400 bars drafted in short score.
The emotional weight of the symphony is resolved by the long final movement, which incorporates and ties together music from the earlier movements, whereby the opening passage of the symphony, now transferred to the horns, is found to be the answer to tame the savage dissonance that had racked the end of the first movement.
The music of the flute solo that was heard after the introductory funeral scene can now return to close the symphony peacefully, and unexpectedly, in the principal key of F-sharp major. The draft for this movement reveals that Mahler had originally written the ending in B-flat major, but in the process of revision worked the same music into F-sharp, the key of the first movement.
Movement 5: Finale. Langsam, schwer. Title page.
Movement 5: Finale. Langsam, schwer. First page.
Movement 5: Finale. Langsam, schwer. Last page.
Movement 5: Finale. Langsam, schwer. Last page.
Movement 5: Finale. Langsam, schwer. Last page.
Movement 5: Finale. Langsam, schwer. Last page.
“Fur dich leben!” (To live for you)
“Fur dich sterben” (To die for you!)
“Almschi!“ (Alma)
On the last page, left, at a point where the music strikes a particularly harrowing note, with the searing melodic leap (B sharp – G sharp), these simple words utter Mahler’s despair and his undying love, over the very last measures.
Listening Guide