# Understanding Mahler's Seventh Symphony, First Movement Allegro



## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

Understanding Mahler's Seventh Symphony

_*I. Langsam- Allegro con fuoco*_*

Form*

_Introduction_
0:00~2:16 Tenorhorn solo, opening (B minor)
2:16~2:37 Pre-theme 1 (E-flat minor)
2:37~3:34 Tenorhorn solo 2 (B minor)

_Exposition_
3:34~4:04 Theme 1 (E minor)
4:04~4:28 Transition (B major)
4:28~4:53 Theme 1 closing (E minor)

4:53~5:53 Theme 2 (C major)
5:53~6:14 Exposition Coda (G major/minor->E minor)

_Development_
6:14~7:23 March theme variation, fragments of intro (E minor->B minor/major)
7:23~8:53 Variations on theme 2, fragments of march (B minor->C minor-> Modulating->G major)

8:53~10:19 Trumpet calls, nocturne 1 (E-flat major->G major)
10:19~11:50 Trumpet calls, nocturne 2 (A-flat major-> D-flat major)
11:50~13:35 Theme 2 variation, motifs from all themes (B major)

13:35~16:14 Introduction variation (B major/minor)

_Recapitulation_
16:14~17:12 Theme 1 (E minor)
17:12~17:41 March (B major)
17:41~18:00 Theme 1 closing (E major/minor)

18:00~19:15 Theme 2 (G major)
19:15~19:40 Recapitulation Coda (E major->E minor)

19:40~21:41 Movement Coda (E minor-> E major)

*Themes*









The work opens with a tenorhorn solo, answered by winds.









A theme with a march-like rhythm, here in its first appearance in the introduction.









Theme 1 of the exposition is a jagged and halting melody laden with fourths. (Here written a fifth higher than sounding)









The transition theme is a gaudy, swaggering variant of theme 1.









Theme 2, couched in lush sonorities, is the lyrical and expressive antithesis to theme 1.

*Analysis*

The work begins with a dark-hued chord set to a stuttering rhythm. The tenorhorn jumps in with a fierce leaping melody, answered by the winds. A trumpet call rises out of a full orchestral texture, immediately reduced to winds and violas. Violins now take up the melody as the tenorhorn comments. The introductory melody comes to a close and returns to its initial murmurings.

A new, more animated march theme of unstable tonality sounds tentatively in the winds. Upward sweeps begin to appear in the strings as the brass join in. Over an A-flat pedal in timpani and basses, trombones burst in with the theme that will become theme 1 in the key of E-flat minor, but this quickly dies down and the atmosphere of the beginning returns, along with the tenorhorn, with a new version of its opening melody. But a trumpet cuts in, followed by strings echoing the apparition of a trombone theme which had recently died away. Horn calls and sweeps in strings and flute accumulate as the tempo quickens.

The exposition begins with the terse theme 1 played by the horns, now E minor and _Allegro_, and answered by strings. Immediately the theme begins again, before the texture fragments into a trumpet against staccato violins and winds in triplets. Strings take up a swaggering variation on the theme, with raucous chromatic descending figures interjected by the horns, but this fails to sustain itself and the winds usher in a closing based on the initial motif of the theme. As the energy dissipates, strings take up a rising, halting figure, and the tempo slows.

Strings now lead off the impassioned theme 2, in C major, with the chromatic descending horns in the background. The melody's frequent pauses and large leaps continue ever upwards, until reaching a high, shrill F#, at which point the march from the introduction returns to bring the exposition to a close.

The return of theme 1 in the horn opens the development, which begins as if it were a modified repeat of the exposition. The swaggering march too returns, but fragments of the introduction return, and a trumpet call, echoed by trombones, brings the march to a halt as the atmosphere of the introduction returns. Muted strings and flutes recall the melody of theme 2 against fragments of the theme 1 motif and fanfare figures. A trumpet interrupts with theme 1, allegro. The strings try to revive theme 2, but once again fanfares erupt in the brass, and the leaping fanfare figure becomes merged with the triplets which had disrupted the exposition. Soon the strings merge these with the upward-striving theme 2, but the march from the exposition coda returns, followed by the swaggering march, which itself is quickly overrun by triplets.

A lone trumpet calls out, joined by another, answered by solemn slow chorale-like chords in the strings (taken from the exposition closing march motif). The trumpet calls, now three overlapping, are answered by a birdsong-like echo in the flute, and a longer chorale passage. Solo violin and English horn share a duet based on theme 1 accompanied only by muted strings and solo winds. As this passage comes to a close, the exposition closing march theme, once again dark-hued, is followed by more triplet figures and a clarinet fanfare. The texture is thinned out once more, and the trumpet calls return, answered by clarinet. Chorales follow in the strings, then the horns. The trumpet call returns once more, and the tempo slows in anticipation.

Harp glissandi and wind trills greet the arrival of the second theme in the key of B major. In this full, rich texture, horn calls echo theme 1 and the birdsong sounds out in the winds against the expressive theme in the violins. The cellos and trombones respond with the closing march motif, and the full orchestral forces prepare for a climax in B major, but the atmosphere of the introduction returns instead, and the basses sound the first notes of the introduction theme in its original B minor, but a trombone interrupts and takes up a new variation in the major as the basses' figure turns into a counterpoint. The tenorhorn interrupts with an echo of theme 1 against shuddering chords, but the trombone continues in the major, and the tenorhorn responds with motifs from theme 2. Strings and winds respond with the same, and then a minor key variation. A flurry of triplets against tremolo strings and fanfares in the trumpets bring the development section to its end.

The recapitulation opens with the horns as before, but with the birdsong calls replacing the arpeggiations from before. It immediately gets off track as canonic repetitions of the theme in the brass and winds build. A brief pause, and the theme is stated in the strings and winds, fortissimo. It then proceeds as before through to the swaggering march, although the texture is denser and more elaborate than before. The second theme arrives, now in G major, though it quickly cadences and a more melancholy variation follows. Another move towards a cadence is diverted, and the music moves towards E major, but the appearance of the closing march, once more in E minor, interrupts, and the recapitulation is swiftly ended.

Snare drum and tambourine back theme 1 in trumpet and trombone against a shrill accompaniment from upper winds and glockenspiel. The march grows in intensity as the theme passes to strings, then winds, and finally trombones and lower strings as the violins play a tremolo in their highest register. The mode switches between major and minor, jerking back into the minor as the theme returns in violins and flutes. A torrent of trumpet calls in triplets and horns lead to a sudden turn to the major that brings the movement to a decisive close.

Blog Index​


----------



## Lord Lance (Nov 4, 2013)

Detailed work into this most complex symphony. Thanks for your efforts.


----------



## Skilmarilion (Apr 6, 2013)

Thanks, Mahlerian. I think this is one of the more remarkable movements in Mahler's symphonic output.


----------

