Symphony No. 5 (Mahler)

The **Symphony No. 5** in C-sharp minor is a piece of orchestral music by Gustav Mahler. The composer wrote the symphony from 1901 and 1902.

The symphony was first played on October 18, 1904 in Cologne. It was played by the Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne and conducted by Mahler.

## Instrumentation

The symphony was written for a large orchestra with:

- Woodwinds
- 4 flutes (all doubling piccolos)
- 3 oboes (3rd doubling cor anglais)
- 3 bassoons (3rd doubling contrabassoon)
- Brass
- 6 horns (obbligato solo horn in movement 3)
- 4 trumpets
- 3 trombones
- 1 tuba

- Percussion
- 4 timpani
- bass drum
- a second bass drum with a suspended cymbal attached
- snare drum (used only in movement 1)
- cymbals
- triangle
- whip (used only in movement 3)
- tam-tam
- glockenspiel

- Strings
- harp

- 1st violins
- 2nd violins
- viola
- cello
- double basses

## Form

The work is in five movements, but Mahler grouped the movements into bigger parts. These are:

- Part I
    - 1. _Trauermarsch_ (Funeral march). C minor
    - 2. _Stürmisch bewegt, mit größter Vehemenz_ (Stormy, played with great vehemence) A minor
- Part II
    - 3. _Scherzo_. _Kräftig, nicht zu schnell_ (Strong and not too fast) D major
- Part III
    - 4. _Adagietto_. _Sehr langsam_ (Very slow) F major
    - 5. _Rondo-Finale_. _Allegro_  D major

## Further reading

- Banks, Paul (May 1989) "Aspects of Mahler's Fifth Symphony: Performance Practice and Interpretation." _The Musical Times_, vol. 130, no. 1755, pp. 258–265.
- Barham, Jeremy (December 2018). "'The Ghost in the Machine': Thomas Koschat and the volkstümlich in Mahler's Fifth Symphony." _Nineteenth-Century Music Review_, vol. 15, no. 3, pp. 353–390.
- Barry, Barbara R. (Spring 1993). "The Hidden Program in Mahler's Fifth Symphony." _The Musical Quarterly_, vol. 77, no. 1, pp. 47–66.
- Baxendale, Carolyn (1986–1987). "The Finale of Mahler's Fifth Symphony: Long-Range Musical Thought." _Journal of the Royal Musical Association_, vol. 112, no. 2, pp. 257–279.
- Buch, Esteban (Summer 2017). "Mahler's Fifth, Daniel Barenboim, and the Argentine Dictatorship: On Music, Meaning, and Politics." _The Musical Quarterly_, vol. 100, no. 2, pp. 122–154.
- Forte, Allen (Autumn 1984). "Middleground Motives in the Adagietto of Mahler's Fifth Symphony." _19th-Century Music_, vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 153–163.
- Kinderman, William (Summer 2005). "'Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen': Mahler's Rückert Setting and the Aesthetics of Integration in the Fifth Symphony." _The Musical Quarterly_, vol. 88, no. 2, pp. 232–273.
- Micznik, Vera (June 1996). "Textual and Contextual Analysis: Mahler's Fifth Symphony and Scientific Thought." _International Review of the Aesthetics and Sociology of Music_, vol. 27, no. 1, pp. 13–29.
- Pavlović, Milijana (2013). "Lost And Found – Mahler's _Fifth_ in Trieste. _Studien zur Musikwissenschaft_, vol. 57, pp. 275–297.
- Vernon, David (2022). _Beauty and Sadness: Mahler's 11 Symphonies_, Ch. 5 'Cosmic Expansion: The Fifth Symphony', pp. 173–202.
- Hurwitz, David. (2004) "The Mahler Symphonies, An Owner's Manual."

## External links

- Mahler's Symphony No. 5 – A Beginners' Guide – Overview, analysis and the best recordings – The Classic Review
- Analysis, by Walter, everything2.com, 15 March 2002
- Gilbert Kaplan: "In One Note of Mahler, a World of Meaning", _The New York Times_, 17 March 2002

## Infobox (musical composition)

- **name**: Symphony No. 5
- **composer**: Gustav Mahler
- **image**: Photo of Gustav Mahler by Moritz Nähr 01.jpg
- **caption**: Gustav Mahler in 1907
- **composed**: 1901–1902 in Maiernigg
- **movements**: 5
- **premiere conductor**: Gustav Mahler
- **premiere location**: , Cologne
- **premiere performers**: Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne