Expert: David Froom - 7/28/2004

Question
hi, I have a small excerpt from a composition in mp3 format (it is tiny, 10 seconds of audio, 450kb file)

http://hansel.org/newdixx/beeleef.mp3

I aquired this 5 years ago from a CD that accompanied a music history text book, my roomate had (he was a music theory major, I was an audio engineer major) i sampled random parts of tracks on his CD without much thought for use with a computer sampler. Years later realizing how absolutely amazing the excerpt was, I have been determined to find out who wrote this, and what composition its from. It appears to be modern (sounds like use of chromatic 12 tone rows, yet still has melody) can you help me?

i asked another expert and they didnt know.
if even a push in the right direction would be appreciated.

thanks
-al


Answer
Hi,

That sounds like a bit from Mahler's 10th symphony, first movement.  He left the work incomplete at his death, but the first movement was completely finished.  Others have completed the other movements from Mahler'sketches.  I tell you this because when you go to look for the whole thing (I would recommend you search in your local libraries), you may find the first movement alone, or you may find a "complete" version.  In any case, the first movement will be as Mahler left it.

I am 99% sure that I am correct in identifying the piece.  That first movement is long -- 15-20 minutes? -- so bear with it until you find your bit.  I am 100% sure that this is Mahler, and am certain that is a Symphony.  I am also 100% certain that it is NOT from Symphony 1 - 8.  There is a tiny chance that it is from Symphony 9.  If you like this excerpt, you will definitely enjoy listening to all of Symphony 9 and 10, so I do wish you happy listening and exploring.

David Froom