Warm salutations,
Farewells are fraught with memories and emotions. Some goodbyes are temporary; others are permanent. The circumstances surrounding each adieu can be affirming or tragic, and rarely do we know for certain if our most recent personal interaction will be our last.
Much has been made of Gustav Mahler’s last completed work — his Symphony No. 9. In the shadow of losing his 4-year-old daughter, resigning his directorship in Vienna, being diagnosed with a fatal heart condition, a crumbling marriage, all while juggling new appointments in New York (at the Metropolitan Opera and the Philharmonic), was Mahler really saying goodbye to life in this symphony? Or was he, at age 50, simply saying auf Wiedersehen to youth and love? After all, he did write most of a 10th symphony.
So, rather than adding our own psychoanalysis, we’ve asked two poet laureates to listen to the piece, consider Mahler’s situation, and write a poem reflecting what they hear and know about perhaps the GOAT of composer-conductors and his last completed work.
Enjoy the performance and the long goodbye.
James R. Cassidy,
Music Director
