Mahler - Symphony No. 4 In G Major

Gustav Mahler was best known in his lifetime as a leader of opera houses and as a conductor with a world wide reputation. During the opera and concert season he gave all he had to these endeavors, but during his summer vacation he gave all he had to composing. Mahler's first three symphonies grew progressively larger and longer, so the audience didn't know what to expect at the premiere of the 4th Symphony.  What they got was a surprise.

The 4th Symphony is written for smaller forces (at least by Mahler's standards). There are no trombones, no choirs, only one soprano soloist that sings in the 4th movement, and the entire symphony takes just under an hour, the shortest symphony Mahler wrote up to that point.  Mahler's 4th can be called his Classical Symphony for its style, forces used and content.

But that doesn't mean the symphony is a trifle. Mahler was a man of incredible emotions that spilled over into his music and the 4th is no exception. The difference is that while there are moments of darkness, for the most part the symphony is in a sunny mood. Mahler began to sketch out the symphony in 1899 but after the summer vacation he put the work in his desk so he could focus on his work as the director of the Vienna Court opera. When he came back to it the next summer, he finished it in only three weeks.

Mahler conducted the premiere of the symphony in 1901 in Munich. It was not a success. The work was roundly booed. The style of the work as well as the thematic material and construction of the symphony gave both sides much to carp about. The anti-Mahler faction thought the composer was trying to pull a fast one by writing music that was different than his earlier works, as if h e were thumbing his nose at them. Some of the pro-Mahler faction that expected another blockbuster work complained about the naiveté of the music, as if he purposefully left his monumental style to write something more accessible for the audience and critics.  But it was this roundly criticized work that became the most performed of all Mahler's symphonies.

I. Bedächtig, nicht eilen (Slowly, not rushing) -  Mahler opens the symphony with flutes, sleigh bells and clarinets:

This short section acts as a prelude that leads to the first theme, a rising figure heard in the violins that changes to a dotted rhythm. After the first theme plays out, a short transition leads to the second theme heard in the low strings. Another theme appears in the oboe and other woodwinds. The opening motive with sleigh bells signals the development section,which is initially taken up with the first theme. A section for solo violin continues the development section that constantly shifts themes and fragments of themes in and out, and transforms them to different themes. The lightness of orchestration belies the fact that this is very complex music. The music reaches a short climax with a trumpet solo and the sleigh bells return. Motives are played in counterpoint and lead up to another climax with trumpet solo. The recapitulation is not as extensive as the exposition and it leads to a short coda where the first theme gradually increases in tempo and volume until it comes to an end.

II. In gemächlicher Bewegung, ohne Hast (Moving with leisure, no hurry) -  A scherzo in the form of  a  ländler has a violin playing a solo with an altered tuning; Mahler instructs the soloist to tune all of the strings a full tone higher than usual. Mahler originally marked this movement with the words Death strikes up the dance for us; she scrapes her fiddle bizarrely and leads us up to heaven, but he eventually removed all descriptive headings from this movement as well as the others. The music maintains its leisurely dance pace throughout, complete with string portamento. The movement ends with a shimmering cadence for glockenspiel, triangle. harp and woodwinds.

III. Ruhevoll, poco adagio (Peaceful, a little slow) -  A languid theme slowly unwinds over a pizzicato accompaniment. A second theme of a more impassioned nature is played by the cor anglaise, with strings adding commentary. A set of variations on the first theme follows, with an interruption by the second theme amid the variations. A fragment of the first theme plays, and in a flash the music switches to E major and grows loud and noble as the theme for the final movement is announced. The music grows quiet and mysterious and ends in a hush.

IV. Sehr behaglich (Very pleasantly) - Mahler returns once again to a poem from Des Knaben Wunderhorn, a collection of old German poems that he drew inspiration from for many years. He used the text from the poem Das himmlische Leben (Life in Heaven), a song about being in
Heaven and how the Saints slaughter animals and prepare meals there. As depicted in the poem, Heaven's not so heavenly for lams, ox and other animals. Mahler instructs the soprano to sing the song as a child, honestly and without parody. The song is interrupted three times by the motive first heard in the introduction to the first movement complete with sleigh bells, but this time played rapidly at a fast tempo and in a minor key. After the third interruption, the song returns to the gentleness of the opening of the movement. On the last two words of the line and Saint Ursula herself has to laugh, the soloist joins the violins in a glissando. The song continues, the cor anglaise and harp play a opening fragment of the movement and the music ends in a barely audible whisper.

Life In Heaven from Des Knaben Wunderhorn
We enjoy heavenly pleasures and
therefore avoid earthly ones.
No worldly tumult is to be heard in heaven
 All live in greatest peace.
We lead angelic lives,
yet have a merry time of it besides.
We dance and we spring,
We skip and we sing.
Saint Peter in heaven looks on.

John lets the lambkin out,
and Herod the Butcher lies in wait for it.
We lead a patient,
an innocent, patient,
dear little lamb to its death.
Saint Luke slaughters the ox
without any thought or concern.
Wine doesn't cost a penny in the heavenly cellars;
The angels bake the bread.

Good greens of every sort grow
in the heavenly vegetable patch,
good asparagus, string beans,
and whatever we want.
Whole dishfuls are set for us!
Good apples, good pears and good grapes,
and gardeners who allow everything!
If you want roebuck or hare,
on the public streets they come running right up.

Should a fast day come along,
all the fishes at once come swimming with joy.
There goes Saint Peter running
with his net and his bait
to the heavenly pond.
Saint Martha must be the cook.

There is just no music on earth
that can compare to ours.
Even the eleven thousand virgins
venture to dance,
and Saint Ursula herself has to laugh.
There is just no music on earth
that can compare to ours.
Cecilia and all her relations
make excellent court musicians.
The angelic voices gladden our senses,
so that all awaken for joy.

Mahler - Symphony No. 3

The Third Symphony was first sketched out with the help of a program as Mahler wrote down headings for each of the movements he planned. As he did preliminary work on the symphony he changed the program numerous times before the music was completed. The original program for the symphony called for seven movements with the following titles:

1. Summer marches in.
2. What the flowers in the meadow tell me.
3. What the creatures in the forest tell me.
4. What man tells me.
5. What the angels tell me
6. What love tells me.
7. What the Child tells me.

