Mahler's 7th Symphony is, as my dad would have said, "all about night doins" It is entitled in German as Leid der Nacht, or Song of the Night in English, which why we are using it as a Thursday lead-in to Friday Frights--which is all about creepy music, with heavy influence from Mahler and the late great conductor Leonard Bernstein. This particular performance was under Bernstein's conducting prowess at the Vienna Philharmonic; important because Mahler was once the orchestras principle conductor.
It's principle key is described as "e minor"--minor keys being moody and often dark. Truthfully is a kind of casscading key change work. I scitches between minor and mahor keys even within movements. My personal take on it, is that is ot just about the movements of night, but more about the movements of the eastern European empire that was the Austro-Hungarian landscape. So many elements, many of the deep and dark, are embodied here, along side the strangely hopeful.
It is a symphony that is known amugst classical music enthusiasts of tady as being "unloved". A read on the work by Tony Duggan can be read here. The idea that Mahler was intending a perpetual "night" in this work, like depression or other really dark "moods" in this work doesn't merit weight. It has so many different moods, and many different instrument, such as: tubular bells, oddly tuned cymbals and folk influences, Notable in parts is it's folksy mandolin parts, juxtaposted to full orchestrations of dark and moody strings, again juxtaposed with bright Key major brass dominated by trumpets (an instrument that I used to play in school--they are loud and "tinny"!). And, oh!, who puts a gut strung guitar in a symphony?? Well, Mahler. (OK, there's a fright right there--GUT STRUNG instruments--real guts from real animals.)
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