If I Could Choose Only One Work By...MAHLER

It Would Have To Be...Symphony No. 2 "Resurrection"
Is there anything for orchestra more powerful than this? I think not.
The List So Far:
1. Ravel: Ma Mère l’Oye (Mother Goose Ballet)
2. Bruckner: Symphony No. 7
3. Schubert: String Quintet in C major
4. Shostakovich: Symphony No. 4

[@cyrilclark5167]

I also have to choose Mahler's 2nd Symphony. In 1971 I attended a performance of this great work at the Royal Festival Hall, London. Otto Klemperer conducted the New Philharmonia Orchestra and Choir. Otto Klemperer was by then very frail - he was helped on to the platform and conducted, sitting at a desk. It was such a great privilege to be present at a performance conducted by a man who had been a friend of Mahler.

[@phamthanh4785]

I really feel with you, Dave. Mahler 2nd was not the first Mahler symphony that I listened to. The very first one was the 5th, the next one is the 9th. But even as the third Mahler symphony that I listened to, the 2nd remains the one Mahler symphony that gave me that WOW. It was indeed the first time I have ever heard the orchestra being used in that way. And the structure is just so eccentric. That dancing 2nd mov is not really a slow mov, that scherzo is unlike any other scherzi, then there come the song all of the sudden, then the bombastic opening of the finale and the dead silence that comes after with the spatial feeling of the off-stage band, then that absolutely glorious and epic march, then dead silence again with the spatial feeling again, then suddenly the choir shows up, then the operatic build up to that absolutely phenomenon finale that literally resurrected how I conceptualize a symphony. It was simply an epic movie, it was as if I was watching something comparable to Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings. Truly phenomenon.

[@leestamm3187]

My Mahler addiction began in the 1960's with Symphony 1 and grew from there. I love all of his exquisite compositions, symphonies and otherwise, and enjoy all of them regularly. However, the 1st was the cornerstone and will always remain my favorite.

[@richardwilliams473]

Same with me. It was his Titan Symphony that got me hooked on Mahler forever

[@giffordnakajima616]

This is a tough one. You could make persuasive arguments for the 3rd, 5th, 6th, 7th, Das Lied and the 9th, but can't argue with the 2nd. First time I heard it was in Avery Fisher Hall with Bernstein conducting. Completely blew me away.

[@LyleFrancisDelp]

What can I say? I’m a trombonist. It has to be the 3rd symphony. It is the universe contained in one musical work.

[@MikeDrewYT]

I agree. Many of the reasons Dave gives for choosing the 2nd apply even more strongly to the 3rd. What he mentions about Das Lied Von Der Erde also does.

[@peterdixon7734]

3 for me, although 2 held it off for decades. I will obviously never stray very far from 2: you can take that to the bank.

[@poturbg8698]

I'd choose the Ninth. I've heard it in concert 7-8x, and there is always more to find in it. In contrast, the "boffo" grandiosity of 2 just wore out its welcome after 2-3 in-person encounters.

[@craigkowald3055]

I just saw the 9th in LA this weekend under MTT. Transcendent.

[@goonbelly5841]

Gee whiz, we agree again. The 2nd was the very first Mahler symphony that I ever heard and is still the one I listen to the most.

[@jg5861]

Agreed. If you are not moved somewhere along Mahler's 2nd (I'm not even talking about the sublimity of the work as a whole), there's no hope for you.

[@steveschramko2386]

I saw this symphony performed in St. Pauls Cathedral in London, with a greatly augmented chorus. This was many years ago. It was as close to Heaven, to being 'resurrected' as I've ever gotten in this lifetime. The art, the music, the acoustics, the ambience, Mahler ! What else could I have wanted ? I will remember it for the rest of my life...

[@Mooseman327]

Das Lied von der Erde for me. I can live without #2. I can't live without Das Lied.

[@dennischiapello3879]

Even though choosing one Mahler is difficult because all are precious, not every Mahler symphony has an equally strong case to be made under the pressure of Cancrizans wrath. Symphony 2 really does seem like the best choice. For myself, the sprawling, episodic last movement has always been a challenge, so I'd welcome the opportunity to get it into my bones. But the scherzo is reason enough to choose it, as it strikes me as being one of Mahler's most delightful and approachable works, while not lacking for gravitas. It is also conceptually ingenious. I would hate to be without it.

