# The case for R/L in Mahler's 9th



## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

Given that...

- Mahler finished the symphony
- He never had the opportunity to hear it and make revisions
- In his previous 4 movement symphony, the 6th, he decided to reverse the middle movements during rehearsals

Therefore I have decided that he really would have wanted to switch the Landler & Rondo-Burleske movements.

So henceforth I will only play it in the R/L order.

Hmm, his previous switch was with the Andante of the 6th so maybe I should switch the Andante & Landler, so L/A

Or perhaps...


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Well, sure, why not? And may I suggest performing "The Farewell" from _Das Lied von der Erde_ at the beginning of the work, and ending with "The Drunkard in Spring"? Much more cheerful, I think. The other movements don't matter and we can just leave them out.


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## jdec (Mar 23, 2013)

I'll go a step further. Will play Beethoven's 9th second movement (molto vivace) in place of the Rondo-Burleske when listening to Mahler's 9th. The whole work sounds more organic and coherent to me that way. :devil:


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

I suggest listening to a performance of Mahler's 9th performed solely on kazoos and the orchestra to be blindfolded.:devil:


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## Kiki (Aug 15, 2018)

A bigger problem than the Ländler and the Rondo-Burleske is the Adagio and the oblivion at the end that is so... so unspeakable. It is such a bad influence to young children who listen to it. The risk to their moral development simply cannot be ignored. Therefore, let's remove the Adagio.

Unfortunately, now the symphony sounds incomplete, but we have a solution! Stick the whole of the life-affirming 10th symphony at the back of these 3 remaining movements of the 9th.

But here comes another problem. the 10th is incomplete! Well, the Cooke version is popular but as the man emphasized it's a performing version not a completion. What should we do? How about launching a Kickstarter campaign to raise fund to hire a true composer to truly compose a true completion of the 10th, er, soon to be part of the 9th? Whom should we get? That's details. Suggestions are welcome of course.

Now we have it, almost. It's still not perfect enough. The first 3 movements in our new, no, revised 9th symphony are too long and too weighty and too high-octane. Shall we shorten them, or remove one of them? I beg to say no my good sirs and madams. Decision makers ought to be brave and brutal. Let's remove all 3 of them!

Perfect. Now we have the perfect 9th symphony! :devil:


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

Kiki said:


> But here comes another problem. the 10th is incomplete! Well, the Cooke version is popular but as the man emphasized it's a performing version not a completion. What should we do? How about launching a Kickstarter campaign to raise fund to hire a true composer to truly compose a true completion of the 10th, er, soon to be part of the 9th? Whom should we get? That's details. Suggestions are welcome of course.


There is always Leif Segerstam, I'm sure that he will gladly take some time from working on his Symphony #328 in order to help out.


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

Could we not just tack on a fully orchestrated version of Led Zep's 'Kashmir' on the end, to serve as a last movement?


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

I get a real kick out of the fact that on recordings of Mahler's Ninth in my collection, _all _of them feature a tidbit of John Cage's 4'33" between movements. Who'd have suspected!?


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## Totenfeier (Mar 11, 2016)

Merl said:


> I suggest listening to a performance of Mahler's 9th performed solely on kazoos and the orchestra to be blindfolded.:devil:


Peter Schickele could well be the Deryck Cooke we need for this.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Totenfeier said:


> Peter Schickele could well be the Deryck Cooke we need for this.


This could tempt him to reconsider the value of retirement. Early death might seem the better option.


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

Maybe you have stumbled upon what really happened to Gerard Hoffnung


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