Mahler- Symphony No. 4 in G Major, Part III
The last of a 3-part series discussing Mahler’s Symphony No. 4.
IV. Sehr behaglich
The final movement contains a soprano who sings a highly simplistic description of heaven (Das himmlische Leben- The Heavenly Life) and a description of a heavenly feast. It is sung with child-like wonder.
The movement begins with a joyous melody over harp and soft glissandos barely audible in the cellos. The triangle and winds enter soon after, and after tiny violin tremolos and a wind flourish the soprano enters to sing her song of heavenly abundance (0:35). Notice the dotted rhythm from the soprano that we heard in theme one of the first movement from the french horn. At 1:52 the soprano finishes the first verse, and the strings play a mysterious chord that is interrupted by first movement motives in the entire orchestra.
The soprano soon reveals the motivation behind this very sudden change of key and mood. At 2:34 she begins, “Johannes das Lammlein auslasset, Der Metzger Herodes drauf passet…” (“John lets the little lamb out and the butcher Herod waits for it…”) while the oboe (the lamb) cries out in terror in the background. The imagery gets even darker at 2:54 with, “Sankt Lucas der ochsen tat schlachten ohn’ einig’s andenken und achten” (“Saint Lucas slaughters the ox without any thought or worry”) as we hear the low groans of the ox in the french horns. The music suddenly takes on the color of a religious hymn at the mention of angels (“Die Englein die backen das brot”) before a jarring movement one, theme one passage.
Upon the return of the soprano, she sings of the abundance of the food in heaven. She, or whoever is narrating this story, is clearly overjoyed by the wonderful things in front of her, as the voice practically dances with excitement. In heaven everything grows in quantity as well as quality- “Gut krauter von allerhand arten…un was wir nur wollen!” (“Good vegetables grow of all kinds… and whatever we want!”). Game runs right up to you in order to be eaten, “Willst Rehbock willst hasen auf offenen strassen sie laufen herbei!” (“If you want roebuck or hare, on the streets they come running right up!”). The violins play a dainty, darting melody at 4:18, musically depicting the fish that swim into St. Peter’s net (“Sollt ein festagg etwa kommen alle fische gleich mit freuden angeschwommen!” – Should a feast day come all the fish come swimming with joy!”). The “angel” hymn is repeated twice (4:31), this time in reverence of St. Martha, the patron saint of cooks. An appropriate sign of gratitude after what sounds like a grand feast.
The primordial chord sounds again in the strings (5:03) and is followed by movement one, theme one. Low harp notes precede an english horn playing the harp’s motive heard at the beginning of the movement (5:33) before quiet flutes and strings enter with a playful, gentle melody. More gentle cello glissandos breath contented sighs as the music slows. We’ve finished our ambrosial meal at this point, now it’s time for a deeper reflection.
The soprano begins the final verse at 6:40, an absolutely gorgeous reprise of the opening theme of the movement that transcends the rather earthly wonders of heaven described thus far. “Kein musik is ja nicht auf Erden die unsrer verglichen kann werden” (“There is just no music on Earth that can compare to ours.”), she sings, accompanied by hushed, warm winds and strings. The indulgent, operatic melody that accompanies “Sankt Ursula…” (7:14) along with jolly triplets in the bass is a reference to Ursala’s size. St. Cecilia, the patron saint of music, is referenced with a comically humble compliment- “Cacilie mit ihren verwandten sind treffliche hofmusikanten” (“Cecilia and her companions make excellent court musicians”)- further adding to the sense of naivety we feel towards the narrative.
After the last soprano line, the music gradually fades away leaving just the gentle plucking of the harp and softly ascending winds. The sleigh bell motive returns (it’s actually been present throughout the entire movement) in the english horn (9:10)- the entire motive has just been slowed down so the grace note and the parent note can be easily distinguished. The movement ends on low, pianissimo repeated notes in the harp- gently luring us into the eternal sleep that awaits.
Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 in G Major covers an extraordinary range of emotions and themes, literally from the depths of hell up to the pearly gates. From the opening sleigh bells, Mahler instills in his audience the same child-like wonder of the fourth movement soprano, as we are taken on a truly magical journey though uncertainty, death and his fiddle, loss and sorrow, and finally to Utopia. In a way, the quiet, peaceful ending is more forceful than any grand finale Mahler could have composed, for it brings closure through great power of expression instead of flash and fury.
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If you are interested in listening to a recording, I recommend Andre Previn’s 1979 recording with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra on Angel Records. You can buy this recording from Amazon by clicking on the image below. Unfortunately this recording is hard to come by and is not in the iTunes Music Store. Alternatively, you can purchase Claudio Abbado’s 1997 release on Deutsche Grammophone with the Vienna Philharmonic from the iTMS by clicking the link below.
This article is part of the Music 365 series. To find out more about this project, please visit the project homepage.
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