Concerts and Events

OUR NEXT GMS UK EVENT!

GMS UK presents “Mahler’s Vienna”, a recital given by Betty Makharinsky soprano and Pavel Timofeyevsky piano.

Thursday 25 April - 7 pm
Welcome drink - 7.30 pm
Concert, ending approx 9.30 pm

Venue Red Hedgehog, 255 Archway Road, London N6 5BS

Located a 3-minute walk from Highgate Station, the venue is fully accessible.

Its name is taken from the 19th century Viennese Coffee House, Zum Roten Igel, frequented by Brahms and other composers - in fact, Brahms refused to eat or drink anywhere else!

This concert is dedicated to the memory of the late GMS UK Secretary Sue Johnson who, as you know, died suddenly and unexpectedly in 2022. Pavel Timofeyevsky, the pianist for ‘Mahler’s Vienna’ who devised this programme, played at Sue’s funeral. Sue had known Pavel’s family for many years and Pavel describes her as ‘a very dear and very special friend’. We shall remember Sue as we hear the beautiful music of Mahler’s Vienna.

Programme: 
Mahler Rückert-Lieder
Mahler Adagietto from Symphony no. 5 arr. Flint
Des Knaben Wunderhorn selected Lieder
Müller-Hermann Lieder
Schumann Widmung Op. 25
Wolf Mörike-Lieder selection
Brahms Four Ballades Op. 10
R. Strauss Ständchen ‘Serenade’ Op. 17
R. Strauss Das Rosenband, Op. 36 no. 1. poetry by Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock.

Tickets including Welcome drink:  £27.00 Standard ticket - £40.00 Donor ticket.

To book via the venue’s booking site (for Standard tickets only - the site incurs a booking fee):
WeGotTickets | Simple, honest ticketing | MAHLER'S VIENNA

To book via GMS UK (no booking fee), pay by bank transfer to:
The Gustav Mahler Society UK
Account no. 65078954
Sort code 08 92 99

Reference to identify your payment:
Standard ticket: MVstd250424   [surname]  e.g.  MVstd250424   JONES
Donor ticket: MVdon250424   [surname]  e.g.  MVdon250424   JONES

Then email info@mahlersociety.org stating your name and the number of tickets you have bought.

No email address, or no online banking?
Make your cheque payable to: The Gustav Mahler Society UK and post it to: The Gustav Mahler Society
11 Whitelands Avenue,
Chorleywood,
Hertfordshire
WD3 5RE

GMS EVENTS

Coming up …

Sunday 12 May 10.30 (for refreshments and registration), 11.00 the day begins.

This is our long-awaited Study Day with GMS UK Vice President Gavin Plumley, the distinguished cultural historian, broadcaster, author and lecturer.

Join us at the exquisite Austrian Cultural Forum in London, the perfect setting for Gavin to continue his series of study days on the Mahler Symphonies. This year he will talk about Mahler’s uncompromising Symphony no. 6, and unravel the complex thought processes behind Gustav’s deep sense of futility about the purpose of life as he resigns himself to the three hammer blows of fate - a portent for his own personal traumatic events in 1907… or is that really the case?

THIS EVENT IS FOR GMS UK MEMBERS AND THEIR GUESTS ONLY. Members have already received notification of how to book their place. If you are not a Member but would like to join the Society in time for this Study Day, please download the Membership form.

Past Events 2024
GMS UK has an excellent relationship with other music societies, including the Elgar Society. On 4 March, the Elgar Society’s London Branch welcomed 12 of our members to their evening with Colin Matthews the composer who, as a teenager, famously contacted Deryck Cooke to comment on the recently published performing version of Mahler Symphony no. 10. 

Colin and his elder brother David, who also became a composer, worked with Deryck Cooke on a number of revisions and improvements to the score.

Subsequently, Colin Matthews worked with Imogen Holst, Benjamin Britten and other notable composers, besides establishing his own successful career as a composer.

GMS UK members were delighted to be in London for the evening - one had travelled from Norfolk to London especially to hear Colin! Now that’s what we call commitment!!

Ealing Symphony Orchestra

On 25 February 2024 several GMS UK members from London heard the Ealing Symphony Orchestra perform Mahler’s Symphony no. 3 with mezzo soprano Harriet Williams.

GMS UK has created strong links with this voluntary orchestra. We admire their ambition as they and their musical director John Gibbons often perform works that are ‘out of the ordinary’ and rarely played. These have included three world premieres - William Alwyn’s Violin Concerto and Second Piano Concerto, and Robert Still’s Violin Concerto.

