THE MAHLER FIVE

One symphony binds five people, each unaware that tonight their lives will change forever …

Five people sit in different parts of a concert hall in the North of England as the orchestra plays Mahler’s Fifth Symphony. Remember the soundtrack to Death in Venice? The powerful music influences the mood as their thoughts swing between past and present and dwell on the events which will inevitably bring them to tonight’s life-changing conclusion. The failing businessman, his unfulfilled wife, their troubled student son, the angry violinist; all are unaware of the presence of an unknown young woman who will devastate the rest of their lives. During twenty-five compelling chapters, in the voices and thoughts of the five, a complex jigsaw of relationships, deceit, defeat and sexuality gradually emerges through a shocking crescendo to the concert finale.

“A truly masterful piece of writing which grabbed me from the opening chapter after which I was hooked …”

“I loved the intertwining of characters, the subtle connections that played out as I read more …”

Writing The Mahler Five

I discovered classical music late in life and, although not a musician, I appreciate how music can echo and influence our mood. This, my first novel, I started after retirement and studying History of Art for three years at the University of Warwick and in Venice. My inspiration came from many rewarding hours spent listening to the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra when, despite my enjoyment of the music, my mind would sometimes wander.

Even today I cannot remember whence the idea first arose but the five movements, linked to the title of Mahler’s Fifth Symphony – referred to as Mahler Five – gave rise to the format of five people listening to five movements to give twenty-five chapters of thoughts, memories and fears, plus the final twenty-sixth chapter as the denouement.

Each chapter represents one of the character’s actuality (the businessman’s phone buzzing in his pocket) with his or her thoughts (he recalls a bad business meeting earlier).  So, each of the five character’s voice is heard in turn during the first movement, then we return to the first character for the second movement, and so on. This made for a complicated jigsaw of thoughts and actions and I relied on an A2 sheet divided into twenty-five boxes into which I noted the key happenings and memories of each person. Yes, it was a challenge but it was necessary to allow an accurate flow to the story.

For me the music of Mahler was paramount in setting the tone of each chapter so I would play that particular movement over again as I wrote. Getting inside the head of your characters is what an author does and I came to know how the student or the unknown girl would respond to the mood of the music.

The Adagietto, the fourth part of the symphony, is among the most famous pieces written by Mahler, thanks to some degree to its inclusion in the film Death in Venice. It also has a personal resonance for me, recollecting a particularly difficult time in my own life. Again, each of the characters is affected by this searingly beautiful passage which many link to pain and death. In reality, Gustav Mahler wrote it as a love token to his wife Alma.

Although it is at the heart of the story, you do not need to know or even like classical music to enjoy what is really a ‘psychological drama’, as an Italian friend calls it.