[@klemmelchi9408]

It has to be no. 2 so that all other works not selected can resurrect.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Good point!

[@Charlie-gq9vu]

His eighth is my favourite but given such an ultimatum I think I'd have to agree...

[@marmaladejinx]

The Ninth !!! from Ken in Cornwall

[@jeffheller642]

As much as I love your teaching vids I think you are at your best when you talk about the pieces that most impacted you (cf. Haydn 88?). What's more I think it would make a lovely book, with each chapter devoted to a particular piece and supplemented by stories of your life (not least your feelings about the biz). You might call it My Life in Pieces, lol.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Thank you. Books? What are those?

[@Sars78]

I do agree, Sir.

[@brennanjordan4292]

Good arguments to be offered for several others, but I back the 2nd for Mahler. I'd completely leave out several other major composers if Cancrizens would let us keep a few Mahler works, but the gods set the rules.

[@michaelnisbett4307]

My introduction to the Mahler 2nd was on the weekend of the JFK assassination in November '63. CBS devoted its resources each evening to a musical performance, one being the Verdi Requiem under Ormandy and the Philadelphia and the other being Bernstein with the NYP doing the Mahler. Like the comments here the Mahler was for me an eye-opener or should I say 'ear-opener' In one fell swoop Richard Wagner was dethroned as my favorite composer replaced by Gustav Mahler who 60 years later still retains pride of place. The 2nd is not my favorite Mahler. What is is usually the last of the symphonies I listened to. In any case what is significant here is that in 1963 Mahler was a composer who was well down on any list of significant composers. Nowadays he is right up there with the greatest. Indeed the Mahler boom over the last half-century is one that is comparable to the J S Bach boom back in the 19th century. Not even the more recent Bruckner boom is comparable. Incidentally, if you look at the final movement of the 2nd you will discover that it is in a highly-modified sonata form. Go, examine the score, you'll see what I mean.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

It's so highly modified that it's actually a set of variations.

[@patrickhackett7881]

I was thinking either DLVDE or the Resurrection myself.

[@evansercombe]

The Resurrection and the Second Symphony are the same piece

[@martynbutlerOBE]

you are correct :)

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

I usually am.

[@cyberprimate]

If I could choose only ONE work by… BOULEZ ? My choice would be 'Symphonie concertante for piano and orchestra' because the score was lost and never recorded.

[@mr-wx3lv]

Mahler 2. I also like 5 as well. But I have an issue with Mahler is you could put many of his symphonic movements together and make one even more colossal symphony...

[@ruramikael]

Indeed, but from #7 and onwards I think the symphonies are coherent.

[@vijenac_pelina]

I see it all as one long work

[@nerowolfe5175]

Given that you are willing to ignore key, playing Frankensymphony can be fun. How about...the 1st movement of the 3rd, the 3rd movement of the 5th, the Andante of the 6th, and top it off with Part II of the 8th. Sure, I'd pay good money for that.

[@alanmishael5013]

Ninth, hands down.

[@galenzellars6971]

And the best version of this work to purchase?...

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Watch the "Repertoire" video or check reviews at ClassicsToday.com.

[@galenzellars6971]

@@DavesClassicalGuide Thank you, I will do so.

[@fred6904]

Alban Berg, Lulu. It just is his best work. Fred from Kristianstad

[@RenMan522]

Please spell the name of the using God you refer to.

[@goonbelly5841]

Crankypants?

[@ftumschk]

Cancrizans

[@albertbauli]

For me it is the 6th or the 5th

[@estel5335]

I would never accept or recognize a god/godlike entity, that only allowed a single Mahler work to exist. Pure blasphemy.

[@keithcooper6715]

The 2nd is definitely the most Gorgeous, the most Spectacular, but I have to go with the 9th, the deepest, the most personal and if I dare say -- the most introverted

[@zdl1965]

Mahler 6. This more or less sums up his fraught and tragic life, epic yet despairing, ending not in triumph (like the others) but death and doom.