He worked on the symphony from 1893 to 1896, doing most of the work on it during the summer  hiatus of the Hamburg Opera where he was chief conductor. At this time Mahler was passionately influenced by Des Knaben Wunderhorn, a collection of German folk poems. He set many of them to music, and used the songs in his early symphonies, sometimes with words and music and sometimes with only the music. The Third Symphony also includes some of these songs. The 7th movement was to be a setting of another Wunderhorn poem Das himmlische Leben, a poem he had set to music in 1892, but Mahler thought better of it and used the song in the final movement of his 4th Symphony. Mahler  dropped the entire program from the symphony before it was published and premiered. He made his feelings about titles and programs known in a letter to a fellow conductor and composer Josef Krug-Waldsee:

Those titles were an attempt on my part to provide non-musicians with something to hold on to and with a signpost for the intellectual, or better, the expressive content of the various movements and for their relationships to each other and to the whole. That it didn’t work (as, in fact, it could never work) and that it led only to misinterpretations of the most horrendous sort became painfully clear all too quickly. It’s the same disaster that had overtaken me on previous and similar occasions, and now I have once and for all given up commenting, analyzing all such expediencies of whatever sort. These titles . . . will surely say something to you after you know the score. You will draw intimations from them about how I imagined the steady intensification of feeling, from the indistinct, unbending, elemental existence (of the forces of nature) to the tender formation of the human heart, which in turn points toward and reaches a region beyond itself (God). Please express that in your own words without quoting those extremely inadequate titles and that way you will have acted in my spirit. I am very grateful that you asked me [about the titles], for it is by no means inconsequential to me and for the future of my work how it is introduced into “public life.”

The Third Symphony is the longest symphony Mahler composed, and is the longest symphony currently in the repertoire. It takes at least 90 minutes to play, with the first movement alone taking over 30 minutes. Couple that with the huge orchestra Mahler uses, the label of megalomaniac was being used by his critics to describe him.

A group of movements was heard in concert as early as 1897 when movements 2,3 and 6 were played in Berlin.  The premiere of the entire symphony was in 1902 and was conducted by Mahler.  The orchestra calls for quadruple winds, eight horns, four trumpets, four trombones, tuba, two harps, a large percussion section plus two sets of timpani, alto soloist, women's choir, boys choir, and the usual strings. Mahler split the work into two main parts; the first movement constitutes the first part, the other five movements the second part:

PART ONE
I. Kräftig. Entschieden (Strong and decisive) - The first movement was written a year after the remaining 5 movements. Eight horns playing in unison announce the beginning of the symphony:

The introductory theme continues and is punctuated by the orchestra. This introduction brings forth the first theme of movement proper, a slow march in the minor that expands for quite some time. It is solemn intone but is full of whoops and calls from the orchestra. A short drum solo acts as an introduction to a second theme in the major that is lighter in texture. This theme is interrupted by cat calls from the clarinets and a third theme (although at this first hearing it is short and more like a motive than a theme) rushes through the orchestra. The first theme returns and contains a prominent part for solo trombone. This theme grows in intensity until it slowly fades into a repeat of the second theme as well as the cat calls from the clarinets and the following third theme,which this time around is expanded into the fourth theme, another march that is in the major and begins subdued in volume but gradually grows and is punctuated by the snare drum. The new march grows in volume and density as it is played full on by the orchestra. The fourth theme runs its course and the music segues to what can be considered the development section in a very loose sonata form. The first march theme is developed and leads to another solo by the trombone, followed by a solo for cor anglais. The second theme makes an appearance and is developed, followed by a reference to the fourth theme march. Snippets of themes weave in and out as the music moves to a variant of the first theme march that expands. Snippets of other themes enter and leave as the music grows in intensity and speed until it dies away. This is interrupted by snare drums that play in the distance and as they fade away the introduction for eight horns reappears with slight variations, which signals the beginning of the recapitulation. The  first theme is expanded until a very quiet section brings back the fourth theme march. This theme builds while a variant of the horn introduction is played in the background. This major variant of the horn theme (which was also heard briefly in the development section) comes to the fore as Mahler varies and expands it. Motives of themes are combined as the music builds to a climax. A variant of part of the first theme is heard and the orchestra gallops to a rousing ending in the major. When this symphony is given in concert, there is sometimes a short intermission taken at the end of the first movement.

PART TWO
II. Tempo di Menuetto - Mahler writes music in the style of a minuet. More specifically, it is a minuet in the style of Mahler.The middle section has some stormy sections that scurry through the orchestra. But for the most part this movement serves as a few moments for the listener to catch their breath after the rough hewn character of the first movement. The movement ends gently with a violin solo.

III.  Comodo (Scherzando) (Comfortably, like a scherzo) - This movement makes references to a Wunderhorn song Mahler wrote titled Ablösung im Sommer (Relief In Summer). The text of the song deals with a dead cuckoo and a nightingale. There's been many translations of the text  of the poem, but when Mahler set the words he also inserted lines that he wrote himself. As with so many aspects of this huge work, there have been many interpretations of the meaning of the song by itself and in the context of the symphony. Suffice to say that falls in with Mahler's original heading for the movement What The Creatures In The Forest Tell Me (especially the birds evidently).  One of the novel features of this movement is the sudden change of the mood as an offstage trumpet plays a theme over a very quiet accompaniment. Mahler instructs the soloist to play  the instrument as a posthorn.  Sometimes the solo is played on an actual posthorn, but more often it is played on a trumpet or flugelhorn. The offstage trumpet interrupts the scherzo 3 times. In between the 2nd and third interruption, the scherzo gets particularly vigorous and loud, and to encourage the general raucousness Mahler writes the direction in the score Grob! (complete with exclamation point) which translates to roughly or crude. The third trumpet interruption is the longest and more complex, complete with bird song imitations. After an almost inaudible transition, the scherzo starts up but quickly gains power and volume as a tremendous climax thunders through the orchestra. this leads to a fragment of the scherzo returning in a loud, highly punctuated version, and amid another tremendous climax the movement ends.

IV. Sehr langsam—Misterioso (Very slowly, mysteriously) - The previous movements have shown Mahler's love and understanding of nature, but with this movement the music depicts the darkness of night. The movement begins with strings alternating gently between notes with harps adding a hushed texture. The entire movement remains quiet, the accompaniment hardly moving harmonically as the alto soloist sings a simple melody to the words of the Midnight Song from Friedrich Nietzsche’s Also sprach Zarathustra. Mahler gets a particularly novel effect for the oboe and cor anglaise by writing a slur over two notes with the direction hinaufziehen, literally meaning to pull or move up. There is general agreement that Mahler intended a glissando with this word:

This is not possible on the modern version of the oboe used by most players. But it was possible on the German made instrument used in the orchestras Mahler directed. Modern scholarship and technique have shown ways this directive can be accomplished, and while it may seem a minor detail, the sliding notes give a particularly earthy quality to the music, something Mahler evidently intended. The above musical example also shows the detail and care Mahler took in notating his scores.

Nietzsche's Also sprach Zarathustra, Midnight Song:
O Man! Take heed!
What says the deep midnight?
"I slept, I slept -,
from a deep dream have I awoken: -
the world is deep,
and deeper than the day has thought.
Deep is its pain -,
joy - deeper still than heartache.
Pain says: Pass away!
But all joy seeks eternity -,
- seeks deep, deep eternity!"

The movement ends in the same dark, quiet tones in which it began and leads directly to the next movement.

V. Lustig im Tempo und keck im Ausdruck (Cheerful in tempo and cheeky in expression) - Another Wunderhorn text is used in the 5th movement, Armer Kinder Bettlerlied (Poor children's Begging song) written for women's choir, boy's choir and soloist. The movement begins with the boy's choir imitating bells.

