page_title: Symphony No. 1 (Mahler)
section_title: Third movement
hierarchical_section_title: Symphony No. 1 (Mahler) / Musical structure / Third movement
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Moritz von Schwind: "Wie die Thiere den Jäger begraben". Holzschnitt nach einer Zeichnung von Moritz v. Schwind, Münchener Bilderbogen Nr. 44 "Die guten Freunde" (München, 1850). English: Moritz von Schwind: "Wie die Thiere den Jäger begraben". Wood engraving after a drawing by Moritz v. Schwind, from Münchener Bilderbogen No. 44 "Die guten Freunde" (Munich, 1850). This image was possibly the picture that provided inspiration for the ironic funeral march that forms the third movement of Gustav Mahler's First Symphony (composed c. 1884-1888; revised 1893-1910).
context_page_description: Symphony No. 1 in D major by Gustav Mahler was mainly composed between late 1887 and March 1888, though it incorporates music Mahler had composed for previous works. It was composed while Mahler was second conductor at the Leipzig Opera, Germany. Although in his letters Mahler almost always referred to the work as a symphony, the first two performances described it as a symphonic poem and as a tone poem in symphonic form respectively. The work was premièred at the Vigadó Concert Hall, Budapest, in 1889, but was not well received. Mahler made some major revisions for the second performance, given at Hamburg in October 1893; further alterations were made in the years prior to the first publication, in late 1898. Some modern performances and recordings give the work the title Titan, despite the fact that Mahler only used this label for the second and third performances, and never after the work had reached its definitive four-movement form in 1896.
  Mahler conducted more performances of this symphony than of any of his later works.
context_section_description: The third movement, in A–B–A structure, acts as the slow movement in the four-movement plan. The extra-musical idea behind it is that of a hunter's funeral and a procession of animals that follows.
  The initial 1st subject of the A section is based on the popular round "Bruder Jakob" (although Mahler calls it "Bruder Martin") more commonly known as "Frère Jacques"; however, Mahler places the melody in a minor mode.
  The subject is first presented by a solo double bass, followed by bassoon, tuba and, eventually, the entire orchestra. A counter-melody is played over top of the canon in the oboe.
  The mood changes, and the 2nd subject, one of the most distinctive portions of this symphony follows. Mahler uses cymbal, bass drum, oboes, clarinets and a trumpet duo to produce the sound of a small klezmer band; Mahler's use of klezmer is sometimes credited to his Jewish roots.
  After a brief return to the 1st subject, a more contemplative B section, in G major ensues, featuring material from the fourth of Mahler's Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, "Die zwei blauen Augen". 
  After the B section ends, the A section is repeated in a varied form.  The 1st subject returns in E-flat minor.  Then the 2nd subject is heard again, and after a while, the music modulates back to D minor, and Mahler incorporates all three thematic elements on top of each other.  The final few bars of the 2nd subject is heard next, and once again, the 1st subject appears briefly for one last time in D minor, and the movement ends with simple alternating fourth in the lower strings, notably the key motif from the first movement.
caption: The Hunter's Funeral. This woodcut by Moritz von Schwind (1850) was possibly the inspiration for this 3rd movement of Mahler's Symphony No. 1.[9]
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