Asbury Park Press previews Mahler and Brahms concerts

The Asbury Park Press previews the NJSO’s February 22–25 performances of Mahler’s Songs of a Wayfarer and Brahms’ First Symphony:

Guest conductor Rune Bergmann will lead the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra the last week of February in performances of Gustav Mahler’s “Songs of a Wayfarer” and Johannes Brahms’ Symphony No. 1 – two works of the Romantic era that established important musical directions for the composers.

…

In many ways, the “Songs of a Wayfarer” are a thumbnail sketch of the career to come. At the beginning of his career and hot on the heels of a heartbreak, Mahler penned some of his own youthful poetry and set it to music, creating the “Songs of a Wayfarer.”

…

A perfectionist who revered historical masters, Brahms must have felt that establishing his own voice in this genre was a heavy undertaking. At any rate, once he started the first symphony, it took him a decade and a half to complete. 

The successful blending of historical material into his own personal style became a hallmark of Brahms’ work – a blend of fluid Romantic drama with the gorgeous tapestry of a Bach fugue. It was (and still is) wildly popular, and displayed real personality and individual mastery. 

» Read the full story at app.com

» Concert info and tickets