Des Knaben Wunderhorn: Armer Kinder Bettlerlied
 Three angels sang a sweet song,
with blessed joy it rang in heaven.
They shouted too for joy
that Peter was free from sin!
And as Lord Jesus sat at the table
with his twelve disciples and ate the evening meal,
Lord Jesus said: "Why do you stand here?
When I look at you, you are weeping!"
"And should I not weep, kind God?
I have violated the ten commandments!
I wander and weep bitterly!
O come and take pity on me!"
"If you have violated the ten commandments,
then fall on your knees and pray to God!
Love only God for all time!
So will you gain heavenly joy."
The heavenly joy is a blessed city,
the heavenly joy that has no end!
The heavenly joy was granted to Peter
through Jesus, and to all mankind for eternal bliss.

VI. Langsam - Ruhevoll - Empfunden (Slowly, tranquil, deeply felt) - In length and complexity, the final movement resembles the first massive movement, but the character and tone of the finale is quite different. It is full of joy and pain as Mahler unwinds some of the most heartfelt music he ever wrote. The music ebbs and flows, echoes things heard before (in this symphony and in the 2nd Symphony). Ending a symphony with an adagio movement was not common. Mahler had done it in the 2nd Symphony, and as in that work the 3rd Symphony adagio is the culmination of the symphony. If this is what Mahler meant when he wrote out headings for the movements of this symphony, that this is what love told him, he takes the listener through his complex and deep emotions with this music. It takes its time as it describes in tones Mahler's depth of compassion and spirituality. The movement seems to suspend time, but the build up reaches an incredible ending the timpani, low strings, bassoon and contra bassoon play the notes D and A, the tonic and the dominant of D major. The trumpets play a noble motive while the rest of the brass and woodwind play chords, all over divided violins and violas that play shimmering tremolos. Mahler has one last request written in the score when the full orchestra reaches the huge final D major chord, Nicht abressien, don't cut it off. Let the final chord ring out to end one of the most stunning symphonies ever written.

Mahler - Symphony No.1 In D Major

Gustav Mahler  worked his way up through many opera houses in Europe until he became director of the Vienna Court Opera, one of the most prestigious opera houses in Europe. He was best known in his lifetime as a conductor, and it wasn't until the middle of the 20th century that his music became more well known.  This was partly due to his music being very modern (for the times), complex, most of the symphonies need a very large orchestra, and the works are lengthy. It also didn't help his cause when his music was banned during the Nazi era in Europe because of his Jewish heritage.

Composing for Mahler remained a part-time activity for most of his life, undertaken during the opera and concert off-season. Later in life he would do his composing in a small hut that he had built by the lake and away from his main house.

The 1st Symphony was completed in 1888.  He originally called it a two-part tone poem but after the premiere he made extensive revisions and called it his first symphony.  One of the decisions he made was to reduce it to a more traditional 4 movement symphony when he eliminated one of the middle movements.  The symphony calls for a very large orchestra, over 100 players.

I. Langsam, schleppend (Slowly, dragging) Immer sehr gemächlich (very restrained throughout) - Mahler was greatly influenced by a book of German folk poems called Des Knaben Wunderhorn, or The Youth's Magic Horn. He set some of these poems to music throughout his life beginning with four songs that he called  Lieder eines fahrended Gesellen, or Songs of a Wayfarer.  The opening movement of the first symphony uses the music of one of these songs,  Ging heut' Morgen übers Feld, or I Went This morning Over The Field. Mahler gave detailed tempo designations to the movements of this symphony. The movement opens in D minor with the note A played on the strings, the violins playing in high harmonics.

This note is held for an appreciable time and played at a very low dynamic level. A two-note motif is heard alternating in the woodwinds amid this primeval sound, which leads to another 6-note descending motif heard in the bassoons and oboes. A fanfare in triplets is heard in the clarinets. The motifs are heard again in the woodwinds and lead to another fanfare in trumpets that are off-stage to give the impression of distance. Clarinets imitate a cukoo's call with the two-note motif, and the horns also have a short melody to add. The music slowly builds in volume and after a short section of brooding sounding music,begins to lighten in mood as the two-note motif leads to the beginning of the exposition with the tune of the song Ging heut' Morgen übers Feld heard in the cellos. The tune is taken up by various instruments and developed until it reaches a climax. The exposition is heard once again.

The development section begins slowly with the opening high-pitched drone on the strings as motifs return and modulate into different keys. The music lightens and the horns take up another fanfare before the main theme returns. It slowly builds and modulates to a minor key as the tension increases until the recapitulation begins with a blaze of horns and trumpets and the first theme is heard. The two-note motif persists in the coda until the movement to a thunderous conclusion.

II. Kräftig bewegt, doch nicht zu schnell (Moving strongly, but not too quickly), Recht gemächlich (restrained) - The second movement, in the key of A major, is a German Ländler, a dance form that Mahler used frequently in his other symphonies. The original version of the 1st Symphony had 5 movements, the extra movement being inserted between the first movement and this movement. Mahler eventually removed this Andante movement with the name of Blumine (Godess of Flowers) after negative criticism, but there are a few references to it in the rest of the symphony that Mahler did not change. The secondary theme of the Ländler is a reference to the theme of the missing movement. The trio is more lyrical in its themes. The Ländler returns is a shortened version with heavier orchestration, and ends in a crash.

III. Feierlich und gemessen, ohne zu schleppen (Solemnly and measured, without dragging), Sehr einfach und schlicht wie eine Volksweise (very simple, like a folk-tune), and Wieder etwas bewegter, wie im Anfang (once again somewhat more agitated, as at the start) - The third movement is based on the folk tune Frere Jaque (Bruder Martin in German), and is an example of Mahler's morbid sense of humor as it is transformed into a funeral march.  It begins with a solo double bass playing the tune along with a timpani:

 Mahler retains the tune as a round, as instruments take turns playing it before the previous rendition is through.  A counter melody is introduced, and then the mood changes as a cymbal and bass drum punctuate a new melody with the orchestration of a Jewish Klezmer band, perhaps as a bow to Mahler's Jewish heritage. Mahler accentuates this music with broad tempo changes and hesitations. The next section changes to a more gentle and lyrical mood. After this section, the beginning march returns in different orchestration. The movement slowly draws to a close with the tempo decreasing, and the march fading away. 

Hunter's Funeral Procession by Moritz von Schwind

Tradition has it that Mahler was inspired for this movement by a woodcut by the artist Moritz von Schwind that depicts a group of animals of the forest marching with the corpse of a hunter for burial. An ironic picture, and one that Mahler would have appreciated.

IV.  Stürmisch bewegt – Energisch (Stormily agitated – Energetic) -  With the previous movement ending practically inaudibly quiet, the opening of this movement is a jump starter. With a triple forte cymbal clash, the orchestra begins a loud introduction that will attempt to sort out some of the music heard in the first movement. The driving strings settle into a passionate version of the very first theme heard in the first movement, and after this is given a frantic treatment, there is a gradual lessening until a new expansive lyrical theme in D-flat major appears. 

