Exploring Music in Context

October 23, 2023

Evan Luo

1. Justification
I chose the 4th movement “Urlicht” from Mahler’s Symphony No.2. This work is a symphony, which
means that it is written for performance and listening, and it is written by Gustav Mahler, who is a
German, so it is global context for me.

2. Analysis
The Urlicht is one of Mahler’s loveliest pieces. It’s in D flat major and the rhythm is flexible which
gives the entire piece a very natural and unlimited feeling.
I simplified the original score to make the harmony and melody line more clear.

Figure 1: Bar 1 - 3
The piece begins with an alto solo. (Bar 1-3, Recording 0:00-0:18¹) The melody begins at D flat which
is the tonic of D flat major, and goes stepwise upward. This creates a hopeful feeling.
The harmonic progression here goes 𝑇 → 𝐷 → 𝑇 . But the base of the harmony, at the same time,
go both downward and upward, which is very obvious in the original score². The downward part is
performed by violoncello, and the upward part is performed by violin 1 and 2 and viola.

Figure 2: Bar 1 - 3, Original Score

¹DuPage Symphony Orchestra and Barbara Schubert, “Mahler Symphony No.2 Urlicht”, 2004, https://imslp.org/wiki/
Special:ReverseLookup/79945.
²International Mahler Gesellshaft, ed., Mahler Symphony No.2 Urlicht (Universal Edition, 1971), https://imslp.org/
wiki/Special:ReverseLookup/21507.

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This creates a contrary motion. It shift from B flat to the D flat which is the tonic of D flat major. This
is a resolution.

Figure 3: Bar 4 - 5
Then, three trumpet performs homophonically. (Bar 4-5, Recording 0:18-0:27) The color of trumpet is
usually bright and loud, but here it becomes very soft, giving the piece a chorale-like feeling³. The
melody here goes stepwise upward too and three trumpets are parallel in third, but Mahler creates a
sequence here. This pushes the emotion forward, creating a strong tension.
The fourth chord 𝑉 6 is added a eleventh. This weaken the original color of the chord and adds unstable
feeling to the chord.

Figure 4: Bar 6 - 8
Move to bar 6 (Recording 0:28-0:31). Here the trumpet 2 and 3 (blue and the green part) remain the
same notes and trumpet 1 changes. This is the oblique motion, which creates ordinary feeling, because
only the fifth of the chord is moving.
From bar 6 to 7 (Recording 0:31-0:37), the tension starts to be released, because the melody continu-
ously goes downward here, and finally it goes back to the tonic. The trumpet 2 plays a downward scale,
giving it a bell-like sound. This also add solemn feeling to the piece.

³Lawrence F. Bernstein, Inside Mahler'S Second Symphony: A Listener'S Guide, 1st ed. (Oxford University Press, 2022),
https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780197575635.001.0001.

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 Figure 5: Bar 9 - 13
From bar 9 (Recording 0:38-0:41), the time signature starts to change between 3/4 and 4/4, and the notes
all turn into half note. The tempo hence becomes slower, implying that the phrase is going to end.
In the bar 11 (Recording 0:45-0:53), Mahler uses a sus 4 (𝑉45 ), and then resolve it into 𝑉 . The sus 4
creates a strong tension between the third and the fifth.
In the bar 12-13, which are the last two bars of this section, Mahler uses a perfect cadence, because the
harmony goes from 𝑉 to 𝐼.

3. Complete Score

Figure 6: Complete Score

Bibliography
Bernstein, Lawrence F. Inside Mahler'S Second Symphony: A Listener'S Guide. 1st ed. Oxford University
Press, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780197575635.001.0001
DuPage Symphony Orchestra, and Barbara Schubert. “Mahler Symphony No.2 Urlicht”, 2004. https://
imslp.org/wiki/Special:ReverseLookup/79945
International Mahler Gesellshaft, ed. Mahler Symphony No.2 Urlicht. Universal Edition, 1971. https://
imslp.org/wiki/Special:ReverseLookup/21507