In contrast to Anton Bruckner, who was at best only sporadically interested in historical and literary themes, and along with these the various forms of programme music which were flourishing at the time, the three works to be heard in this concert, by Hans Rott, Hugo Wolf and Gustav Mahler respectively - all students and apologists of his work – are all inspired by the fascinating history and mythology of Greek and Roman antiquity as reflected in the mirror of literary adaptations. Rott's Prelude to „Julius Caesar“, composed when he was still studying at the Conservatory in Vienna, displays a musical language clearly indebted to the stage works of Richard Wagner and relates to William Shakespeare's tragedy about the murder of the Roman dictator; Wolf's extraordinarily colourful symphonic poem is based on Heinrich van Kleist's drama Penthesilea; and Mahler's tone poem in symphonic form, in which he intended to portray „a powerful, heroic man (…), his life and suffering, struggle and ultimate defeat at the hands of fate, refers in its title to to Jean Paul's four-volume novel of social criticism Titan, and thus indirectly to the mythological race of gods of the same name.
Hans Rott (1858–1884)
Ein Vorspiel zu „Julius Cäsar“ ( A Prelude to „Julius Caesar“) in Bb major for Orchestra (1877)
Hugo Wolf (1860–1903)
Penthesilea. A Symphonic Poem for Symphony Orchestra based on the eponymous tragedy by Heinrich von Kleist. (1883–85)
– Break –
Gustav Mahler (1860–1911)
Titan. Eine Tondichtung in Symphonieform (A Tone Poem in Symphonic Form) in D major (1885–88, rev. 1893)
ORF Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien
Marin Alsop | Conductor