The development section begins with fragments from the first movement opening, and then grows into a frenetic march. This march continues until a fragment from the discarded 'Blumine' movement appears, and leads to more of the first theme material, which in turn leads back to the frantic march. 'Blumine' returns once again, and leads to the first theme. This goes to a repeat of the very mysterious beginning of the first movement, Snatches of motifs are heard from the 2nd movement as all grows hushed. 

Themes are brought back and expanded until the second theme gets a brief return treatment. The first theme dominates the coda, with the horns adding strong punctuation until the fanfares from the first movement return in a rousing ending. 

Mahler once said, "A symphony must be like the world. It must contain everything."  His music is big in every sense of the word; in expression, forces used, length and complexity.  And each one of his symphonies is like a world unto itself.

Mahler - Symphony No. 6 In A Minor 'Tragic'

Mahler's 'Big Bang'

While Mahler was inspired in his compositions by Beethoven, Liszt, Bruckner and Wagner, like all of the masters he developed his own style of composing. He was known as one of the world's greatest opera conductors, but wrote no operas himself. He was more than a passable pianist but left no piano compositions of any consequence, likewise with his chamber music. His instrument of expression was the orchestra, and he was a master of orchestration with a lifetime of practical knowledge gained from his conducting duties and a gift for creating themes that lent themselves to orchestral development. 

Mahler's symphonies 1-4 were influenced by the German folk poem collection Das Knaben Wunderhorn.  Each of the first four symphonies used material from songs Mahler had written to the texts of selected poems from the collection, but his symphonies 5,6 and 7 were purely instrumental.  The Sixth Symphony is one of Mahler's most conventional as far as the first movement structure. He sticks to the traditional sonata form with exposition, development, recapitulation and coda.  The symphony consists of four movements. There is some controversy as to the proper order of the two middle movements. Some conductors put the Scherzo directly after the first movement, some revers the two. The following video of the symphony has the Scherzo as the second movement, the Andante as the third. 

I. Allegro energico, ma non troppo. Heftig, aber markig -  The work begins with the orchestra playing the first theme, a brisk march in the home key of A Minor.  The first theme is rounded off by a motif that happens throughout the symphony, a major chord played in the trumpets accompanied by a march rhythm in the percussion, and while the trumpets play the home note and fifth of the chord, one of the trumpets lowers the third of the chord and transforms it to a minor chord.  The second theme is heard, a soaring melody that Mahler's wife Alma, claimed to represent her.  The exposition begins with a development of the march theme, which is suddenly transformed into an idyllic setting complete with the gentle clinking of cowbells. The march theme reappears with  vengeance and is whipped into a climax which leads directly to the recapitulation. The march rhythm persists, and begins a coda that develops the march theme even further. The 'Alma' theme reappears in a grand manner and ushers in the triumphant ending of the movement.

II. Scherzo: Wuchtig - This scherzo is one of the strangest Mahler ever wrote. It opens with the timpani beating out a rhythm, almost as if to mock the preceding seriousness of the timpani's rhythm of the first movement march.  The brass also chimes in with slurs and slides after the end of the first section of the scherzo, almost as if they thumb their noses at the preceding drama. Through it all, the orchestra keeps up the parody and the sarcasm until with a few quiet titters, the movement ends.

III. Andante moderato -  This movement serves as a contrast to the drama of the first movement and the bitter sarcasm of the second.  It also gives the listener a chance to breathe easy before the last movement.

IV. Finale: Sostenuto - Allegro moderato - Allegro energico - There is really nothing in the previous three parts of the symphony that prepares the listener for what happens within this movement. The movement begins mysteriously and has a shattering reprisal of the timpani rhythm of the first movement. The orchestra wanders as if it is caught in a maze. It breaks out here and there, but returns to its brooding meditation. The orchestra breaks out in a march similar to what has been heard in the first movement, but it is even more frantic. The orchestra reaches two climaxes, after which the celebrated 'hammer blow of fate' occur. The timpani motif of the first movement is heard throughout the final section as the orchestra gets more and more frantic, as if it is struggling to avoid the inevitable.  There is a quiet agitation before the end, and the orchestra slowly dies away before a shattering, incredibly loud climax signals that all the energy expended in the struggle has been concentrated into one last 'big bang' that creates nothing but destroys all.

There is no wonder why Mahler's sixth is among the least performed of his works. Mahler's world of the Sixth Symphony, in the final cataclysmic climax, shows that it is all for naught. We cannot escape our fate.  The world of the Sixth Symphony can seem like a world of senseless struggle, bitterness, heartache and loss. For most people to reflect on this is not an easy thing.  It has been noted that on the night that he was to premiere the work Mahler paced backstage, wringing his hands and sobbing.  He did not authorize the symphony to be subtitled 'Tragic', but the work does fit the title.

Mahler - Songs From Des Knaben Wunderhorn

Des Knaben Wunderhorn or The Boy's Magic [Hunting] Horn is one of the most important early Romantic era collections of German poetry and songs that was published in three volumes from 1805 to 1808.  The poems were idealized Romantic versions of folk poems as well as original poems written by the editors of the collection.  The collection was very popular across German-speaking Europe and was an influence on early German nationalism.

Poems from the collection were set to music by many composers, including Gustav Mahler. He first
read the collection in 1887 and was immediately attracted to the unsophisticated naivety of  the style of the poems as well as the subject matter of the poems. Mahler, a great lover of nature, explained his attraction to these songs in a letter of 1905:

I have devoted myself heart and soul to that poetry (which is essentially different from any other kind of ‘literary poetry’ and might almost be called something more like Nature and Life - in other words, the sources of all poetry—than art) in full awareness of its character and tone.

He set two dozen poems from the collection in his life; for piano and voice, for orchestra and voice and for orchestra with no voice. Indeed, his first four symphonies incorporate various Wunderhorn songs in vocal as well as instrumental versions. A twelve song collection published in 1899 was titled Humoresken. This set was written for voice and orchestra between 1892 and 1898. Two other songs were removed from this collection and replaced by two others. Modern day performance practices can add or subtract songs at the conductor's discretion. The version in the link below contains 14 songs:

Revelge - (Reveille) -  Mahler was a composer who used the sounds and impressions of street music he heard during his youth in his works. One of his first musical memories was of a military band as he related to a friend:

"One day when I was not yet four, a funny thing happened. A military band, something I delighted in all my childhood came marching past our house one morning. I no sooner heard it than I shot out of the living room. Wearing scarcely more than a chemise I trailed after the soldiers with my little accordion until some time later a couple of ladies from nearby discovered me at the marketplace. By that time I was feeling a bit frightened and they said they would only promise to take me home if I played them something the soldiers had been playing, on my accordion. I did so straight away, upon a fruit stand where they set me, to the utter delight of the market women, cooks, and other bystanders."

