My Approach to the Bass Solo in Mahler's First Symphony (Robert Oppelt, June 10, 2007)
As the Principal Bass of the National Symphony (and first stand player for more than two decades) I have played the bass solo in the third movement of MahIer's Symphony No. 1 many times. It is a funeral march derived from the children's round known commonly as Frère Jacques. The NSO just finished another run of it, so, I thought I would share my fingerings and other advice while it is fresh in my mind.
In 1893, Mahler provided program notes which give an overview of the movement's allegorical association:
(From research by Henry-Louis de La Grange)
"The initial inspiration for it was found by the composer in a burlesque engraving: 'The Huntsman's Funeral', well known to all Austrian children, and taken from an old book of fairy stories. The animals of the forest accompany the dead huntsman's coffin to the graveside; hares carry the pennant, then comes a band of Bohemian musicians, followed by cats, toads, crows, etc., all playing their instruments, while stags, deer, foxes and other four-legged and feathered creatures of the forest accompany the procession with droll attitudes and gestures. This movement is intended to express a mood alternating between ironic gaiety and uncanny brooding…"
I am aware that there quite a few different ways that bassists finger and bow this. Every player has to do what works best for them in terms of their particular instrument, the acoustics of the concert hall, and the conductor's wishes . It would be interesting, for someone with lots of time on their hands or as a study project for a student, to catologue the variety of approaches that have been used for this solo.
Remarking to his friend Natalie Bauer-Lechner in 1900, Mahler explained: "In the March movement the instruments are disguised and go round dressed as strangers. Everything has to sound deadened and muffled, as if ghosts were parading past us. To ensure that in the canon each new entry comes over distinctly, with a surprising tone colour that draws attention to itself as it were-that caused me a real headache! Eventually I got the instrumentation right, so that it produced that weird, otherworldly effect... "
The Frère Jacques round (Bruder Martin to Mahler) is usually in a major key, but Mahler's version is in minor with some altered rhythms and intervals. (There is speculation that it was commonly sung in minor in Austria during the 19th century, but Mahler must have been aware that it was more widely known in major.) Typically in a round each successive group begins every two measures. Mahler has the muted bass play six measures of it (accompanied by the timpani) before the bassoon takes a turn and then the tuba two measures later. The tuba gets a four measure portion (audition material, by the way) before the two measure cycle of entrances begins. Practically every section of the orchestra plays it in hushed voices.
Mahler's description of the "deadened and muffled" tone should help settle any dispute about whether the bass should be muted as indicated in the score. The only reason not to use a mute is if one's bass already sounds muffled. I personally cannot divorce a muted sonority from the solo, and I also recommend bassists use a mute for auditions.
So, why is this solo so challenging? It's a children's round in minor, right? No big deal... Well, sometimes the simplest sounding music is the most revealing and difficult to pull off.
First, the notes lie in a fairly perilous region on either side of the transition zone to thumb position. This means there's an inherent insecurity which can feel like a tight rope walk as you pass between each region. A problem with playing it all on the G string is that there are too many long shifts which sound almost glissed. For example, A-A-D on the G string produces two virtually unavoidable slides, which I think is out of character with the feeling Mahler wants. (And he was meticulous about notating glisses.) Plus, it is risky to make a big shift for the high A four times and expect to hit them all in tune.
I like to utilize the D string from the fourth measure on. The risk with it is that the open strings will be out of tune after two movements of aggressive playing, which could be quite apparent on the harmonics. I try to tune the G, D, and A strings as quickly and quietly as possible before the movement starts. In this last run of performances, I even tried to use an electronic tuner hooked up with an input cable clipped to the bridge. For the most part it worked, though I had trouble getting a good read on the device for the last performance. I think next time I'll look into a tuner that I can just stick onto the bass.
The notes which are harmonics are pretty much impossible to vibrate on, but that's o.k. One should observe that the best singers (think Fischer-Dieskau) do not necessarily vibrate every note in legato phrases, but often provide the "sinew" of a phrase with some "white", vibrato-less passing tones. Sometimes, the more perfect and mechanical a passage the less musical it is. So, you've got artistic precedence to not be dogmatic about vibrato.
The bow should connect the notes smoothly and clearly. Though they are slurred, a little extra articulation or weight on the notes from the bow hand helps give that connected vocal quality. Too much of it can sound jerky, however.
My fingering reduces the number of long shifts down to one. For that one (the last high A), I always look for a finger print on the finger board as a target. If the light is bright on stage and you have enough natural oil on your fingers, you can see a print that was left from the previous A. I have to confess that I couldn't find it my last performance when I expected to, and I may have paid a small price for that. At least, if you slightly miss that one it will be less apparent because the bassoon is playing and effectively fading you out. Some bassists just play a tuning harmonic instead of going back up - it's a personal preference thing - but it sounds a little weak to me. Also, one should note that there are commas (or breaths) between every measure. I observe the small breaks, but I think Mahler's intended purpose was to ensure a good start at the beginning of each measure. Conductors might have their own opinion about it, however.
So, as you are playing along in the previous movement it seems like the whole thing is a prelude to your solo. No one else on stage feels that. You haven't heard yourself play a note in two movements and you hope you've got your bass in tune. The timpani summons you for two measures, setting the funeral procession in motion. A part of you experiences that as your own death knell, which is not such a bad thing as it ultimately fuels your musical interpretation. Here's how I do it…
