Munching Crunching on Mahler's Symphony No 5
The Best Moments
Symphony No. 5 in C-sharp minor
I'm Gustav Mahler, and these are the best moments of my Symphony No 5. You'll hear a lone trumpet open a funeral march, then the long, hushed Adagietto for strings and harp, which I wrote for my wife Alma, and that contrast is why this music rewards your time. On this site my fellow composers and I also help you recognize our pieces the moment they begin, so give the Trainer a go and see how quickly a melody becomes familiar.
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A Polite Knock at the Door of Sorrow
I begin the symphony with a single trumpet playing the same rhythm that opens Beethoven's Fifth, as if I'd borrowed his doorbell before even introducing myself. I marked the movement 'like a funeral procession', and it trudges along in C-sharp minor, with a calmer episode that interrupts it twice before the procession picks itself up again.
Please Don't Hold Back
I wrote 'stormily agitated, with the greatest vehemence' at the top of the second movement, and I'm not sure I could have asked the players any more clearly to stop being calm. It's in A minor, and the sighing motif from the first movement returns for a moment before the agitated first theme comes rushing in.
Cheer Up, Everyone
After two dark movements you'd expect more gloom, but I switch to D major and ask for something 'vigorous, not too fast', with Ländler and waltz tunes taking over the mood. A solo horn is so prominent that the player is often asked to stand in front of the orchestra, which gives that musician a little spotlight before anyone has even clapped.
The Quietest Page in the Score
I dedicated the Adagietto to Alma, and it begins from silence with soft, sustained notes in the strings, with only a harp for company and no woodwinds or brass at all. I marked it Sehr langsam, very slowly, in F major, and the story goes that it was a love letter to Alma, though nobody can say for sure.
Everybody Back to the Party
I wanted you to leave smiling after all that sorrow, so I marked the finale Allegro giocoso, Frisch, in D major, which is my way of telling the orchestra to lighten up. It's a rondo-sonata and a showcase of counterpoint that brings back material from the Adagietto and the D major chorale of the second movement, like old friends turning up one by one.
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I hope you enjoyed learning about the best moments of my Fifth Symphony as much as I enjoyed telling you about them. Looking back, it's a piece that travels a long way, from a slow funeral procession to a finale that ends in bright D major. Along the way there's a quiet piece for strings and harp that I wrote for Alma, and the story goes that it was meant as a love letter. If you've listened to the symphony from start to finish, you may find that it feels less like five separate movements and more like one long journey. Did you enjoy discovering the best moments of Symphony No 5? There's still a good deal more to explore in this symphony. I haven't said much about the counterpoint in the finale, or about the way the Adagietto and the chorale come back near the end. I haven't told you much either about how the first performance went in Cologne in 1904, or about how I kept revising the score for years afterwards. If you'd like to go deeper, please click on the links provided and carry on exploring Symphony No 5. I'd be glad to have you along for another listen.