The music for this poem about a fallen drummer boy is a intense military march as soldiers proceed on their way, leaving the drummer boy for dead. The atmosphere turns eerie toward the end of the song when the strings play col legno in depicting the skeletons of the dead soldiers standing in rank and file.  Written in 1899, this was one of the replacement songs for one of the original twelve.

In the morning between three and four,
we soldiers must march
up and down the alley,
trallali, trallaley, trallalera,
my sweetheart looks down!

Oh, brother, now Iʼve been shot,
the bullet has struck me hard,
carry me to my billet,
trallali, trallaley, trallalera,
it isnʼt far from here!

Oh, brother, I canʼt carry you,
the enemy has beaten us,
may dear God help you!
Trallali, trallaley,
trallali, trallaley, trallalera,
I must, I must march on until death!

Oh, brothers, oh, brothers,
you go on past me
as if I were done for!
Trallali, trallaley,
trallali, trallaley, trallalera,
youʼre treading too near to me!

I must nevertheless beat my drum,
I must nevertheless beat my drum,
trallali, trallaley, trallali, trallaley,
otherwise I will die,
trallali, trallaley, trallala.

His brothers, thickly covering the ground,
lie as if mown down.
Up and down he beats the drum,
he wakes his silent brothers,
trallali, trallaley, trallali, trallaley,
they battle and they strike their enemy,
enemy, enemy,
trallali, trallaley, trallalerallala,
a terror smites the enemy!

Up and down he beats the drum,
there they are again before their billets,
trallali, trallaley, trallali, trallaley.
Clearly out into the alley!

They draw before the sweetheartʼs house,
trallali, trallaley,
trallali, trallaley, trallalera,
they march before his sweetheartʼs house, trallali.

In the morning there stand thebones
in rank and file like tombstones,
in rank, in rank and file.

The drummer stands in front
for her to see.
Trallali, trallaley,
trallali, trallaley, trallalera,
for her to see!

Verlorne Mühʼ! - (Lost Effort) -  A song that has a woman trying to entice a man (with something ot nibble on no less) who will not be enticed.

She:
ʻLaddie, let's go!
Laddie, let's go out and look at the lambs!
Shall we?
Look at the lambs?
Come, come, dear laddie!
Come, I beg you!ʼ

He:
ʻSilly lassie,
I donʼt like you at all!ʼ

She:
You want perhaps,
You want perhaps a little bit to nibble?
Fetch yourself something out of my bag!
Fetch it, dear laddie!
Fetch it, I beg you!ʼ

He:
ʻSilly lassie,
Iʼll nibble nothing of yours at all!ʼ

She:
Should I give you my heart?
So you'll always think of me?
Always!
Take it! Dear laddie!
Take it, I beg you!ʼ

He:
Silly lassie,
I donʼt care for you at all!

Des Antonius von Padua Fischpredigt - (St. Anthony of Paduaʼs Sermon To The Fish) -  A swirling figure in the strings represents water as the fish listen to the sermon. But at the end of the sermon they leave unchanged. This song was the inspiration for the scherzo of Mahler's 2nd Symphony 'Resurrection'.

At sermon time Anthony
finds the church empty!
He goes to the rivers
and preaches to the fish!
They flap with their tails!

They gleam in the sunshine!

The carp with roe
have all congregated;
their jaws gaping,
intent on listening!
Never did a sermon
so please the fish!

Sharp-snouted pike,
that fight continually,
swam up in a hurry
to hear the holy man!
Even those odd creatures
that continually fast:
I mean the codfish,
appear for the sermon!
Never did a sermon
so please the codfish!

Good eels and sturgeon
that people of quality relish,
even they condescend
to attend the sermon!
Crayfish, too, and turtles,
usually slow movers,
climb hurriedly from the depths
to hear this voice!
Never did a sermon
so please the crayfish!

Fish big and fish small!
Of quality and common!
They raise their heads
like rational creatures!
At Godʼs command
they listen to the sermon.

When the sermon is finished,
each one turns away!
The pike remain thieves,
the eels great lovers;
the sermon was pleasing,
they all stay the same!

Das Irdische Leben - (The Earthly Life) -  A morbid song (written by a composer whose emotions could run to the exceedingly morbid) with words set against divided strings that play a restless accompaniment. Mahler makes the music as stark as the words.

Mother, oh mother, Iʼm hungry!
Give me some bread or I shall die!
Just wait! Just wait, my dear child!
Tomorrow we shall hurry to harvest!

And when the grain was harvested,
the child still cried out:
Mother, oh mother, Iʼm hungry!
Give me some bread or I shall die!
Just wait! Just wait, my dear child!
Tomorrow we shall hurry and go threshing!

And when the grain was threshed,
the child still cried out:
Mother, oh mother, Iʼm hungry!
Give me some bread or I shall die!
Just wait! Just wait, my dear child!
Tomorrow we shall hurry and bake!

And when the bread was baked,
the child lay on the funeral bier!

Trost im Unglück -  (Solace In Misfortune) -  A man soothing himself after a lost love.

Now then! The time has come!
My horse, it must be saddled!
Iʼve made up my mind,
I must ride away!
Off you go!
I have my due!
I love you only in folly!

Without you I can well live!
Yes, live!
Without you I can well exist!
So Iʼll sit on my horse
and drink a glass of cool wine,
and swear by my beard,
to love you forever!

You think, you are the handsomest
in the whole wide world,
and also the most pleasant!
But you are far, far off the mark!
In my fatherʼs garden
thereʼs a flower growing!

Iʼll keep waiting
till it is bigger!
And off you go!
I have my due!
I love you only in folly!
Without you I can well live!
Without you I can well exist!


You think Iʼm going to take you!
That I would not think of ever!
I am ashamed of you,
when I am in public!

Wo die schönen Trompeten blasen - (Where the Fair Trumpets Sound) -  Two lovers part as the man goes off to war.  The trumpets softly remind the man of his fate, and he describes his probable fate: the home of the green grass of the grave.

Who then is outside and who is knocking,
that can so softly awaken me?

It is your dearest darling,
get up and let me come to you!
Why should I go on standing here?
I see the red of morn arise,
the red of morn, two bright stars.
I long to be with my sweetheart!
With my dearest darling.

The maiden got up and let him in;
she bade him welcome, too.
Welcome, my dear lad!
You have been standing so long!
She offered him her snow-white hand.

From far away the nightingale sang,
then the maiden began to weep.
Ah, do not weep, beloved mine
after a year you will be my own.
My own you shall become,
as is no other on earth!
Oh love on the green earth.
Iʼm off to war, on the green heath,
the green heath is so far away!
Where there the fair trumpets sound,
there is my home, my home of green grass!

Wer hat dies Liedel erdacht? - (Who Thought Up This Little Song?) -  A song of a lover in a house on a mountain, with some pretty silly lyrics, quite typical of some of the poems of the Wunderhorn collection.

Up there on the mountain,
in the high house,
in the house!
There peers out a dear maiden!
There is her home!
She is the innkeeperʼs daughter!
She lives on the green heath!

