Lecture: The Magical Music of Gustav Mahler

A free lecture by Dr. Joseph E. Jones, musicologist at the University of Southern Mississippi, is sponsored by Trinity Church’s Marion Smith Speaker Series. The lecture will set the stage for a major concert by Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) at Trinity Church at 7 p.m. on Thursday, May 16, 2024.

A free lecture entitled The Magical Music of Gustav Mahler will be presented by Dr. Joseph E. Jones, musicologist at the University of Southern Mississippi School of Music. He will discuss Mahler’s life and work in Europe and the United States and the significance and meaning of Mahler’s incredible symphonic work, The Song of the Earth.  He will also talk about turn-of-the-century Vienna, where Austria’s artistic and literary elite came together. Being a part of this cultural environment along with Sigmund Freud, Gustav Klimt, Arnold Schoenberg, and many other intellectual and cultural giants, it was here that Mahler began to explore new musical territory. Song of the Earth (Das Lied von der Erde) is a perfect example of the modernism that became a feature of Mahler’s late style. Dr. Jones’ lecture will prepare the audience for the Song of the Earth concert that will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, May 16. This lecture, to take place in Trinity Church, is free and open to the public.