Mahler, Gustav - Symphony No. 1 - Vänskä, Osmo

The shimmering upper registers of the strings at the beginning of Gustav Mahler's First Symphony evoke the breath of spring and surely signaled the dawn of a new symphonic era to its very first listeners. Soon the composer introduces some elements that became central to his musical language: the sounds of nature (here the call of a cuckoo) are combined with almost militaristic fanfares and the "highly artistic" chromatic wanderings of the cellos, as if to illustrate Mahler's view of the symphony as a comprehensive art form. The symphony, which the composer originally subtitled "Titan," borrows extensively from the song cycle Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen. But Mahler also incorporates elements of popular music from the Müritz region (in the second movement) and – in the slow third movement – famously borrows a minor-key version of the children's song Bruder Martin (also known as Frere Jacques). The finale takes the listener into a world of Gothic theatricality reminiscent of grand opera, before arriving – after several false starts – at the symphony’s heroic, choral finale. The Minnesota Orchestra and Osmo Vanska bring this symphonic “microcosmic world” to life in the fourth part of a series that has earned the team the description “one of the best representatives of Mahler’s music” on the allmusic.com website.