[@ericleiter6179]

Yes the 6th is mine too for basically the same reasons...although I see why the 2nd is the better choice for this type of list

[@davidgoulden5956]

The greatest single Mahler movement? First movement of the Ninth. The greatest Mahler symphony? Number Six.

[@nerowolfe5175]

I see you are a man of refinement and culture, my good sir - for you are CORRECT!

[@davidgoulden5956]

@@nerowolfe5175 And you!

[@jasonclark1966]

Inclined to agree.

[@geraldparker8125]

I still think that "Das Lied von der Erde" is the ultimate choice for Mahler, especially the marvellous recording that Hans Rosbaud conducts, which just puts all previous and subsequent recordings of the work in the shade. But the Second Symphony is such a great work also, so your choice would be mine if "Das Lied von der Erde did not exist. Bruno Walter's recording of it is so fine that it woud remain my first choice. I've loved that recording since childhood. Pretty wonder music, extraordinary performance! I suspect that either work would make sour old Cancrizens (named after the retrograde canon) smile, even if his favourite work is Bach's "Art of Fugue".

[@johkkarkalis8860]

geraldparker I am going to wimp out here and declare my favorite Mahler symphony to be the one I happen to be listening to at the time. The child-like innocence of the 4th, the nocturnal moods of the 7th, the valedictory finale of the 9th. I can't choose. Your choice, Das Lied works for me as a wonderful symphony. The Art of Fugue? I have gone to bed with that work playing on repeat all nite long. I swear when I wake in the morning I am several clicks more intelligent. The morning coffee tastes much better, too!

[@abendrotfernweh2843]

I would choose Mahler's "Das Lied von der Erde" too, in Ewig!

[@jamesboswell9324]

This really is a no-brainer isn't it. Sure, all Mahler's symphonies are just marvellous yet the second somehow blazes forth uniquely. As it happens it was the first Mahler symphony I ever heard and its opening alone sent me straight into an unknown musical universe. A place from which I never returned and never want to!

[@dennisschwartzentruber3204]

Thumbs up and a shout out to all the Mahler lovers out there ! I get you because I get Mahler ; the greatest of them all in my mind !

[@tom6693]

You pretty much ran through my own calculus, starting with "It has to be DAS LIED, for sure." Then "But what about the 9th?" Then . . . "Oh, right, of course, the 2nd." From the depths to the heights, it's got it all. Horenstein is reported to have said that the worst thing about dying was not being able to hear Das LIED again, and I know what he means. It's a uniquely beautiful and moving work and is the Mahler I treasure the most, the one I have a longer and deeper personal history with than any other; but for the purposes of our Great God Cancrizans challenge, I have to go with Dave's choice of the 2nd Symphony. (and for me that means the Tennstedt live LPO--talk about transcendental!)

[@michaelbay212]

Excellent choice. I can‘t agree more. And you know what? Even after having listened to it many many times, and even performed it screaming away in the choir, the 2nd kicks me every time!!! Each time, it pushes me through so many emotional states up to the relief at the end! Just wonderful.

[@tarakb7606]

An impossible choice. If I had to choose, I would opt for Symphony no 3. It's got almost everything you could want from Mahler and it is also his longest (you get more for your buck).

[@jgesselberty]

The 2nd was my first exposure to Mahler. I bought the Beethoven 9th at a record store and it was scratched. When I returned it, the clerk did not have a replacement, but suggested the Mahler 2nd. What an eye-opener.

[@prairiecollectors]

I couldn't agree more. It's the WOW-factor - and it doesn't get old. The WOW is there every time I listen to this incredible symphony. Great choice.

[@jmwoods190]

Really hard to choose because I love pretty much EVERY Mahler symphony, including Das Lied von der Erde and(gasp) Cooke's performing version of Mahler 10. I absolutely love No. 2 for all the obvious reasons, but No. 6 (which I got to know earlier) was THE piece got me so into Mahler as well as the very seed of my music career- the work evokes such a huge variety of emotions, ranging from sheer grit & determination to utter fear & despair, and I almost teared up upon first hearing it. I'm also partial towards No. 3 also as it embodies Mahler's philosophy of a symphony containing everything like the world does, and it explores the idea in a profound manner. It's a tie between 2, 3 and 6 for me!

