Gustav Mahler completed writing the symphony #4 on August 5, 1900. It was first performed in January 1902, by which time he had met, but not yet married, Alma Schindler.
The opening movement, in traditional symphonic form, has a disarming tunefulness, occasionally colored by jingling sleigh-bells. The clarity of Mahler’s orchestration, even when several counterpoints are heard at once, is amazing. One good tune follows another, all seeming to smile, never to grimace, and the close is exquisite.
The second movement, a kind of scherzo, features a solo violin tuned higher than normal tuning to suggest the country fiddler. There are ghostly shadows in this music, mildly threatening perhaps, but set aside by the gemütlich quality of the pulse. As so often in Mahler, he is never done until he has exhausted the implications of his material: if there are new permutations and combinations to discover, he will discover them.
The third movement is a calm Adagio, particularly generous to the cellos, who present the first theme. After a while, the tempo suddenly quickens, recalling the pulse of the scherzo, with the main theme dragged into new disguises. Just when the pace seems to be running out of control, the horns put on the brakes and calm returns.
The last movement entrusts the vision to the soprano soloist, whose first melody has been foreshadowed in earlier movements, but now we hear it whole, with the words “We enjoy heavenly delights.” The child imagines a carefree life in heaven, full of dancing and playing, good music and good food.
Here is Claudio Abbado, leading a performance of this music:
