NOSPR & Antoni Wit / Symphony No. 5 by Mahler & Schubert - NOSPR

Something begins, while another thing ends – such a paraphrase of the title of a certain well-known short story could serve as a commentary to the two Fifth Symphonies: Franz Schubert’s and Gustav Mahler’s. They are like two milestones marking the beginning and end of the road of 19th-century symphonics.

The first one was created in 1816, while the second one in 1901-1902. Schubert was not, at least at the time, a “typical” symphonic composer – confined to the limitations of the available performing powers, he was trying to submit to them, not allowing himself to be proudly uncompromising and risk composing with gusto, yet for the pieces to remain unperformed. That is why his Fifth is quite modest in terms of personnel – with no clarinets, trumpets or timpani – just as modest as the amateur orchestra he had at his disposal. The same modesty could be found in his attitude towards Haydn and Mozart, who might be considered stylistic and aesthetic patrons of the Symphony in B major. Schubert would not even take a glance at Beethoven’s achievements back then.

Mahler’s Fifth is a turning point in his symphonic oeuvre: evidence of his fulfilled passion for Alma, crowned with matrimony. This symphony, drawing a monumental dramatic arc from mourning to triumph, becomes a mirror for the composer’s personal emotions, simultaneously constituting a crowning piece for the romantic symphony in its 19th-century edition.

Andrzej Sułek

Concert duration: approximately 120 minutes