Tonight the Georgia Symphony Orchestra presents Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 1 (“Titan”) and Ernest Bloch’s Sacred Service, both works embodying their composers’ world views. Mahler, who declared that “the symphony must be like the world – it must embrace everything,” stays true to his vision, his music filled with peasant dances, bird calls, art song, band music, rousing fanfares, and nursery rhymes, as well as great depths of personal emotion. Bloch learned Hebrew specifically to compose his intensely spiritual Sacred Service and, though he envisioned the work as potentially liturgical, felt it to be “more cosmic and universal than Jewish.”

Billed by some as “one of symphonic music’s most stunning debuts,” Symphony No. 1 in D Major, by Gustav
Mahler (1860-1911) is both lyrical and triumphant, seamlessly intertwining within its Classical forms haunting,
singable melodies and stirring brass fanfares. It was originally titled “Titan” after a novel by one of Mahler’s
favorite authors, Jean Paul (1763-1825), whose hero was “a prototype of the form in which the age molded its
passion and its despair…” Highly charged prose for a romantic and impressionable young man! But this music
is more mature than one might expect for a fledging symphonic effort, and with good reason. First of all, there
is evidence that Mahler had previously composed four symphonies which never saw the light of day and which
were destroyed during World War II. Secondly, much of his musical material was taken from works previously
composed by him or by others: his own Songs of a Wayfarer, The Trumpeter from Säkkingen, and Hans und
Grete; Liszt’s Dante Symphony; and Wagner’s opera, Parsifal. Symphony No. 1 was completed in 1888 as a
five-movement work; the original second movement, subtitled “Blumine” (“Flowers”), was later removed upon
revision.

The “Titan” premiered in Budapest on November 20, 1889, as a “symphonic poem” in two parts, with “life” as
its program. Mahler wrote of his first two symphonies, “My whole life is contained in them; I have set down
my experience and suffering….” The original first three movements of Symphony No. 1, including the first two
heard tonight, were originally subtitled “From the Days of Youth,” the last two “Comedia humana,” with further
programmatic subtitles for each movement. Mahler insisted that he did not write “program-music” and came to despise program notes; yet he wrote incessantly about his music and his non-musical influences, and every one of his works reflects the then-current state of his life-long spiritual journey. The first movement of Symphony No. 1 opens with a long introduction full of musical motifs – a cuckoo-call, distant fanfares, “chattering” figures, climbing figures in the low strings – that are heard throughout the entire symphony. The movement proper opens with the melody of “This Morning I Went through the Field” from Songs of a Wayfarer, an expression of pastoral joy. The second movement, a rustic, earthy scherzo, is full of Mahler’s trademark musical irony, with a sensuous Austrian Ländler as its trio section. One would be hard-pressed not to hear Mahler’s Jewish roots in the klezmer-like character of this movement, a character which re-appears in other movements as well. With the third movement, Mahler trades pleasantries for darkness, a harbinger of symphonies to come, beginning with his parody of the children’s round “Frère Jacques” (in German, “Brüder Martin, schläfst du?”) rendered as a melancholy and mournful tune in a minor key. Its original title, “Funeral March in the Manner of Callot,” refers to “The Hunter’s Funeral Procession,” a picture from a book of children’s fairy tales in which beasts of the forest accompany a dead woodsman’s coffin to the grave. Interrupting the processional are what Stephen Johnson calls “a sickly sweet folksy tune,” a dance music parody, and another melody from Songs of a Wayfarer, from a point in the song cycle where the thwarted lover realizes that only death can end his pain. The finale, originally subtitled “From Inferno to Paradise,” opens with “the sudden outburst of a wounded heart,” as Mahler called it, and leads to yet another march, a “very songful” passionate theme, a triumphant version of a first- movement motif, further mood changes, and an exalted ending which dispels – at least for the time being – any darkness of spirit.

Success did not come early for Ernest Bloch (1880-1959), who had trained as a violinist and composer from an
early age; at one point he joined his father’s clock business in Switzerland, composing only at night. But in 1910,
the Opéra-Comique accepted his opera Macbeth, and he gained an influential supporter in Romain Rolland, winner
of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1915. Soon after, his conducting of Maud Allen’s dance company introduced
him to the United States, and the Boston Symphony invited him to conduct his Trois Poèmes juif (“Three Jewish Poems”). The next decade saw him teaching, performing, and composing, directing the Cleveland Institute of Music, then the San Francisco Conservatory. In 1927, his “epic rhapsody” America, an homage to his adopted country, was premiered by five major American orchestras. Following an illustrious career, a grant from a wealthy San Franciscan permitted Bloch to retire to Switzerland, and then to Italy, where he was warmly received and honored with a revival of his opera Macbeth. Its successful run was cut short, however, when Mussolini adopted the anti-semitic decrees of his German ally, and he returned to the United States, taking refuge in Agate Beach, Oregon, a secluded spot overlooking the Pacific Ocean, where he spent his remaining years.

“It is the Jewish soul that interests me,” said Bloch, “the complex, glowing, agitated soul that I feel vibrating
throughout the Bible: the freshness and naiveté of the Patriarchs, the violence of the books of the Prophets,
the Jew’s savage love for justice, the despair of Ecclesiastes, the sorrow and immensity of the Book of Job, the
sensuality of the Song of Songs.” These words reveal the source of Bloch’s creativity, though he never sought to
reconstruct Jewish music or to base his work on authentic melodies. “I am not,” he said, “an archeologist.” And
though he wrote many neo-Classical works with no cultural or national bent, it is the works of his “Jewish cycle”
that are most often played, among them Schelomo for cello and orchestra, the Israel Symphony, Trois Poèmes juif
for orchestra, Baal Shem for violin and piano, and Voice in the Wilderness for cello and chamber orchestra.

