The orchestration is heavy and
noisy; and the brass dominates and roughly gilds the rather sombre
colouring of the great edifice. The underlying idea of the composition
is neo-classic, and rather spongy and diffuse. Its harmonic structure is
composite: we get the style of Bach, Schubert, and Mendelssohn fighting
that of Wagner and Bruckner; and, by a decided liking for canon form, it
even recalls some of Franck's work. The whole is like a showy and
expensive collection of bric-a-brac.
The chief characteristic of these symphonies is, generally speaking, the
use of choral singing with the orchestra. "When I conceive a great
musical painting (_ein grosses musikalisches Gemaelde_)," says Mahler,
"there always comes a moment when I feel forced to employ speech (_das
Wort_) as an aid to the realisation of my musical conception."
Mahler has got some striking effects from this combination of voices and
instruments, and he did well to seek inspiration in this direction from
Beethoven and Liszt. It is incredible that the nineteenth century should
have put this combination to so little use; for I think the gain may be
poetical as well as musical.
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