My heart has a wound!
Come, sweetheart, make it well!
Your dark brown little eyes,
they have wounded me!
Your rosy mouth
makes hearts well.
It makes young people rational,
brings the dead back to life,
makes the ill healthy,
yes, healthy.

Who then thought up this little song?
Three geese have brought it over the water!
Two grey and one white!
And whoever cannot sing this little song,
they can whistle it!
Yes!

Lob des hohen Verstands - (Praise Of Lofty Judgement) -  A singing match between a cuckoo and a nightingale, with an ass as the judge. The beginning of the song inspired the motives for the finale of Mahler's 5th Symphony.

Once in a deep valley
the cuckoo and the nightingale
struck a wager.
Whoever sang the masterpiece,
whether won by art or won by luck,
Would take the prize.

The cuckoo spoke: ʻIf you agree,
I have chosen the judge,ʼ
and he at once named the ass.
ʻFor since he has two large ears,
he can hear all the better,
and recognize what is right!ʼ

Soon they flew before the judge.
When he was told the matter,
he decreed that they should sing!
The nightingale sang out sweetly!
The ass spoke: ʻYou muddle me up!
You muddle me up! Heehaw! Heehaw!
I canʼt get it into my head!ʼ

There upon the cuckoo began quickly
his song in thirds and fourths and fifths.
It pleased the ass, and he spoke out:
ʻWait! Wait! Wait!
I will pronounce thy judgement,
yes, pronounce.

You have sung well, nightingale!
But, cuckoo, you sing a good chorale!
And hold the beat precisely!
I speak from higher understanding!
And even if it cost a whole country,
I thus pronounce you the winner, the winner!ʼ
Cuckoo, cuckoo! Heehaw!

Der Tamboursg'sell - (The Drummer Boy) -  Another song about a drummer boy, this time one that is condemned to death by hanging. The words are accompanied by a slow funeral march. This song was the last poem set in 1905.

I am a poor drummer boy!
They are leading me out of the dungeon!
If Iʼd remained a drummer,
I would not be imprisoned!

Oh, gallows,
you look so frightening!
I wonʼt look at you any more!
Because I know thatʼs where I belong!

When soldiers march past,
that are not billeted with me.
When they ask who I was:
Drummer of the first company!

Good night! You marble rocks!
You mountains and hills!
Good night, officers,
corporals and musketeers!
Good night!
Good night, officers!
Corporals and grenadiers!

I cry out with a clear voice:
I take leave of you!
Good night!

Das himmlische Leben - (The Heavenly Life) -  This song was not included in the original set of Wunderhorn songs for voice and orchestra. It is used as the final movement of Mahler's 4th Symphony.

We enjoy heavenly pleasures and
therefore avoid earthly ones.
No worldly tumult is to be heard in heaven
 All live in greatest peace.
We lead angelic lives,
yet have a merry time of it besides.
We dance and we spring,
We skip and we sing.
Saint Peter in heaven looks on.

John lets the lambkin out,
and Herod the Butcher lies in wait for it.
We lead a patient,
an innocent, patient,
dear little lamb to its death.
Saint Luke slaughters the ox
without any thought or concern.
Wine doesn't cost a penny in the heavenly cellars;
The angels bake the bread.

Good greens of every sort grow
in the heavenly vegetable patch,
good asparagus, string beans,
and whatever we want.
Whole dishfuls are set for us!
Good apples, good pears and good grapes,
and gardeners who allow everything!
If you want roebuck or hare,
on the public streets they come running right up.

Should a fast day come along,
all the fishes at once come swimming with joy.
There goes Saint Peter running
with his net and his bait
to the heavenly pond.
Saint Martha must be the cook.

There is just no music on earth
that can compare to ours.
Even the eleven thousand virgins
venture to dance,
and Saint Ursula herself has to laugh.
There is just no music on earth
that can compare to ours.
Cecilia and all her relations
make excellent court musicians.
The angelic voices gladden our senses,
so that all awaken for joy.

Lied des Verfolgten im Turm - (Song of the Prisoner in the Tower) -  Another military style song that incorporates a dialog between a prisoner and his sweetheart that stands outside the tower he is imprisoned in.

The prisoner:
Thoughts are free,
who can guess them;
they rush past
like nocturnal shadows,
no man can know them,
no hunter can shoot them,
it remains thus:
thoughts are free!

The maiden:
Summer is a time for merriment
on high, wild mountains.
There one finds a green place,
my loving sweetheart,
I do not wish to part from you!

The prisoner:
And if they lock me up
in a dark dungeon,
all this is but in vain;
for my thoughts
tear the bars apart
and the walls destroy,
thoughts are free!

The maiden:
Summer is a time for merriment,
on high, wild mountains.
There one is always quite alone,
on high, wild mountains.
There one hears no children yelling!
There the air invites one to himself,
yes, the air invites one to himself.

The prisoner:
So may it be the way it is!
And if it happens,
may it all happen in the silence,
only everything in the silence!
My wish and desire
can be restrained by no one!
It remains thus,
thoughts are free!

The maiden:
My sweetheart, you sing as cheerfully here
as a little bird in the grass.
I stand sadly at the prison door,
if I only were dead, if I only were with you,
alas, must I then always complain?

The prisoner:
And since you complain so,
Iʼll renounce you and your love!
And if I dare, nothing can worry me!
Then in my heart I can always
laugh and be jovial.
It remains thus:
Thoughts are free!
Thoughts are free!

Rheinlegendchen - (Rhine Legend) -  A dream of a maiden that longs to find a sweetheart by throwing her ring in the Rhine. 

Now I mow by the Neckar,
now I mow by the Rhine;
now I have a sweetheart,
now Iʼm alone!

What good is mowing
if the sickle doesnʼt cut;
what good is a sweetheart,
if he  doesnʼt stay with me!

So when I mow
by the Neckar, by the Rhine,
I will throw
my little gold ring in.

It will float in the Neckar
and float in the Rhine,
it shall swim right down
into the deep sea.

And when it swims, the little ring,
a fish will eat it!
The fish will land
on the kingʼs table!

The king would ask,
whose ring can it be?
Then I would say:
ʻThe ring belongs to me!ʼ

My sweetheart would spring
up hill and down hill,
would bring back to me
my fine little gold ring!

You can mow by the Neckar,
you can mow by the Rhine!
You can always toss in
your little ring for me!

Der Schildwache Nachtlied - (The Sentinelʼs Nightsong) -  Another dialog song.  Military style music of the sentinel  is interrupted by tender music that accompanies the words of his sweetheart.

I cannot and will not be cheerful!
When everyone is asleep,
then I must keep watch!
Yes, keep watch!
Must be sorrowful!

Dear lad, you mustnʼt be sad!
Iʼll wait for you
in the rose-garden!
In the green clover!

To the green clover I will not go!
To the armory!
Full of halberds!
I am posted!

If you are on the battlefield, may God help you!
On Godʼs blessing
is everything dependent!
Whoever believes it!

