Saturday, February 25, 2023
- John Warner, founder and director of Orchestra for the Earth
- Benjamin Garzia, founder and director of Mahlerian Camerata
As we explored in a recent episode, Gustav Mahler is becoming more and more of a popular icon. In part, this is linked to a strong presence of his works in today’s concert repertoire. But as this popularity grows, there is an increasing desire to hear these masterpieces beyond the halls of large orchestras.
One way to address this is to make arrangements of these compositions, reducing the forces necessary from close to 100 musicians to a few dozen or even fewer performers.
This development is now making it possible for smaller ensembles to present Mahler, sometimes in unconventional venues. And it certainly increases the prevalence of Mahler performances.
But what are implications of this? What do the arrangements sound like? Do they run the risk of misrepresenting Mahler?
In this program talk to two conductors who have ventured to take on this challenge: John Warner, found and director of Orchestra for the Earth and Benjamin Garzia, founder and director of Mahlerian Camerata.
We hear performances of some of their arranging work and probe the intricacies required of reducing a Mahler score. We will ask many questions, and so can you, just by writing in the chat during the broadcast!
Play now, and explore with us the challenges and rewards of “Arranging Mahler.”
Hosted by Morten Solvik