It all begins with a massive tutto passage reminiscent of the “Cry of Despair” from the third movement; as this one dies away, however, faint echoes of the “Resurrection” motif with its falling fifths can be hard.

The major themes for this movement include the opening double bass theme, the gentle, nostalgic string section, and ominous march-like parts. Notable among these is a brief Dies Irae-style theme which is repeated prominently in the fifth movement.

Celebratory fanfares and an extraordinarily beautiful passage for trumpets create a sense that, after all, things aren’t so bad. Suddenly one of the fanfares goes wrong, and the entire orchestra chaotically descends into a fff “death shriek” (Mahler’s phrase). The remainder of the movement almost dies away; the hope introduced during the middle section of this movement seems to have been crushed.

O little red rose,
Man lies in greatest need,
Man lies in greatest pain.

Addressing one’s thoughts to a flower may be a little twee, but it indicates exactly the sort of piety Mahler wanted to evoke. The red colour of the rose, taken in conjunction with the idea of suffering, suggests blood; perhaps even the redemptive blood of Christ’s passion.

German for “With complete gravity and solemnity of expression.” Mahler is notoriously precise in indicating exactly how he wants his music to be played; thus, he’ll add these descriptive notes in addition to standard markings of tempo and dynamics. Here he wanted to ensure the funereal tone of the movement.

Sometimes performed by and credited as a mezzo-soprano instead. Mahler wanted the voice of “naïve” faith to sound as pure and innocent as possible, and creamy, voluptuous alto voices are not necessarily the best fit.

Urlicht is German for “Primordial Light.” This movement is a direct excerpt from Mahler’s song cycle “Des Knaben Wunderhorn” (“The Youth’s Magic Horn”), based on a series of mediæval German folk poems.

It serves as a quiet, reflective interlude between the cataclysmic “death-shriek” that occurred near the end of the third movement and the apocalyptic chaos that begins the fifth.

Mahler’s program notes describe it thus:

The moving voice of naive faith sounds in our ears. “I am from God and will return to God. The dear God will give me a light, will light me to eternal blessed life!”

This massive (25-minute) opening movement is basically an extended funeral march in modified sonata form. It was originally a standalone piece known as Todtendfeier (Funeral Rite), intended to “bury” the hero of Mahler’s recently completed First Symphony.

Allegro Maestoso is Italian for “quickly and majestically.”

In his impressionistic program for the work, Mahler described this movement as follows:

We stand by the coffin of a person well loved. His whole life, his struggles, his passions, his sufferings and his accomplishments on earth once more for the last time pass before us. And now, in this solemn and deeply stirring moment, when the confusions and distractions of everyday life are lifted like a hood from our eyes, a voice of awe-inspiring solemnity chills our heart—a voice that, blinded by the mirage of everyday life, we usually ignore: “What next? What is life and what is death? Why did you live? Why did you suffer? Is it all nothing but a huge, frightful joke? Will we live on eternally? Do our life and death have a meaning?” We must answer these questions in some way if we are to go on living—indeed, if we are to go on dying! He into whose life this call has once sounded must give an answer. And this answer I give in the final movement.

Incredibly epic pæan to the glory of the war-horse.

Where most would be terrified by the sights, sounds, smells of battle, the horse actually relishes them, not feeling even a modicum of cowardice.

God praises the strength of one of his greatest creations, comparing it to a force of nature

and distancing it from lesser animals, typified by the grasshopper.