Urlicht is name of the fourth movement of
Gustav Mahler‘s
Symphony no 2. in C minor, dubbed
Resurrection. It means
Primal Light or
Primordial Light.
A setting of a
poem from
Des Knaben Wunderhorn, is it perhaps the shortest of
Mahler‘s
movements, lasting some five minutes. It is set for
alto voice. The text is as follows:
O Röschen rot!
Der Mensch liegt in größter Not!
Der Mensch liegt in größter Pein!
Je lieber möcht ich im Himmel sein!
Da kamm ich auf einer breiten Weg;
Da kam ein Engelein und wollt mich abweisen.
Ach nein! Ich ließ mich nicht abweisen!
Ich bin von Gott und will wieder zu Gott!
Der liebe Gott wird mir ein Lichtchen geben,
Wird leuchten mir bis an das ewig selig Leben!
the English translation of
Lionel Salter follows:
O red rose!
Man lies in direst need!
Man lies in deepest pain!
I would be rather in heaven!
I came upon a broad path:
and angel came and sought to turn me back.
Ah no! I would not be sent away!
I am from God, and to God I will return!
Dear God will give me light,
will light me to eternal, blessed life!
It is, however, also an
album by great
avant-garde jazz pianist Uri Caine (full name is: gustav mahler/uri caine: urlicht/primal light), issued on
Winter & Winter 910 004-2.
Caine adapted several selections from
Gustav Mahler‘s music for a
jazz band.
Fine musicians appear on the album:
Joey Baron –
drums
Aaron Bensoussan –
cantor and
hand drums
Dave Binney –
soprano saxophone
Dany Blume –
guitar and
electronics
Dean Bowman –
vocals
Don Byron –
clarinet
Uri Caine –
piano
Dave Douglas –
trumpet
Mark Feldman –
violin
Michael Formanek –
bass
Larry Gold –
cello
Arto Lindsay –
vocals
DJ Olive -
turntables
Josh Roseman –
trombone
The tracks are as follows:
1. Symphony No. 5, funeral march
2. The drummer boy from „the boy‘s magic horn“
3. Now will the sun rise as brightly from „songs of the death of children“
4. I often think they have merely gone out from „songs of the death of children“
5. Symphony No. 1 „Titan“, 3rd movement
6. Symphony No. 2 „Resurrection“, primal light
7. I went out this morning over the countryside from „songs of a wayfarer“ & Symphony No. 2 „Resurrection“, andante moderato (the first movement)
8. Symphony No. 5,
adagietto
9. The drunkard in spring from „the song of the earth“
10. Who thought up this song from „the boy‘s magic horn“
11. The farewell from „the song of the earth“
Mahler‘s music is freely intertwined with
improvisation and mixed in various ways: you‘ll find
brass band,
klezmer,
jazz of course, but much more than that. As
qwkwardly this might sound from my description, it is actually
wonderful music. The playing of everyone involved is
first-rate.
The
funeral march is threatening and wild, the songs are both adventurous and quietly introspective. The Titan movement from first symphony, with
juxtapositions that
shocked audience at the
première pushed here much further – the
brass band is incredible – is perhaps my favourite, together with the mixture of first movement of second symphony and the song from „songs of a wayfarer“ in seventh track. Yet it is difficult to say what‘s really favourite, as every track is meaningfull, well done and a treat to listen to.
Of course, the famous
adagietto from fifth symphony, used in
Death in Venice and thus
Mahler‘s most known piece of music, is present there too, and while I usually skip it when listening to fifth symphony proper, I kind of like what
Caine did with it here. The two songs from „the song of the earth“ are a world for themselves, and it would be interesting to compare the instrumentation here with
Arnold Schönberg‘s transcription for
chamber orchestra from 1920 (completed by
Rainer Riehn in 1983).
The whole album has incredible
energy and
dynamism. What would Mahler say about it? We can‘t know. But I think that
Caine achieved something very
mahlerian here, working in the paradigm of the composer, mixing the
high and
low,
natural and
artificial,
serious and
grotesque.
Highly recommended for
open-minded people.