Cooke's Tour 17: MAHLER Symphony No. 3, an introduction #CookesTour

If you enjoyed the recent broadcast of Mahler’s Third Symphony as part of the 2020 @BBCProms then you’ll appreciate Richard Cooke’s 17th blog. Richard was Chorus Master to Claudio Abbado in the 1980s, and of the great conductor he says: ‘In my experience no one was better Abbado when it came to conducting Mahler’.

Mahler bucked the early twentieth century trend of writing for smaller ensembles. As Richard says: ‘He left us with a whole new bag of toys, the most remarkable, expansive and original creations which have since taken their place amongst the most loved and dramatic symphonies of all time.’ His third symphony is an incredible piece of music. It takes a different ‘programme’ for each movement, and Mahler referred to the whole as ‘A summer’s mid-day dream’. Lyrical, plaintive, breathtaking and heart-rending, it is a celebration of nature and of life. Take some time out and revel in this glorious and majestic music.

Richard Cooke is Music Director of the Royal Choral Society, University of Essex Choir and Canterbury Choral Society.

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