Gustav Mahler - Symphony 10, 3rd movement: Purgatorio, with handwritten score
Symphony 10 - III Purgatorio
Gustav Mahler, version by Hinse Mutter
The Ricciotti Ensemble conducted by Gijs Kramers
Mahler sketched his 10th symphony in times of great stress, and died before finishing most of it, postponing the work to make revisions to his 9th, and living the life of an overworked conductor. There are about 7 editions of the complete symphony, completed by others after Mahlers death.
Mahler calls for an enormous orchestra (at least triple woodwinds and brass), and the Ricciotti Ensemble being unique in it's composition (40 players symphonic orchestra, including saxophones), a new edition had to be made specifically for the orchestra. Of the 3rd movement, only a handfull of original pages of difficult-to-decypher sketches exist. Mahler wrote down the first couple of dozen bars completely, and after that continued on 2, 3 or 4 staves, sometimes giving directions for the instrumentation.
Pungent are the outcries he wrote across the sketches such as: "My God, my God, why have you abandoned me" and "Thy Will be done!". The short score he drafted comes to a strange halt at about two thirds of the movement, when he writes 'Da capo' and repeats the beginning of the piece, before closing of with harps and tam-tam.
This third movement is one of the few pieces composed by Mahler that the Ricciotti Ensemble can play, with it's short length and almost chamber music like character. The Ricciotti Ensemble performed this version more than 30 times at concerts across the Netherlands, making it one of the most performed renditions of Purgatorio.
You can buy Ricciotti's CD featuring this track and many others on Itunes: https://itunes.apple.com/nl/album/op!...
Recorded by the Ricciotti Ensemble, video by Hinse Mutter, all rights reserved