Mahler Symphony No. 9, Part 2

Remember where we ended in the first movement of Mahler's 9th
symphony? After a 27 minute farewell which touched on the two
poles of rage and acceptance, while filling in every conceivable
emotion in between, we ended in total peace, calm, and acceptance
.  


There is a lot about this symphony that is traditional - it has
four movements, it's tonal(for the most part), it uses(mostly)
traditional forms, but there is one thing about the symphony
which is extremely unusual: the fact that it is bookended by two
slow movements.  A traditional symphony takes the form of a
moderately fast first movement, either a slow movement or a fast
dance movement for the second movement, the same for the
third(almost always the opposite of whatever the second movement
was), and a fast last movement to send the crowd home happy.
 Mahler,  using a form that he never used before, and
would never be used again by any composer, writes a slow first
movement, then 2 fast dance movements, followed by a slow final
movement.  It's a fascinating formal design, but one that
presents a lot of problems to solve; how do you contrast the two
middle dance movements?  How do you create a sense of
excitement when you’ve just finished a 27 minute slow movement
which could easily be its own piece?  And perhaps most
importantly, how do you conceive of the arc of a 16 minute dance
movement, one that seems almost shockingly simplistic in its
basic harmony and melody.  Well, Mahler finds a way through
a combination of genuine joy, sarcasm, bitterness, and irony,
emotions we will certainly be talking about as we take apart this
second movement.