He who believes it is far away!
Heʼs a king!
Heʼs an emperor!
He wages war!
Halt! Whoʼs there!
Patrol!
Stand back!
Who sang here? Who sang just now?!
A solitary field sentinel
sang it at midnight!
Midnight!
Field sentinel

Urlicht - (Primeval Light) -  Another song that was used in Mahler's 2nd Symphony. For many years it was not included in performances of the Wunderhorn songs. 

O little red rose!
Man lies in greatest need!
Man lies in greatest pain!
I would rather be in heaven!

Then I came upon a broad path.
There came an angel and wanted to turn me away.
Ah no, I would not be turned away!
Ah no, I would not be turned away:
I am from God and want to return to God!
The loving God will give me a little of the light,
will illuminate me into eternal blessed life!

Mahler - Symphony No. 5

As it was Gustav Mahler's habit to compose during his summer vacations, the 5th Symphony was composed in the summers of 1901 and 1902. The symphony was the first of three symphonies that were strictly instrumental works and without any outward program, although Mahler usually composed with some kind of an inner program.

Mahler was a man who put his art above everything, including his physical well being. He took his role as conductor and music director very seriously and drove himself to conduct regardless of illness or fever. On February 24, 1901 he conducted an orchestral concert in the afternoon and an opera that same evening. He had just gotten over a bad case of tonsillitis (which didn't slow him down any). That same night his sister found him collapsed in a pool of blood. Mahler had horrendous hemmorhoidal problems that caused him excruciating pain (there were many occasions when he conducted in extreme pain from them) and many minor hemorrhages from them, but this one was life threatening. Surgeons were summoned and he came near death. The surgeon did an emergency procedure in Mahler's bedroom that stopped the bleeding, as Mahler told a friend the next day:

You know, last night I nearly passed away. When I saw the doctors… I thought my last hour had come. While they were putting in the tube, which was frightfully painful but quick, they kept checking my pulse and my heart. Fortunately it was solidly installed in my breast and determined not to give up so soon… While I was hovering between life and death, I wondered whether it would not be better to have done with it at once, since everyone must come to this in the end. Besides, the prospect of dying did not frighten me in the least, provided my affairs are in order, and to return to life seemed almost a nuisance.

As soon as Mahler recuperated from the incident he had his second hemorrhoid surgery in March. This near-death experience may have been partially responsible for the change in his compositional style as reflected in this work. The symphony in in five movements, which Mahler grouped into three parts. As the symphony is progressive as regards to key, Mahler requested that no key designation be given to the symphony as a whole.

PART ONE
I. Trauermarsch (Funeral March) -  Although some annotators and musicologists regard this symphony as the most conventional out of the first five, Mahler begins the symphony in C-sharp minor with a solo for trumpet that sets the mood:

The trumpet solo leads directly to a shattering climax, after which Mahler begins his most conventional symphony with an unconventional funeral march. The trumpet solo returns and the funeral march becomes even more lugubrious. The trumpet returns but is cut short as the music becomes wild and frantic as the funeral march has changed into a hectic mad dash. The trumpet interrupts and brings the march tempo back. The music makes a reference to a song Mahler has written to the words of the German poet Friedrich Rückert from his collection of poems Kindentotenlieder (Songs On The Death Of Children).  The poetry of Rückert had became Mahler's preferred poems as his obsession with the poems of Des Knaben Wunderhorn diminished.  All of the themes in the first movement go through a continual development process, but what doesn't change is the time signature. In the first four symphonies time signatures changed quite often, but in this symphony each movement remains in the time signature that it started in. The trumpet plays fragments of its theme as the orchestra slowly winds down. Violins accompany col legno, with the wood of the bow that produces an eerie clicking sound and the movement ends with one last subdued thump by the low strings.

II. Stürmisch bewegt, mit größter Vehemenz (Moving stormily, with the greatest vehemence) - Beginning in the key of A minor, this movement starts out brutally. The orchestra continues as Mahler directed until it slows down and changes key to F minor. Mahler gives the direction in Tempo des ersten Satzes Trauermarsch (In the same tempo as the first movement Funeral March). Not only is the tempo identical, but the thematic material is related to that of the first movement also.  The ongoing variation of themes continues. The mood of the opening of the movement returns, along with music in the trumpet from the first movement. An extended  section for low strings and timpani brings back the funeral march, which is incorporated into the section.  Rapid shifting from the opening music to the funeral march happens until the funeral march is transformed into a high spirited march in the major. This vanishes into the chaos of the opening music until the funeral march returns in a richly orchestrated version. The march falls under the spell of the chaos of the opening and becomes more frantic. A section of music in the major interrupts and the music grows loud and majestic, only to return to the frantic music of the opening. Everything grows quiet, strings accompany in harmonics, the low strings pluck out two notes, and the timpani has the final say with an A played pianissimo.

PART TWO
III. Scherzo: Kräftig, nicht zu schnell (Not too fast, strong) - The second part of the symphony is the third movement, a scherzo in D major that takes on the shape of a type of sonata form. There are several themes within the movement as well as two separate trio sections. The movement begins with four horns setting the mood of the first theme, in the style of a country dance. This theme goes through continuous development as the themes in the previous movements. A second theme (that is derived from the first theme), the beginning of the first trio, is played delicately by violins that slide between notes. The first theme returns and leads to a section in counterpoint. A new theme is played leisurely by the horns with commentary by the strings. This is the beginning of the second trio, and the theme goes through many variants. A section that develops some of the themes is played, and comes to a climax. Other themes are touched upon in the coda, and this longest movement of the 5th Symphony comes to a hectic, abrupt close.

PART THREE
IV. Adagietto. Sehr langsam (Very slow) -  Part Three of the symphony is comprised of the final two movements, the first of which is the Adagietto, arguably Mahler's most well-known and loved symphonic works.  He scores it for strings and harp alone. The movement has been used in memorial services for dignitaries and heads of state, Leonard Bernstein conducted it at Robert Kennedy's funeral in 1968, but it isn't funeral music as such, although the passion Mahler puts into it is definite. Willem Mengelberg, a contemporary of Mahler and champion of his works wrote that the movement was actually a musical love letter written to Alma Schindler whom he met while writing this symphony and who he later married:

This Adagietto was Gustav Mahler’s declaration of love to Alma! Instead of a letter, he confided it in this movement without a word of explanation. She understood and replied: He should come!(I have this from both of them!)

There is further evidence that when Mahler conducted the symphony that he took this movement faster than current conductors. Mahler's performances took between 7 and 9 minutes, according to the acoustics of the hall, while today's conductors run the range of 9 to 14 minutes. The movement is in simple three-part form, and while there are relatively few notes in it compared to the other movements of the symphony, Mahler peppers the music with all kinds of directions.  It is written in F major except for a short section in the key of G-flat major in the middle section. As the middle section segues back to the first section a huge glissando is taken in the violins. The first section repeats in an abbreviated version until a final climax is reached, after which the music slowly lessens until the most elementary of chord progressions begins with a C dominant 7th chord, which in Western music naturally leads to F major, which Mahler does, but he takes a long time to resolve the C7 chord in the violins and basses. But as the music dies away, the harmony resolves to F major. The last movement begins without pause.

