Thomas Mann’s Novella “Death in Venice” (1912) and the music of Gustav Mahler in Lucino Visconti’s film “Death in Venice” (1971),

This special evening explores Thomas Mann’s novella Death in Venice (1912) and the music of Gustav Mahler as used in Luchino Visconti’s iconic 1971 film adaptation. The event combines literary insight, film history, and musical examples to illuminate how Mann’s story and Mahler’s sound world intertwine.

The evening opens with Srimal Weerasinghe, Chief Conductor and Music Director of the Gustav Mahler Society of Colombo. Through his introduction, he will trace the journey of Mahler’s music: a symphonic voice reborn in the mid-20th century, carried far beyond the concert hall by Visconti’s unforgettable film. His talk weaves together Mann’s themes of beauty, longing, decay, and transcendence with Mahler’s emotional and sonic landscapes.
Musical examples will bring these ideas to life. Their music will give the audience a sense of the emotional depth and philosophical resonance that Mahler’s compositions contribute to the film—and to Mann’s world.

The best-known piece associated with Death in Venice is Mahler’s Symphony No. 5, Adagietto, the haunting music that accompanies the protagonist’s final moments in Visconti’s film. The adaptation also features selections from Mahler’s Symphony No. 3, particularly the fourth movement, Sehr langsam. Misterioso, inspired by Friedrich Nietzsche’s text from Also sprach Zarathustra.

This movement introduces the human voice—an alto soloist—symbolising a shift from the earthly to the spiritual, from instinct to consciousness.