Mahler: Symphony No. 4

Heaven or Earth?

Beyond the Score Mahler’s Symphony No. 4, completed in 1901, is one of his most immediately attractive and approachable works, a gorgeous cornucopia of musical memories and dreams filled with folk tunes, children’s songs, klezmer music, art songs, Viennese waltzes, military marches and—at the heart of the work—one of the most passionate slow movements written by Mahler. We explore the place of this music in the art and culture of late 19th-century Vienna, in the rich and decadent final years of the Habsburg Empire, and we delve into the sensuous beauty of the final movement, one of Mahler’s most ravishing songs, a childlike dream of the life in heaven that greets those who have suffered on this earth.

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Beyond the Score® receives support from the following generous contributors:
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; Bruce and Martha Clinton, on behalf of The Clinton Family Fund;
and Walter and Karla Goldschmidt Foundation.