Review

Gustav Mahler
Adagietto from Symphony No.5:

Arranged by Randall Malmstrom

Trombone choir 8-part trombone ensemble Trombone octet 6 tenor, 2 bass trombones

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Publisher: Cherry Classics Music
Date of Publication: 2022
URL: http://www.cherryclassics.com

Score and parts.

Primary Genre: Trombone Ensembles - 8 trombones

This famous Adagietto is the fourth movement of Gustav Maher's Symphony No.5 (1901). It is considered by many as Mahler's love letter to his Fiancé-Alma, who later became his wife. In the original work, Mahler uses only the string instruments and the harp in their warmest and most expressive way to convey his emotions to his beloved Alma. The music is touching and beautiful yet bears a slight doubt and uncertainty. This movement served as the theme music to the classic movie Death in Venice, released in 1971. This movie helped many non-classical music listeners come to know this gorgeous movement, making it famous in symphonic music. Mahler is considered by many as the greatest symphonic composer of all time. His works are written on large scales and often bear deep meanings, ask philosophical questions, and express love for the world. Mahler's music carries many secrets for listeners to discover. In this Adagietto, Mahler attached a poem to the melody. The poem reads:

Wie ich dich liebe, Du meine Sonne,
Ich kann mit Worten, Dir’s nicht sagen.
Nur Meine Sehnsucht, Kann ich Dir klagen,
Und meine Liebe, Meine Wonne.

Translated into English
In which way I love you, my sunbeam,
I cannot tell you with words.
Only my longing, my love and my bliss
Can I, with anguish, declare.

The movement is set in a slow tempo, marked Sehr langsam (very slow) with a metronome marking of quarter note = 42, staying within the range of 40-65 bpm throughout. It quotes a melody from Richard Wagner's Tristan and Isolde in trombone part 1 between measures 52-56. In Wagner's Tristan and Isolde, the quoted theme appears in the music when Tristan and Isolde look into each other's eyes with immense love and call out each other's names. Wagner labels this melody Gaze Motif. Mahler's choice to use this Gaze Motif in his work displays pessimism towards his relationship with Alma.

Malmstrom's arrangement poses tremendous challenges to even advanced collegiate and professional level ensembles; its performance undoubtedly calls for elite groups. Malmstrom kept the original keys of A major/F minor from Mahler's original score and mirrors the entirety of the original work on a set of two pairs of trombone quartets, with trombone 1 and 5 being the highest voice in each quartet and trombone 4 and 8 scored for bass trombone. Trombone 1-3 and 5-6 are scored in tenor clef, and trombone 4, 7, and 8 are in bass clef.

Performance challenges are displayed in trombone 1, 2, and 5, representing the first and second violins and the cellos from Mahler's instrumentation. These three trombone parts play on the same pitches and registers as their string instrument counterparts carrying the "solo voice" throughout this 12-minute-long "love song." Although these melodies sit in a low-mid register on violins and cellos, they are pretty high on the trombone. These melodic passages are worthy tests of endurance, control in soft dynamics, and execution of sustained, slow, and lyrical playing in high registers. For example, the opening melody in trombone 1 starts in measure 3, and lasts for 8 measures between the register of c1 to d2 in 4/4 meter at mm42, at dynamics of p-pp. This part could be played on alto trombone. However, that timbre does not fit this melody as well, which requires a warm and full sound heard from the first violins in the original work. Breathing is also a challenge since, in the original work, violins play this melodic passage with uninterrupted phrasing. But on trombones, it is impossible to play the first solo passages of 8 and a half measures in one breath; necessary breaths break this musical phrase. Even in the places where the first trombone could sneak in breaths, the player has to re-enter back to the phrase in the high register and a soft dynamic: quite challenging. The solo voice carries over immediately to trombone 5 at measure 11, continuing the melody between the register of c1 and c2 at a slightly faster tempo and dynamic. Trombone 2 also has several slow, soft, and high melodic passages. The rest of the ensemble serves in an accompaniment role, playing softly, often in dynamics between p-ppp, allowing the melodies to come through with ease. Malmstrom's arrangement also keeps most grace notes from the original score. These graces often involve large intervals of seventh, octave, or ninth between the grace notes and the main notes, generally in the high register. These large-interval graces challenge players to produce clean, accurate, smooth, and quick leaps, difficult to achieve on trombones, much easier on string instruments.

The challenge of performing this arrangement arises quickly when the group aims to achieve this Adagietto the way Mahler intended. Even with an elite group capable of executing all this, yet even more is needed to produce the music with warmth, calmness, sensitivity, expressivity, and total control. As mentioned, this Adagietto is about expressing love in the most tender and touching way. It must live up to a standard created by string warmth and smoothness, which is often augmented with tempo rubato. This poses a significant risk for players to enter and release notes and phrases together, especially for trombones 3, 4, 7, and 8, where  more articulated notes exist with arpeggiated, triplet patterns representing the harp and the string basses from the original score. Performers must be technically efficient for these patterns and be fully aware of each other to perform them well. The conductor has a big task to mesh the group together, creating an ensemble that matches a string chamber group. The conductor must be in command with clear control of rubato.

Malmstrom's arrangement pushes the boundaries of the trombone ensemble in this particular style of music. The success of his arrangement will be determined by the skills and musicianship of the players, which are key to achieving what is printed on the page with warm, molto espressivo sounds. Success may have been enhanced if the work had been cast in a more accessible key for trombones that would allow the players to focus on the expression of the music rather than struggle to execute notes.