Gabriel’s Gift Hanif Kureishi

Most of the old music bores me. The fifties not the sixties was the golden age of American music. Almost anything after that is overestimated. In my opinion, pop nowadays is panto for young people and paedophiles. But as I discovered today, the German writer Goethe said that music begins where words end. For some people words seem to make everything too clear. So I can only say — words drop dead here, pal, with Mahler!

Before the finale of Mahler’s Symphony no. 5, the famous Adagietto provides a brief respite for the listener to reflect and relax after the emotional upheaval of the first three movements. Most of the orchestra is idled, but rather than choosing a conventional string ensemble, Mahler adds a single harp to provide an underpinning of motion to the lazily soaring melody. This simple change is pure genius, producing a sonority that has never been matched before or since. Closing the eyes, one can easily imagine a peaceful sunset in the mountains the composer loved, bringing a perfect end to the day’s solitude and the last true happiness he would know.