[@johkkarkalis8860]

masoaviator, the 6th was the first of the Bernstein Mahler series I heard. I was hooked. For someone coming to Mahler for the first time the 3rd can be intimidating, to say the least, in demanding one's attention over a very long period of time. The wait is entirely worth it. How in the world could anyone remain depressed, anxious, grumpy after the glorious final movement?

[@johkkarkalis8860]

Masoaviator, the 3rd exemplifies Mahler's comment to Sibelius that a symphony must be like the world and encompass everything. The 3rd does that, from the primeval stirrings of nature to the angelic finale. Each will have his favorite symphony(s). I gravitate towards 5,6,7. Oddly the only Mahler symphony I saw in concert was the 10th with Simon Rattle and the Cleveland Orchestra. A problematic work for some, but it made me a believer. Sad, but probably true. A simple shot of penicillin may have allowed us to hear Mahler's final word on the 10th symphony.

[@nerowolfe5175]

I found Mahler through the 2nd, and I found the 2nd by getting him mixed up with Gustav Holst. This was 50 years ago, mind you. At band camp, my newly 14-year-old self participated in an excruciatingly bad rehearsal of Holst's Mars (on clarinet; I later grew into a tolerably passable bassoonist). I found the work to be quite interesting - so interesting that I mostly forgot the composer's name when telling my mother about it later. I could only remember that it was "Gustav Somebody." She suggested, "Could it have been Gustav Mahler?" I said that that sounded about right. A few days later, my father came home from work (7th grade social studies teacher) and handed me the double-vinyl of MAHLER'S 2nd, courtesy of Bruno Walter and the NYPO. I dropped the needle and had a listen. 90 minutes later, give or take, every neuron in my young brain had been transmogrified, and the whole works had been totally rewired. I was made Mahler-mad, and remain so to this day. Mahler's 2nd clarified for me that my quest in this world was to seek out any transcendent, magnificent, glorious sobbing beauty that it might contain, and experience it all. As fate would have it, I was somewhat better with language than I was with music, so it turned out that I was to be an English teacher, and not a symphony bassoonist. Nevertheless, not to overstate the case: Mahler handed my life to me that day.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

That's a lovely story, and you DO have a way with words.

[@nerowolfe5175]

You are very kind, sir.

[@davidaltschuler9687]

How goofy and charming. You sure made use of a mistake; I was a much more typical and mediocre 14 year old.

[@nerowolfe5175]

@@davidaltschuler9687- I am sure that you were not mediocre. Typical, perhaps - but Teenager is a type, and one might say an archetype (sometimes I deeply regret never really working up the courage to talk to That Girl - but no. It was impossible).

[@iankemp1131]

Great story. And I'm sure you eventually got the chance to hear and love Holst's Planets too! A piece it took me years to fully appreciate - one by one on the individual planets - Saturn and Neptune took longest to "click" in my mind.

[@HassoBenSoba]

In early 1968, my older brother was in Navy boot camp, having a rather hard time of it...but he was able to listen to a radio by himself late at night. He heard the Klemperer EMI recording on one of Chicago's classical stations, and wrote to me about it, his first-ever exposure to Mahler. I had already heard Nos. 6 and 3 on the Leinsdorf/Boston PBS TV broadcasts, but #2 was new to me. Soon, we knew all the Mahler Symphonies, and life was never the same. But I agree...NO. 2 HAS to be the one, since it explodes (sometimes literally) with the brilliance , audacity, and cosmic vision that only Mahler could have summoned. It's Mahler doing what he did best, in all it's youthful, primal, raw glory. LR

[@marknewkirk4322]

Here's one that occurs to me - the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto. Mendelssohn wrote lots of good music, no doubt, but the violin concerto is, in many ways, the definitive work of the entire genre. Every violin concerto is measured against it in one way or another. It is a perfect piece, and it contains examples of Mendelssohn doing the things he does best.

[@stephenmarmer543]

Yes, I suggested it too in an earlier post. Changed concertos thereafter

[@markzacek237]

Really tough to pick for Mendelssohn. The Hebrides, Midsummer Night’s Dream, the Scottish Symphony, the violin concerto… I’ve already recommended the Octet as the one and only. But you can make a case for any of these.

