Listening Guide – Symphony No. 5 Intro
Transcript With the Fifth Symphony, Mahler frankly admitted that he started over again although he returned to an extensive structural format as in his second and third symphonies, after the simpler and shorter fourth, his approach to the fifth takes a considerably different turn. Formal design, dramatic conception, musical language and presentation move in a […]
Listening Guide – Movement 4: Lied: Das himmlische Leben (Sehr behaglich)
Transcript The idea of concluding a symphony with a song movement is most unusual, and may even be unique. Mahler wrote the Wunderhorn song Das himmlische Leben, long before the Fourth Symphony was conceived, and considered using it as the finale of the third. After he changed his mind about using the song in the […]
Listening Guide – Movement 3: Ruhevoll (poco adagio)
Transcript Although this movement is by far the longest in the symphony, it is not the symphony’s focal point, that distinction is accorded to the finale, which appears to be Mahler’s shortest final movement. Nevertheless, the Adagio movement placed between a spectral scherzo and a childlike finale provides a perfect respite from the vagaries of […]