Search - Mahler, Royal Philharmonic Orch, Simonov :: Symphony 1 in D Major (Jewl)

Mahler did most of the work on his First Symphony in early 1888, incorporating music from earlier compositions such as his song-cycle Songs of the Wayfarer. He revised the score on several occasions. The first performance was given on November 20, 1889, in Budapest, with the composer conducting. The work was not received with a great deal of enthusiasm, greeted by chilly receptions whenever it was played. Revisions such as reducing the movements from five to two (eliminating the original second "Blumine" movement, for example) have produced the work we know today. The symphony contains many of the features that were to characterize Mahler's symphonic output, although each work preserves its own distinct character. In Symphony No. 1 we have the distant trumpet fanfares and bugle calls; the sound of nature; the Austrian peasant dance (Ländler) and village bands; the aching, world-weary string melodies, with their bitter-sweet harmonies; the strident marches; the brass chorales; and the visionary, shattering apotheosis of the finale. All of these elements are combined in the psychological, spiritual, and emotional drama that constitutes a Mahler symphony, against which must be set the following assertion from the composer: "I don't choose what I compose. It chooses me."