One of our GMS UK members, Nalen Anthoni, has written a review of the performance of Mahler’s Symphony no. 3:

About 50 years ago, critic Philip Barford said: “The Third Symphony (1902), perhaps more than any other work by Mahler, shows his approach to both human experience and to symphonic structure. Musically it fuses different stylistic levels. Programmatically it knits together a wealth of ideas and associations”.

But it appears that the composer only revealed the meanings of the six movements to his friend the conductor Willem Mengelberg who believes that the work has “deep humanistic content and sets out  to project something of the vision of brotherhood expressed in Beethoven’s Ninth.”

Profound words; and there is no question that John Gibbons, conducting the Ealing Symphony Orchestra, offered an interpretation that delved the depths as they felt them.

The result was also a meticulously rehearsed, carefully-prepared and presented performance. Thank you.
– Nalen Anthoni

This concert, which was a sell-out, had the advantage of introducing Mahler’s music to some families of young singers for the first time - the orchestra was supplemented by choirs from local schools (besides the experienced St Albans Chamber Choir). One family member in the audience said she had ‘never heard music like this before’ and had really enjoyed it. She welcomed our suggestion of other Mahler works that she might like to listen to.

New audiences of today are the Society members of tomorrow!

The ESO, the additional musicians - lots of brass and percussion - and the choirs all displayed huge commitment, stamina, energy, concentration and skill - they must have been exhausted afterwards!

One audience member commented that ‘they were playing like angels’ and another that it was hard to believe it is an amateur orchestra (although the musicians prefer the term ‘voluntary’).

GMS UK Study Evening

In London on 24 January Kevin Carey, the editor of our journal Wayfarer, delivered an excellent talk with musical examples on Gustav Mahler and Bruno Walter. The audience heard that Bruno Walter never conducted Mahler’s Symphonies 3, 6, 7, or 10. Kevin’s view is that Walter admired Mahler more than he understood him intellectually, even though he understood him up to a point. We heard about the links between Mahler's music and Schubert's melodic line, Bach's counterpoint and Berlioz's orchestral colour.

After the talk, as Kevin answered questions he revealed his extensive knowledge of Mahler’s music, both during the composer’s lifetime and after his death. Kevin assessed the contribution of 20th and 21st century conductors, highlighting the contribution of Jascha Horenstein (1898-1973) among others. Kevin’s challenging conclusion about Bruno Walter was that Walter was a conservative classicist who tended to downplay Mahler's emotional content, and that if he could have conducted Mahler like Mozart, he would have done!

Want to take issue with Kevin Carey’s assessment?

Read the full presentation in a future issue of our journal Wayfarer. To receive your copy, join the Society! Contact us

GUSTAV MAHLER’S LETTER OF INTENT AND ALMA MAHLER’S LAMENT

Our Chairman Anthony Rauman attended a launch event in London in January 2024. He tells us:

“ Marsha Swanson is related to Gustav Mahler through his uncle, Joseph Mahler, and she has clearly inherited the Mahler musical gene. Marsha's premier performance of her album New Life Experience took place in London’s Shepherd's Bush in January 2024. Her songs are in a romantic, popular style. Although in a different musical genre, the romantic theme of love depicted in Gustav Mahler's compositions was tenderly re-interpreted in Marsha's song: 'Gustav Mahler's letter of Intent' - Marsha’s touching tribute to Gustav and Alma’s love for each other. What a thoroughly enjoyable evening, courtesy of another talented member of the Mahler family! ”

GMS UK Chairman Anthony Raumann joined John Warner’s performance of the Adagietto from Mahler Symphony no. 5 in London in January 2024.

John Warner is the Founder and Artistic Director of Orchestra for the Earth and the Choir of the Earth. He began 2024 by teaching a group of non-professionals how to sing the Adagietto. The Movement was set to a poem by Gustav Mahler in which he declared his love for Alma. This was an innovative choral performance. Participants could book a singing session in advance to learn their part, or simply practice their part using an online video.

The event started with a rehearsal and lasted all day. It ended with a performance of the Adagietto to the family and friends of participants, giving everyone a chance to feel the warmth and passion of this iconic Mahler work.

Anthony Raumann thoroughly enjoyed his ‘debut’. He tells us: “John Warner is quite amazing in pulling off a one-day rehearsal before the performance at 5pm”.

We say, Well Done to John and to all the performers too!