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Posted by Guillermo on October 28, 19102 at 10:02:34:
Hello!
I'm Guillermo Saar, a BA candidate in Enviromnental Studies this May
at Ramapo Collegeof New Jersey.I am writing you for help on my senior term final
paper. I am researching music as it reflects and informs social
crisis. The paper updates Mahler's Symphony no. 7 in this light,
linking it to a more recent work, Harrison Birtwistle's "Pulse
Shadows" (as well as Alfred Schnittke's "Psalms of Repentance"). The
three works, as I am connecting them, reflect ways of perceiving and
dealing with particularly volatile world conditions.
My take, in brief:
Mahler's 7th has the landler and waltz breaking down into something
nastier and removed from the dances they originated as. The seventh's
relative obscurity -it can be considered a black sheep of the Mahler
canon- made me look into why this is so, as perhaps it is showing
some aspects of humanity that are too close to true, too honest, too
real to make it popular. I bring Birtwistle in with as I see his work
sharing these similarities, taking advantage of the recent publicity
it gained by dint of its Gramophone award. Schnittke brings a
different kind of solution, though one using the same elements
(Christian, Jewish, folk) used by Mahler. His Psalms show a melding
of different worldviews, including the tension so familiar in Mahler
but with an eye on what comes after the conflict in over as well. I see hope in
all three works, though the times they reflect may not have given
rise to it.
Please give me any anecdotes, websites, lists, contacts or other ways
to further delve into this matter. I have many recordings (over 5 of
each completed symphony) and have seen the 'usual' book sources and
websites (R. Greenberg's "Great Masters" series, Duggan's overview,
etc.) and need the quirkier, off-the-beaten-path pieces. Surely you
have come across these, I thank you so much in advance for any time
you afford me in this matter. I'll post a site to view the finished work, including any pertinent acknowledgements. Thank you again.
Sincerely,
Guillermo Saar