[@rickvansoest1905]

Mahler's Resurrection Symphony has to be one of the most exciting works not only by Mahler but just about anyone. I agree with your pick 100 percent.

[@LouiePlaysDrums]

I agree. My choice for Mahler is also Symphony No. 2. Perhaps you could do a video on how you discovered Mahler. I'd be interested in hearing about that. I liked your video on how you discovered Sibelius. That was cool.

[@davidaiken1061]

My first introduction to the Joys and Sorrows of Mahler World was via the CBS Bernstein Third. I was enthralled from the first note, and that work has been my personal favorite among the Mahler symphonies ever since. However, my choice for the One Survivor was the Ninth. I have no doubt that it's Mahler's greatest, and also most personal, musical utterance. However, I understand why you, Dave, have chosen the Second. It is a vast universe all to itself, and does have that earth-shattering apocalyptic finale, unlike anything else in the history of music. I will also add that if I had my choice in the matter, I would want "Urlicht" sung at my funeral.

[@omegamale7880]

I'm borderline obsessed with the Sixth.

[@jmwoods190]

Same for me, it's the very work that really made me a hardcore Mahlerian as well as the seed for my music career! That said, the 2nd is still an incredible symphony, and same for the 3rd!

[@nerowolfe5175]

Whose, I wonder? (Hint: the correct answers are, in no particular order, Mitropoulos, Barbirolli, and Tennstedt. You are welcome).

[@tom6693]

@@nerowolfe5175 Not going to argue with those! Barbirolli was my doorway to Mahler--the Berlin 9th, as it happens, which Dave regularly savages. The end of that last breath-taking movement hit me the way you describe the Walter 2nd did you: I felt like something fundamental about myself had been made clear to me, available to me. Transformative is an overworked term, but it's appropriate here. It marked a turning point in my personal life; and it's certainly fair to say that it re-directed my musical life--not least for introducing me to Barbirolli, whose emotionally warm and broadly humane music-making has been one of my great pleasures for decades.

[@curseofmillhaven1057]

Really tough but I went for the Fifth Symphony. It was my introduction to Mahler (Karajan recording coupled with Kindertotenlieder) and boy what an introduction! The tragic power of the first movement, the turmoil of the second with that revelatory quiet passage for low strings, all of it pointing to where Mahler was going musically but also where he'd been. Wonderful work

[@joshuafruend3348]

I totally agree! The “Resurrection” was the first Mahler symphony I heard in full length; we studied it in my symphonic literature class. From the very first moments of the symphony with those cellos and basses zapping in, I knew that it was going to be something else, for sure.

[@robertdandre94101]

impossible for me to choose a single work by mahler....!....mahler is a whole, a world on its own, a uniform block, where all possible feelings go through.....when you discover the work of mahler, one has the impression of being in front of a universe on its own .... here is my opinion....sorry....!

[@chrisandersen5635]

If we take right down to first hit of a thing called Mahler that sticks deep inside in my fifties, it’s the First for me. That beginning leading into the youthfulness, the dances, the mystery. The hope and the worry. To me, somehow here, we have the perfect beginning to a great cycle of works. It’s the foundation for all the rest. As I said goes right back to my youthful core as I was developing.

[@billybachiashvili]

I can't disagree, I absolutely adore his 2nd symphony; As well as his loving 5th and his haunting 6th. But I would be lying to myself if I said any of them were better than his 8th symphony - the colloquial "Symphony of a Thousand" (funnily, Mahler disapproved of this unofficial "marketing" title of it). I haven't seen anyone down in the comments here come to its defense so here I am. I first heard of this 8th symphony in Mahler's repertoire completely by accident after watching a funny TikTok, of all things, meme-ing about his 8th symphony while actually mistakenly playing the finale to his 2nd symphony in the background. I fell in love with that finale to his 2nd symphony, don't get me wrong, but after hearing the finale to his 8th upon searching, I was a changed man. The absolute bombast from the beginning of "Veni Creator Spiritus" all the way throughout until the finale with "Alles Vergängliche" is just incredibly hard to describe in words. Whenever I listen to that finale to his 8th, I close my eyes and can only imagine a person, maybe even me perhaps, ascending to Heaven - placed in front of its Golden Gates (in my head it's as it is pictured in Tom & Jerry, of all places), and at the moment the chorus is finished and the brass/orchestra/organ take over to finish out the finale/piece, I envision those Golden Gates opening, accepting me into endless peace and serenity. There is no other classical work I can think of that can compare to the emotion I feel when listening to Mahler's 8th Symphony. It gives me goosebumps every single time I hear it, without fail. This 8th Mahlerian symphony, and especially its finale, are now essential parts of me as a person, and I will defend its honor and beauty til the day I die. Seeing, hearing, and experiencing this symphony in person in Minneapolis in Summer 2022 is something I will never ever forget. Thank you, Mahler.

