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The documentary was also shot in other parts of the Alps, as well as in Vienna, Salzburg, in the UK where Starr travelled to interview Donald Mitchell (London) and Peter Franklin (Oxford). The other interviews were in the United States and some of the nature footage was shot in the Rocky Mountains and in Death Valley, California.

A still frame of the moon and desert cliffs. Photo © Video Arts International
A still frame of the moon and desert cliffs. Photo © Video Arts International

While Starr wants his film to bring the wonders of Mahler's Third Symphony closer to the hearts of a worldwide audience, he does not wish to lecture about its meaning. 'Especially music historians are often reluctant to go in the direction of exploring music's meaning, and for good reason. It is very risky. You don't want to prejudice people to think that this music means specifically this idea or that idea. If I had done this in my film, it would have been a great disservice to Mahler. What I rather tried to do was to illustrate the ideas that Mahler was using to structure the music in the symphony, because it is a rare example of philosophy and music in combination. Ultimately, music is to be interpreted individually by everyone who hears it. More than any other composer, Mahler requires his audience's participation to complete the meaning of the music. That is what I tried to work with and wanted to have unfold in the course of the film.'

The ideas that Mahler deals with in his Third Symphony are deep and significant: the notion that we are all connected and that humans are matter that has become self-aware.

'These are things that we shouldn't just think about and then move on,' says Starr. 'They are things that have great impact on how we treat each other and go about leading our lives. Few composers delve that deeply, I think.'

What The Universe Tells Me - Unravelling the Mysteries of Mahler's Third Symphony. DVD cover © 2004 Video Arts International
What The Universe Tells Me - Unravelling the Mysteries of Mahler's Third Symphony. DVD cover © 2004 Video Arts International

The film was only recently completed and was released on DVD on 30 March 2004. Currently, negotiations are under way for television broadcast rights in countries all over the world.

Meanwhile, the two DVD set gives great value for money.

Copyright © 16 June 2004 Tess Crebbin, Germany

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What the Universe Tells Me - Unravelling the Mysteries of Mahler's Third Symphony

VAI DVD 4267 NEW RELEASE (2 CDs) 2004 Video Arts International

Jason Starr, producer and director; Stockard Channing, narrator; Stuart Keene, cinematography; Jerry Bruck, music recordist; For the complete performance on DVD 2: Mignon Dunn, mezzo soprano; Brad Sirokuy, posthorn; Manhattan School of Music Festival Chorus; Barnard Columbia Choir; The Women of the Riverside; Children's Festival Chorus of Manhattan School of Music; Manhattan School of Music Symphony Orchestra; Glen Cortese, conductor

DVD 1: Main documentary which goes through all the movements of the symphony - spectacular images are interspersed with interviews and orchestra shots; Mini-documentaries: Artist as Prophet; The Première: Alma, Strauss and the Public; Musical innovations in the First Movement; Schopenhauer: The World as Will and Idea; Nietzsche: The Birth of Tragedy out of the Spirit of Music; Howard Gardner: Natural and Supernatural Intelligence; Stan Brakhage: Composing in a Trance; The Youth's Magic Horn (featuring Thomas Hampson); The Midnight Song: Eternity in the Present; The Endless Journey: Mahler's Questioning Spirit; Science and Faith: A Mahlerian Contradiction?; DVD 2: A bonus full performance of Mahler's Third Symphony, in D minor, filmed in the Riverside Church, New York, USA.

BUY THIS DISC ONLINE

THOMAS HAMPSON

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