General Characteristics Renowned conductor as well as a composer of symphonies and song cycles. His music remains tonal, but it is often highly chromatic and frequently proceeds to one tonality after another without regard to rules of classic or romantic theory. He uses some third-related keys, but related as well by seconds and tritones.
Dynamics are often abrupt and disruptive in their extreme contrast.
His orchestration is brilliant and relies heavily upon a huge orchestra. Like Berlioz, even though he uses a large orchestra, much of the writing is noted for its delicate scoring. His symphonies are among the largest written and conceived on a grand scale. As Beethoven started in his Pastoral Symphony, Mahler did not always depend upon the four-movement format. His symphonies sometimes contain only two movements or as many as six.