:45~13:29 Triumphant chorale (D major)
13:29~14:07 Coda (D major)

Like the scherzo, but to an even greater degree, Mahler's finale remains almost entirely in major keys. In addition to the expected dominant of A, a great amount of attention is given to the flattened submediant key of B-flat. The techniques Mahler uses to create the movement resemble those employed in the Scherzo, and the character is similarly contrapuntal throughout. The chorale marked out above is the same as the one that had begun but faltered at the end of the second movement, so the themes employed in both movements have familial resemblence to each other.

*Themes*

The first motivic cells that appear, upon which much of the movement is based. The bassoon's line is a quotation from the Wunderhorn lied "Lob des hohen Verstands" (In Praise of the Highest Wisdom), which satirized musical criticism.









A motif that plays a particularly important role in transitions and modulations.









The second theme, based on a variation from the preceding movement. Its first appearance in B major is a tritone away from the previous movement's F.









*Analysis*

The movement opens with a lone A played on the horn (carried over from the ending chord of the Adagietto), which is echoed in the strings. A staccato scale played by a bassoon establishes the key as D major, and an oboe replies with a motif ending in an apoggiatura on the dominant. Following a comment from the bassoon, the first horn starts in, once again asserting A, and the clarinet combines the earlier fragments of the bassoon and oboe. The oboe takes up the falling scale pattern at the end of this, which is then taken up by the horns, clarinets, and basses in turn, as all the winds pile on, leading to a firm cadence in D major. The cellos jump in with a new variation on the theme, which now moves through the strings in turn as a fugato subject. A countersubject is introduced in the violins as the winds enter once more, and a series of trills lead to a fanfare motif on the descending scale fragment. The horns respond with a fanfare of their own taken from the bassoon passage at the beginning. The athletic motion continues until a sudden B-flat from the low brass (who have been more or less silent until now) interrupts. The strings rapidly return to D major, but they are interrupted again by an E-flat. The violins and oboes trail off on the descending motif, and a trumpet replies with the same.

Now the full orchestra takes up the introductory motifs over a folk-like D-A drone in the basses, focusing especially on the descending motif and its reply. A _sforzando_ on the dominant leads to the athletic low string figures from earlier, now in B-flat, which once again elides into D major before long, but without a single cadence in that key, the tonality shifts to B major, and the second theme is introduced in the first violins. Here the theme is light and playful, in contrast to its halting, tender character in the preceding movement, and it is now accompanied by the continuous eighth note (quaver) motion that characterizes the rest of the movement. The theme is played entirely by the strings, but at the end as it comes to a halt, the winds take up the cadence, and divided violins add an ethereal descending sequence of chords against the ascending staccato scales in the accompaniment. These scales are taken up by the horn and oboe, and the music, which seems to be heading for G minor, ends up in G major. Now the motifs that accompanied the second theme are added to the transition motif from earlier. The strings enter with the main motifs once again in D major, but the horns together force the music into A major. Against surging waves of wind chords and the constant motion of the inner strings, a B pedal holds firm in the basses and timpani.

A forceful shift into C major begins the development, and the strings take up the fanfare together with the horn. The rhythm has now become marked and jagged, and the whole orchestra takes up motifs from earlier. Once again, a lone note in octaves, this time A-flat, brings the music to a brief halt, and various skittering figures in the strings that reply are stopped by an octave D, but the music continues to move, and the tonality shifts once again to B major, in which key the main motifs reappear, but quickly move into D-flat major, which is just as quickly turned into D major. Now the second theme returns, backed by woodwind accompaniment. At its close, the violin chords from before now appear in the flutes and piccolos, accompanied by fragments of the main motifs. The tonality changes to B-flat major, and a new variation on the second theme appears in the violas. A fanfare in the horns announces a move back to D, but this quickly moves away into C as the repeated swaying motif derived from the second theme is taken up by the strings and flutes against an increasingly agitated background.

The recapitulation is announced by a full fanfare in the horns and trumpets combining all of the first theme group's motifs against a dominant pedal. At the cadence, though, the rhythm shifts into a pseudo 6/8, and the themes lurch ahead in cross rhythms toppling over each other in an exhilarating rush. Once again, the tonality shifts to B-flat major, and then C major, as the constant eighth note motion returns, punctuated by fanfares from the brass and variations on the other motifs. Over a long G pedal in the timpani accentuated by a roll on the bass drum, the waves of eighth notes pile up, but the descending scale motif in the flute leads the orchestra into a halting F minor, which transforms into an equally halting passage built on strettos of the descending scale motif hovering around F-sharp minor. Oboes lighten the mood in a duet with clarinets, but this is taken up mockingly by the clarinets and horns. Sequential repetitions of this lead to G major, where the strings take it up warmly, revealing it as a variant of the second theme. Soon it is played in fast tempo against a woodwind accompaniment loaded with trills, but the key begins to shift again, and once more the swaying rhythm is taken up and repeated. First it leads to F major, but this is violently interrupted, and leads to A minor, where it continues to build.

The trumpets and trombones burst out in a D major chorale against the flurry of eighth notes in the winds and strings, and as the horns enter, it becomes clear that this is the same chorale that had appeared in the second movement, only to diminish. Based on the themes of the movement, here it continues on past the descending motif where it had trailed off. The flurry of themes becomes worked up into a frenzy, and trails off into a barrage of eighth notes, which are interrupted by octave B-flats once more. A falling scale leads to a final repetition of the descending motif and a final staccato cadence in D major.

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## Kieran (Aug 24, 2010)

" Oboes lighten the mood in a duet with clarinets, but this is taken up mockingly by the clarinets and horns."

That's a shrewd insight into the master's craft. I loved reading this blog on the Fifth. I'm going to set aside an evening this week to sit and go through each segment of your entries and listen to the Fifth as accompaniment to the blog - and not the other way round. They'll each inform me of what the other is saying.

It's been an excellent and observant series of posts.

Thanks! :tiphat:


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