There is supersition that Beethoven died before completing his 10th symphony and so too would Mahler. This turned out to be true, at the age of 50 Mahler died from a serious illness. The different movements of his symphony were left unfinished and put aside for many years until in the 1960's a British musicoligist Deryck Cooke recreated them. To what influence Mr Cooke had over the final version I do not know, but nonetheless the music sounds like Mahler and is otherwise enchanting .
It is very hard to describe Mahlers Symphony No. 10. There are drawn out/prolonged periods of heavy and powerful sounds which gradually work up the scale to a concentrated finale, before returning to the undertoned softer music which belies many of the tracks. The music is very intense and very deep. Haunting and cold mostly. To think of Mahler as a genius toward the end of his life writing this only adds to its mystery. In some ways it almost seems twisted in the sense that a battle is raging in sombodies mind. It is very emotive and thought provoking, utilising a lot from the strings in the orchestra, there are also solo performances from many instruments which are superb such as the flute.
--- CONCLUSION ---
You can sample some of this music at various websites before purchasing it, such as Amazon and Naxos. There are many versions played by various orchestra's and in different decades to choose from, the most recent notable one has been Simon Rattle's Berlin orchestra's performance.
Overall if you like Mahler this is a definite buy, if you are new to Mahler get this as part of a compliation package, if new to classical music perhaps sample it before you purchase.
--- AVAILABILITY ---
There are many labels and different recordings of this that is hard to suggest which one to go for. You can buy it stand alone or as a compilation of Mahlers other music. If you are new to Mahler buy a complilation of his other scores too as he has so many other offerings (Symphony No. 1 is one of my favourites). If you have some Mahler music already then I would suggest the Naxos label which has Symphony No. 10 all on its own for around £5.
Pictures of Mahler: Symphony No 10
Mahler
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
very helpful by (55%):
helpful by (45%):
