Rondo-Finale

The long-held view of the Finale as an “embarrassment,” largely influenced by Theodor Adorno’s judgment, as well as the fact that most of the extant compositional materials for Mahler’s Seventh concern this movement, make it a good starting point for a close reading of the work. This chapter begins by examining the Finale in its finished form, in terms of structure and motivic treatment, with a focus on its strong rhetorics. Two significant aspects of the Finale are emphasized: moments of interruption in the musical flow—“in-between” spaces that have both an introductory and a concluding function—and the persistent cadencing of the movement. Early and more recent readings of the Finale are then discussed, all highlighting the interpretive difficulties raised by this movement.