V. Rondo-Finale. Allegro – Allegro giocoso. Frisch (Fresh) - With the final movement, Mahler has moved from funeral music in the first part, to ambiguous music in the second part, to love and finally exuberant joy in the final part. Another Wunderhorn song is used in the finale, In Praise Of Higher Understanding, also known as The Cuckoo And The Nightingale, which makes up the main theme of the finale, which shows characteristics of both rondo and sonata form. The short sections of counterpoint heard earlier in the symphony were only a warm up to Mahler's five contrapuntal sections in the finale.  An edition of J.S. Bach's works were being published and Mahler was a subscriber and was influenced by the older composer's mastery of the art. The theme of the fourth movement also appears in a faster and more jovial variant. Just before the ending, a theme from the 2nd movement appears in a noble variant maestoso, but the exuberance of the music sweeps it aside as it gallops to a final giggle and loud end.

Mahler - Symphony No. 2 'Resurrection'

Mahler was most well-known in his lifetime as a conductor of opera and orchestral works. He did most of his compositional work on his summer holidays from his conducting duties.  All of his symphonies show an intimate knowledge of the orchestra gained by his experience as a conductor.

Mahler's 2nd Symphony was his most popular work in his lifetime, and was a favorite of Mahler himself. It remains his most popular work to this day. It is written for a  huge orchestra (parts of which play offstage) with a large percussion section, two soloists, a mixed choir and organ.  It premiered in 1895 in Berlin and was conducted by the composer. It is in five movements:

1st Movement - Allegro maestoso 
The first movement of Mahler's 2nd Symphony was originally intended as a symphonic poem written in 1888 entitled Totenfeier (Funeral Rites) and reflects Mahler's life-long struggle with the meaning of life and the mysteries of death. When Mahler played the piano score of the work to Hans von Bülow his mentor,  he labeled it as incomprehensible.  Mahler set the work aside until 1893 when he completed the middle movements on his summer vacation from his conducting duties, but the finale continued to give him problems until the death of von Bülow in 1894. When Mahler attended the funeral of von Bülow he was inspired by a choral work sung at the services and finished the symphony shortly after.

Hans von Bülow

While the funeral march in the third movement of his first symphony is a sardonic parody of the tune Frère Jacques (also known as Brüder Martin in German and  Are You Sleeping? in English), the funeral music in the first movement of the 2nd Symphony very different. It is brutal in places, tender and longing in others, and has a different feeling to it all together.

The movement is in a modified sonata form and some of the material used in the development section of the movement is used later in the symphony. Mahler's instructions called for a five-minute pause between the first and second movements, but this is seldom done in current performances.

2nd movement - Andante moderato 
A German Ländler, a dance popular in Southern Germany and Austria. A much-needed respite from the seriousness of the first movement, but it isn't exactly brimming with sunshine and Tyrolean joy.

3rd Movement - In ruhig fließender Bewegung (With Quietly Flowing movement)
A scherzo in all but name, this movement is an adaption of one of Mahler's songs, St. Anthony Preaches To The Fishes set to the folk poem collection Das Knaben Wunderhorn  Near the end of the movment there is a climax for orchestra that Mahler called a death shriek. 

4th Movement - Urlicht (Primeval Light) 

Another movement originally written to a Das Knaben Wunderhorn poem, scored for Alto voice and orchestra.  There are no less than 15 time signature changes in the short movement, which to my ears lends a restlessness to the music that serves as an introduction to the huge final movement. The poem as translated from The Knaben Wunderhorn: 

Primeval Light 
O red rose!
Man lies in greatest need!
Man lies in greatest pain!
How I would rather be in heaven.
There came I upon a broad path when came a little angel and wanted to turn me away.
Ah no! I would not let myself be turned away!
I am from God and shall return to God!
The loving God will grant me a little light,
Which will light me into that eternal blissful life!

5th Movement - Im Tempo des Scherzos (In the tempo of the scherzo) 
A sprawling movement that last roughly thirty minutes and is in two sections, the first section for orchestra alone, the second for chorus, soloists and orchestra..  The first section begins with a restating of the 'death shriek' heard at the climax of the third movement. A procession of time changes, key changes and mood swings, plus music played by horns and percussion that are off stage,  leads to what amounts to the development section of this first part, which is in a very free type of sonata form. This development section begins with two tremendous percussion crescendos that lead to what Mahler called 'The March Of The Dead'.   The orchestra is answered by the offstage brass, themes bound in and out of the frantic march until the choral section of the movement begins quietly.

Tee rest of the movement is guided by the text sung by soloists (alto and soprano) and chorus. The music grows in intensity and volume, with bells and organ joining the chorus and orchestra full strength for the final 'resurrection' of the dead that have gone before.  Ecstatic and almost overwhelmed, the orchestra ends in a glory of sound and  emotion. Mahler himself said of the ending "The increasing tension, working up to the final climax, is so tremendous that I don’t know myself, now that it is over, how I ever came to write it."

The text for the final section by Friedrich Klopstock the German poet, and Mahler himself.

CHORUS AND SOPRANO 
Rise again, yea,
thou wilt rise again,
My dust, after a short rest!
 Immortal life! Immortal life
 He who called thee will grant thee.
 To bloom again thou art sown!
The Lord of the Harvest goes
And gathers in, like sheaves,
Us who died.
-Friedrich Klopstock

ALTO 
Oh believe, my heart, oh believe:
Nothing is lost with thee!
Thine is what thou hast desired,
What thou hast loved for,
what thou hast fought for! 

SOPRANO 
Oh believe, thou were not born in vain!
Hast not lived in vain, suffered in vain! 

CHORUS 
What has come into being must perish,
What perished must rise again.

CHORUS AND ALTO 
Cease from trembling!
Prepare thyself to live! 

SOPRANO AND ALTO 
Oh Pain, thou piercer of all things,
From thee have I been wrested!
Oh Death, thou master of all things,
Now art thou mastered!
With wings which I have won,
 In love's fierce striving,
I shall soar upwards
To the light to which no eye has soared. 

CHORUS 
With wings, which I have won,
I shall soar upwards I shall die, to live! 

 CHORUS, SOPRANO AND ALTO 
Rise again, yea,
thou wilt rise again,
My heart, in the twinkling of an eye!
What thou hast fought for Shall lead thee to God!
-Gustav Mahler

When Mahler was asked about the negativity generated by his music, he calmly replied "My time will come."  Mahler was a bellwether that helped usher in the modern world, for better or worse. Among the deterrents to his music was anti-semitism of the 20th century and the fact that Mahler's music is not 'easy' to perform (or even listen to on occasion). But as with all great music, there is something in it that speaks to many, regardless of their musical education or expertise. He is a composer that was as much a philosopher as anything else. His 'words' are musical notes, his 'books' are his symphonies.  His time has indeed come, and shows no sign of slacking off.