# Understanding Mahler's Second, Part 3.2



## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

*Split because of the 5 attachment limit.*

_*III. Scherzo: In ruhig fliessender Bewegung (With calmly flowing motion)*_*

Form*

0:00~1:46 Scherzo 1 (C minor)
1:46~2:32 Scherzo 2 (F major)
2:32~3:13 Scherzo 1 Coda (C minor)

3:13~6:02 Trio (C major->D major->E major->C major)

6:02~7:00 Scherzo 1 (C minor)
7:00~7:35 Scherzo 2 (F major)

7:35~9:19 Trio 2 (C major/minor)

9:19~10:02 Coda (C minor)

As regards form, this is relatively normal, except that the second trio takes the place of the rest of the reprise of the F major middle section of the scherzo, and the true key of the trio, E major, is reached by step rather than modulation. The movement is based on the Knaben Wunderhorn song "Des Antonius von Padua Fischpredigt", with the exception of the trios, which are added to this movement, and help to connect it with the rest of the symphony. The movement's abrupt ending leads without pause into the next.

*Themes*

Following the initial timpani, a web of ostinato patterns is established.

Then a scurrying moto perpetuo theme in sixteenth notes (semiquavers). In Mahler's music, moto perpetuo was a symbol of the drudgery, banality, and hopelessness of everyday life (cf. Das Iridische Leben).









A major key answer to this follows in a dialogue between clarinet and strings.

This is twisted into a more chromatic variant in the clarinet leading to a descending chromatic scale.









The melody of the song which Mahler used as the basis of the movement appears in the winds. It has two parts: a playful staccato figure and a more forceful answer.









The Trio introduces a new fanfare figure.

Finally, a swaying, lyrical theme appears, providing a contrast to both the fanfare and the scherzo's moto perpetuo.









*Analysis*

The Scherzo of the symphony begins with two timpani strokes, _fortissimo_. After a pause, they are repeated, _forte_. Another pause, then the timpani begin a steady rhythm which sets off a spiral of ostinato figures in the winds, including a back-and forth run of sixteenth notes (semiquavers) in the clarinets. This sixteenth note motion leads into the theme, which is taken up by the strings, then the clarinets, then the flutes, while the lower strings continue the ostinato patterns from the beginning. A major key answer to the theme follows in dialogue between the violins and clarinets, which is answered sardonically by an E-flat clarinet line marked "with humor". It culminates in a descending chromatic scale.

The clicking of the rute leads into a repeat of the theme, but with a new melody in the winds derived from it, . This is mockingly answered by a sterner theme in the winds, horns, and violas. The scherzo then proceeds as before, but with heavier scoring, especially of the chromatic descent, which now leads into the key of F major, with a new theme in the winds. This is brought to an abrupt close, leading back into the theme, this time opening with piccolo, leading into an interjection for trumpet duet recalling the street musicians of the 1st symphony's march. As the first section nears its close, fragments of the theme disperse throughout the orchestra, with a solo flute run followed by a muted string fragment culminating in a ghostly B-flat minor 7 chord in muted brass over a C in the timpani.

An eerie pedal point on C in the flute and piccolo hangs over the lower strings as they play fragments of the earlier ostinato in the major, beginning the trio. Suddenly, a brass fanfare in D major juts in, followed by a series of undulating chords in the horns. The moto perpetuo now stays in D, the scoring reduced to an odd ensemble of solo flute, solo violin, and pizzicato cello, but after a few bars of this the fanfare returns, now in E major. This time, the undulating chords coalesce into a serene theme played by trumpet to quiet harp and string accompaniment. The theme is taken up by the winds, and slowly winds down with only the slightest hint of the earlier worry. The basses enter _fortissimo_ with the earlier theme, and the orchestra slowly returns back to the original tempo. A shrilly scored chromatic descent leads back to C minor and the scherzo theme.

The scoring has become increasingly bizarre as the music darts from section to section, with a few grotesque bars scored for clarinets with an accompaniment of piccolos above and col legno strings below. When the theme reaches its chromatic descent, it lasts longer than before, although it still leads into the F major theme from earlier. Instead of reaching the coda, though, the music is suddenly cut short by an entry of the fanfare in C major. Incessant repetitions of a fragment of this drive the orchestra into a frenzy, culminating in a triple _forte_ B-flat minor chord over a dissonant C bass, an unmoving wall of string, wind, and harp arpeggiations. The swaying horn chords from earlier enter, finally dissipating into a bare fifth, C-G, as the lower strings and timpani attempt to recover the earlier motion of the scherzo. A noble new theme appears in the horns against this backdrop, answered gently by the strings. The mode drifts between minor and major, and a harp glissando followed by the incipit of the scherzo sound hesitantly, and the uncertain swaying horn chords lead to a terse chromatic scale and the coda of the movement, which seems as if it will end in the major before taking a turn to the minor at the last possible moment. The final low C is backed by the low resonance of the tam-tam.

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