Sharing Gustasv's Gladness Poem by gershon hepner

Never warlike, though by Wagner weaponed,
langsam, Mahler indicates, nicht schleppend,
first symphony’s third movement has material
whose fascination comes when what’s funereal
is followed by what sounds so flippant we
immediately from mourning flee with glee,
and with Gustavo’s help share Gustav’s gladness
that overcomes the prior gloom of sadness.
Langsam and nicht schleppend is the way
we also ought to blow our cares away,
slowly, never dragging, never dragged
by sadness when by it we have been tagged.

Inspired by a performance of Mahler’s First Symphony performed by the LA Philharmonic, conducted by Gustavo Dudamel as the second work of the beginning of the 2009-2010 LA Philharmonic concert series. Linda and I watched a performance broadcast on PBS on January 2,2010. Langsam, nicht schlppend, are instructions that Mahler gives at the beginning of the third movement. The words mean “slow, not dragging”.

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