Symphony No. 1

• Mahler conducted Budapest Philharmonic in the premiere of this symphony. The premiere took place in Budapest on Nov. 20, 1889.¹
• Mahler once explained that the third movement, with its ironic funeral march to the tune of “Frère Jacques” in a minor mode, was originally inspired by a humorous fairy-tale woodcut by Moritz von Schwind called “The Hunter’s Funeral.”²
  • Art reproduced above. A collection of forest creatures are bearing the funeral bier of a dead hunter. 
  • Mahler knew this children’s song as “Bruder Martin” (Brother Martin), but it is still an ironic reference to sleeping/death. 
  • Mahler also imitates the sound of klezmer music in this movement.³

The third movement is “heart-rending, tragic irony and is to be understood as exposition and preparation for sudden outburst in the final movement of despair of a deeply wounded and broken heart.” 

Mahler to Bernhard Schuster in 1901⁴

“It is true that I received the external inspiration for the third movement from the well-known children’s painting (The Hunter’s Funeral). But at this point the scene in question is irrelevant. Only the mood matters, and out of it – abruptly, like lightning out of a dark cloud – leaps the fourth movement. It is simply the outcry of a deeply wounded heart preceded by that eerie, ironic, and brooding sultriness of the death march.” 

Mahler to Max Marschalk (March 20, 1896)⁵

Form: The original version of the symphony was separated into two parts, which were further separated into five movements. The final version of the symphony was shortened to a more traditional four movements.

• Mahler called the first version “A Symphonic Poem in Five Parts.”⁶
• At the symphony’s second performance, Mahler excised the “Blumine” movement and wrote a completely new programme for the symphony, which included references to literary works, including Jean Paul’s novel Titan (hence the symphony’s nickname, “The Titan.”)⁷

This list charts both versions of the symphony.⁸ 

Part 1 

I. (I). Langsam. schleppend 
II. Andante allegretto. (“Blumine”) 
III. (II). Kräftig, bewegt, doch nicht zu schnell 

Part 2 

IV. (III). Feierlich und gemessen, ohne zu schleppen 
V. (IV). Stürmisch bewegt 

1.  “Symphony No. 1 (Mahler, Gustav),” IMSLP, accessed March 23, 2021, https://imslp.org/wiki/Symphony_No.1_(Mahler%2C_Gustav).
2. Constantin Floros, Gustav Mahler: The Symphonies, trans. Vernon and Jutta Wicker (Pompton Plains, NJ: Amadeus Press, 2000), 40.
3. David Hurwitz and Michael Gielen, The Mahler Symphonies: An Owner’s Manual (UK: Amadeus Press), 41.
4. Quoted in Constantin Floros, Gustav Mahler: The Symphonies, trans. Vernon and Jutta Wicker (Pompton Plains, NJ: Amadeus Press, 2000), 40.
5. Quoted in Constantin Floros, Gustav Mahler: The Symphonies, trans. Vernon and Jutta Wicker (Pompton Plains, NJ: Amadeus Press, 2000), 40.
6. Peter Franklin, “Mahler, Gustav,” Grove Music Online (2001), accessed March 23, 2021, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000040696.
7. Peter Franklin, “Mahler, Gustav,” Grove Music Online (2001), accessed March 23, 2021, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000040696.
8. “Symphony No. 1 (Mahler, Gustav),” IMSLP, accessed March 23, 2021, https://imslp.org/wiki/Symphony_No.1_(Mahler%2C_Gustav).