English Commentary by Sergio Cánovas 

Mahler’s fourth symphony was started in the summer of 1899 in Alt-Aussee, a small thermal station in the Salzkammergut. But time does not accompany him and he is not able to capture in the score the flow of ideas that appear to him. He had to wait until the summer of 1900 in Maiernigg, a small village on the southern shores of Lake Wörthersee, in Carinthia. Isolated in a cottage in the forest, he manages to finish the work in three weeks, putting the last notes on August 6, 1900.

The work was premiered in Munich on November 25, 1901 under the direction of the composer himself. The symphony was not well received by an audience that expected something else. He then appeared in Frankfurt led by Weingartner and then in Nuremberg, Karlruhe, Stuttgart, Berlin and Vienna. In all places the work was criticized. The orchestration is lighter than that of the previous symphonies and the style of the work is more classical but using the typical Mahlerian coloring.

The first movement begins with a brief introductory phrase defined by Deryck Cooke, a famous musicologist, like the bells of a sleigh walking through the sky, the first theme appears, a typically Mahlerian ascending theme but of classical roots. The second theme is presented by the bass strings and is more calm, almost pastoral in nature. With the tinkling of the bells begins the repetition of the first part of the exhibition.

The simplicity of the themes contrasts with an elaborate development. Starts by presenting again the theme of the bells. An acid melody of the violin and then a grotesque solo of the horn are presented as elements of parody of terrestrial life. The flutes show a new motif derived from the second theme, accompanied by a subtle counterpoint. The clarinet initiates a series of dissonant motifs. A section begins with complicated contrapuntal motifs that again include the theme of the bells. This theme is mixed with that of the flutes and the first theme, which finally is clearly exposed by the trumpet.

Then a crescendo begins with a mixture of the themes, which stops with a somber call of the trumpet. This marks the final phase of development, like a fall from the building that had risen so unstable. The oboe introduces the main theme and the violins begin the recapitulation of the first theme. After a brilliant transition, the second theme appears, which grows in expressiveness. With the sound of the bells, the final phase begins. Return the first theme in a varied way reaching the heights with the treble of the violins. A call from the horn takes us almost to silence, from which the main theme emerges, initiating the coda that ends with a happy stretta.

The second movement consists of a scherzo with two trios. The scherzo is formed by a dance in the form of a ländler with bittersweet details. The initial melody of the horn is followed by dissonant sounds of the wood and a solo of the violin that seems out of tune, when using an unusual tuning form, producing an almost macabre sound. Sometimes it has been said that it is a kind of Totentanz, dance of the dead.

The first trio is a quiet popular dance that contains grotesque elements, introduced by the horn. Then the scherzo is resumed in a varied way. The second trio derives from the previous one and is introduced by the trumpet. Then the scherzo returns, this time the violin in its normal tuning. Several variations follow. The timpani start the final section highlighting the grotesque glissandi of the cellos before the coda.

The third movement consists of the adagio with its main theme initiated by the cellos. It is the soul of Mahler who speaks to us, with a calm, deep and deep song. Several variations of the theme follows. The first one presented by the violins and the second one with the most painful expression is presented by the oboe, followed by the warmth of the violins. The third variation is performed by the violins in their acute register, leading to the conclusion of the theme. The oboe presents the second theme with an expressive melody, continued by the violins in their ascending declamation. A new melody appears on the oboe before a contrapuntal section.

With the intervention of the solo violin, we return to the first theme. The development of the theme is complex with a new series of variations. Highlights a section that begins with the intervention of the horn, which is joined by the oboe and the English horn in a kind of trio. Finally the violins take their voice with the repetition of their section of the second theme. In the final part the tempo becomes faster, with a growing joy, to return to the adagio with a heartfelt phrase of the tubes, which brings us to the conclusion section. But when it is expected to end calmly, a sudden crescendo of the orchestra appears, with a fanfare of the trumpets, a premonition of the last movement, which leads us to the true calm coda.

The last movement uses the poem «Das Himmlische Leben» belonging to the collection «Des Knaben Wunderhorn». The lied was written and orchestrated in the year 1892. This movement had previously been thought of as the seventh movement of the third symphony, with the title «What the child tells me». It is a song to the heavenly joys. According to Mahler himself «when the man, amazed but confused, asks what all this means, the child answers him, this is the celestial life».

It begins with an introduction in which the clarinet presents a motive heard in the final part of the previous movement and a complementary idea. The soprano sings the first verses with this same melody. At the end of the first verse a more relaxed phrase, of great lyricism, sings the refrain. A small orchestral interlude separates it from the second verse, appearing the theme of the bells. The same happens at the end of the second verse and the third verse that speak of the pleasures of taste. It follows an orchestral intermission with new melodic motifs on the violins. The soprano sings the last verse that presents musical pleasures. The symphony ends with an orchestral coda with fragments of the initial motive of the movement, ending with a note that vanishes.

In this symphony, Mahler did not add any descriptive comments. It is one of his most lyrical works, written in a neoclassical language. It is difficult to understand what Mahler meant by this work. Everything is based on the last movement that expresses the well-being of the heavenly life. The first movement brings us memories of earthly life, which through death expressed in the scherzo, leads us to heaven. The adagio presents us with a stage of transition, in which he laughs and cries at the same time, as Mahler expressed. To the sadness of death joins the joy of achieving a higher state, reaching paradise, all expressed in a form of candor typical of children. It ends with the representation of celestial pleasures as expressed by the song that forms the last movement.

With this work ends the first cycle of symphonies that deal with his life as a hero. In the first we find it in search of faith, its death and resurrection in the second, the wonders of nature, contemplated in a pantheistic way, becoming universal love in the third and finally singing in the fourth, the joys of heavenly life. All a trip in search of happiness, that had not found on earth, in the future life.