Mahler: Symphony No. 4

commentary by Henriëtte Luytjes & Nienke van Rijn

The Concertgebouworkest and soprano Anna Prohaska perform Gustav Mahler’s heavenly Symphony No. 4, conducted by Mariss Jansons. You can also watch the performance with commentary by two musicians.

Mahler’s Symphony No. 4

The best-known part of Symphony No. 4 is the final movement, for which Gustav Mahler used his previously written orchestral song, Das himmlische Leben. Mahler compared his Fourth Symphony as a whole to a primitive painting with a gold background and described the final movement in particular as follows: “When man, now full of wonder, asks what all this means, the child answers him with the fourth movement: ‘This is Heavenly Life’.”

Mariss Jansons, chief conductor

Mariss Jansons was chief conductor of the Concertgebouworkest from 2004 to 2015. Jansons has been music director of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra since 2003. He has made numerous appearances throughout the world as a guest conductor of the Berlin, the Vienna and the London Philharmonic Orchestras, as well as the leading orchestras in the United States. You can watch the performance of Mahler’s Fourth Symphony under Mariss Jansons with or without commentary by the musicians Henriëtte Luytjes and Nienke van Rijn.

watch the concert without commentary

watch the mini documentary Singing Mahler

 

Mahler’s Symphony No. 4

The best-known part of Symphony No. 4 is the final movement, for which Gustav Mahler used his previously written orchestral song, Das himmlische Leben. Mahler compared his Fourth Symphony as a whole to a primitive painting with a gold background and described the final movement in particular as follows: “When man, now full of wonder, asks what all this means, the child answers him with the fourth movement: ‘This is Heavenly Life’.”

Mariss Jansons, chief conductor

Mariss Jansons was chief conductor of the Concertgebouworkest from 2004 to 2015. Jansons has been music director of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra since 2003. He has made numerous appearances throughout the world as a guest conductor of the Berlin, the Vienna and the London Philharmonic Orchestras, as well as the leading orchestras in the United States. You can watch the performance of Mahler’s Fourth Symphony under Mariss Jansons with or without commentary by the musicians Henriëtte Luytjes and Nienke van Rijn.

watch the concert without commentary

watch the mini documentary Singing Mahler

 

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