In 1927, Bloch had spoken to Cantor Ruben Rinder of Temple Emanual in San Francisco about writing music for
a temple service, a project for which he then received a generous commission from Gerald Warburg and a grant
from the Stern Fund. Preparing diligently, he spent three months studying – in Hebrew, French and English – the
Sabbath Morning Service as found in the Union Prayer Book for Jewish Worship, a service which he felt embodied
“a philosophy acceptable to all men.” “I know its significance word by word,” he wrote, “…it has become mine,
as if it were the very expression of my soul…the very text I was after since the age of ten … a dream of stars, of
forces…It has become a ‘private affair’ between God and me.” “Avodath Hakodesh,” or Sacred Service, took
three years to complete, from 1930 to 1933, its composer “battling against notes, sounds, rhythms, to extirpate out
of my soul all the unexpressed music which is latent – since centuries…” In the end, one hears not the painstaking
agony of its composition, but the powerful ebb and flow of gorgeous music encompassing those qualities treasured
by Bloch as essential to the Jewish soul. The naiveté, the violence, despair, sorrow, sensuality, unfettered joy –
they are all here.

It goes without saying that Avodath Hakodesh is a masterful work, yet nothing prepares the listener for its exquisite
choruses and refreshing solo-orchestral interludes, not to mention its raw physical and emotional power when
these forces are combined. Part I begins with a Meditation on a clearly-stated six-note motive fundamental to the
entire work. “Mah tovu” (“How goodly are thy tents”), a “kind of invocation,” is followed by the “more liturgical”
“Borechu es Adonoy” (“Sing His Praise”), with a shorter interlude leading to the “cosmic” “Shema Yisroel” (“Oh
hear, Israel”), and the “tragic accents” of “Tzur Yisroel” (“Rock of Israel”). Beginning Part II is the “Kudos,
Kudos, Kudos” (“Holy, Holy, Holy”), the source of the Sanctus of the Roman Catholic Mass, followed by “Echoed
hub, elk heinous” (“One is He, our God”), an “affirmation of the unity of the world,” ending joyfully with “Kinloch
Adonis le’olom” (“Thou shalt reign, Adonoy, evermore”). Part III, during which the Scroll is taken from the Ark
and carried through the congregation, expresses Bloch’s “wish that man may free himself from hate, from dark
instincts and all that prevents him from rising above himself and seeing the truth.” During Part IV, the Scroll is
returned to the Ark but, as the composer said, “it must remain alive in the hearts of men.” This part ends with the
exquisite “Etz Chayim” (“Tree of Life”). Part V, the Epilogue (Adoration), “expresses the peace and solemnity of
the Sabbath” and “the eternal contribution of Israel to humanity.” With the mystical and powerful “Adon Olom”
(“Eternal God”), Bloch interprets the idea that one should accept death as one accepts life, “with serenity and
confidence.” The service ends with the Three Benedictions and the Three Amens. Sholom.

Bibliography:
Constantin Floros, Gustav Mahler: The Symphonies, Amadeus Press, Portland, Oregon, 1985.
Jonathan Kramer, Listen to the Music: A Self-Guided Tour through the Orchestral Repertoire, Schirmer Books, a Division of Macmillan, Inc., New York, New
York, and Collier Macmillan Publishers, London.
Stephen Johnson, liner notes, Mahler Symphony No. 1, BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Manfred Honeck, BBC Music CD MM93, 2000.
Letter to Arthur Seidel, Gustav Mahler: Briefs 1879-1911, Herat Blaukopf, ed., Rev. and enl. Ed. Publications of the International Gustav Mahler Society,
Vienna/Hamburg, 1982.
Melvin Berger, Guide to Choral Masterpieces: A Listener’s Guide, Anchor Books / Doubleday, New York, New York, 1993.
Joseph Machlis, The Enjoyment of Music, W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., New York, New York, 1961.
David Gutman, liner notes, Bloch: Violin Concerto, Schelomo, Sacred Service, EMI Classics CD 50999 4 56319 2 4, 2010.

National Food Drive

Please bring your donations to the GSO Holiday Pops
Concert on Saturday, December 8 at 3pm and 8pm at
the Murray Arts Center of Mount Paran Christian School.

FOOD ITEMS NEEDED:
Non-perishables such as: canned meats (fish, chicken);
dried beans; rice; canned fruit; jelly; dry or canned potatoes;
soups with meat or chicken. Please, no canned vegetables.
We have a large supply.

Concert attendees drop off food donations for those in need at the GSO Holiday Pops Concert in 2012.

The GSO  partnered with the Atlanta Community Food Bank for “Orchestras Feeding America 2012.”  This program has provided over 350,000 pounds of food to communities across America in the past 3 years, with 250 participating orchestras representing all 50 states. 

Food and monetary donations were accepted at both of the GSO Holiday Pops Concerts on December 8th at the Murray Arts Center of Mount Paran Christian School. 

More than one in every four Georgia children – 28.3% of our children –  live in food insecure households, meaning that they don’t always know where they will find their next meal.

Bill Bolling, Executive Director of the Atlanta Community Food Bank (ACFB) had this to say:

“The Atlanta Community Food Bank is very excited to work with the Georgia Symphony in its ‘Orchestras Feeding America Food Drive’ holiday program.  We are encouraged that the Symphony Board has embraced this opportunity and that the Symphony audience continues to support community efforts to help their neighbors in need.”

The ACFB recommends the following foods as the best one to donate:

• Peanut Butter
• Canned Tuna
• Canned Beans
• Canned Soups, Stews and Pastas
• 100% Fruit Juice
• Canned Fruits and Vegetables
• Macaroni and Cheese Dinners
• Whole Grain, Low Sugar Cereals