Die Meistersinger in the Seventh Symphony

The last chapter offers a reading of the Seventh from the perspective of its association with Wagner’s Meistersinger, which sounds loud and clear in the Finale, and in a more subtle way in other movements. While the Meistersinger reference has been duly noted, the question of the nature and function of this allusion at the core of the symphony has not been explored in depth. First, this chapter argues that Mahler’s clear gesture toward Meistersinger in the Finale prompts the listener to hear other elements throughout the whole symphony in relation to Wagner’s opera. Mahler’s use of quartal harmony in the first movement, for example, resonates with a particular passage in Meistersinger Act II. Second, the connections between these two works crystallize around the character of Beckmesser, the pedantic critic who initially claims to know what makes art meaningful, but whose own music is ultimately perceived as meaningless.