The Grotesque

Donald Macleod explores the music and life of Gustav Mahler. Today, the vein of tart humour in Mahler’s music.

In the summer of 1910, with his personal life in turmoil, Mahler visited the psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud for a consultation. Years later, Freud recalled that Mahler had related to him an incident from his childhood, in which he had run from the house to escape a particularly acrimonious confrontation between his parents. As he emerged onto the street, a hurdy-gurdy happened to be grinding out the popular Viennese song, ‘Ach, du lieber Augustin’, from which point on, according to Freud’s recollection of Mahler’s account, “high tragedy and light amusement” became inextricably fused in his mind. Whether or not that specific incident was the wellspring, there’s a strong strain of the sardonic, the ironic and the out-and-out grotesque running through Mahler’s entire output.

Des Knaben Wunderhorn (Des Antonius von Padua Fischpredigt)
Brigitte Fassbaender, mezzo soprano
Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin
Riccardo Chailly, conductor

Symphony No 1 in D (‘Titan’) (3rd movement, Feierlich und gemessen, ohne zu schleppen)
Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra
Rafael Kubelik, conductor

Symphony No 2 (3rd movement, In ruhig fliessender Bewegung)
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Vladimir Jurowski, conductor

Symphony No 7 (3rd movement, Scherzo: Schatternhaft)
SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg
Michael Gielen, conductor

Symphony No 9 (3rd movement, Rondo-Burleske)
Berlin Philharmonic
Leonard Bernstein, conductor

Produced by Chris Barstow for BBC Wales