[@bunbie]

The second is my least favorite Mahler symphony. Absolutely astounded how you could choose this one.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

That's your problem, I'm afraid.

[@lesgoe8908]

Mahler: Sym 2 -- your singing to the choir there, Dave!

[@ericnagamine7742]

As a lapsed brass player 3rd Symphony. As a Mahlerite Das Lied. 3 really encompasses the whole world.

[@Nyssa337]

For Mozart, The Marriage of Figaro. I don’t want to live in a universe without it. For me it could very well be my one choice for all of music history.

[@shawnhampton8503]

Performing and recording the Resurrection with The Dallas Symphony and Andrew Litton will always be at the top of my own personal musical experiences. It is an utterly amazing work and I totally agree with your choice.

[@BretNewtonComposer]

I saw that performance - well, technically, I saw the dress rehersal. And it may be the most influential musical moment of my entire life.

[@robkeeleycomposer]

For me it would have to be the 6th. More mature, digs deeper I'd say, Although the Scherzo of no 2 is pretty unbeatable, as Berio demonstrated!

[@Mason-ze6ri]

For Ralph Vaughan Williams I'd like to suggest "Serenade to Music" (preferably with choral part), might not be his largest orchestral work but it has a specialty serenity, hopefully it would calm down the mighty Cancrizans

[@adamfrye246]

I go for #4 because of it's charming expression of endearing simplicity. I was just listening to Solti's version and thought he really got into the mood of that except his soloist sounds like Angela Lansbury.

[@davidcavissi3198]

I won't contest the choice, having performed the Second several times between 1980 and 2013. DLvdE and the Ninth would have been fine by me as well. Or the first... or Sixth... or Eighth... or...

[@robertparry4331]

ITS MAHLER 2 FOR ME AS WELL.THIS SYMPHONY GRABS ME EVERY TIME I HEAR IT.A SUPREME ACHIEVEMENT AND MAKES LIFE WORTH LIVING.ROBERT J PARRY

[@chrisnorlin57]

As a future episode, Brahms - the late piano works op. 116-119. No composer expressed a broader range of emotions, or described them so specifically and with such nuance, and these are perhaps the best example of his capacity for emotional contrast and flavor (though the Waltzes and Handel Variations do it too)

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Interesting choice!

[@fred6904]

Hello everyone. Just for the record, I can inform you that Stokowski recorded Mahler's sym. No 2 in the summer of 1974 in London whith the LSO and the recording was released 1975. Best wishes Fred from Kristianstad

[@stuf159]

Choosing one piece by Scriabin is really easy, Poem of ecstasy.

[@CortJohnson]

Yes - the most purely astounding work - and it came on so early…a transcendent symphony if there was ever was one…it was also my first experience with Mahler as well.

[@jensguldalrasmussen6446]

I'm also very infatuated with symphony no. 2 - except for a bit of the orchestral part in the finale, that always - and irritatingly, reminds me of the title melody to my childhood tv-series "Flipper" (the dolphin). I for my part, though, will join the gentlemen above, that opt for symphony no. 3. If only one work of Mahler's existed, I think it contains so many 'Echt-Malerish' elements, that we have secured a representative example of Mahler's genius for posterity after the cataclysmic purge of Cancrizans. Granted, we do not to the full extent get the 'Angst' and anguish permeating the latter works. However, the nature-romantic panteism, the allusions to the "Das Knaben Wunderhorn"-universe, the Nietzschean alto-solo, the overpowering choral contribution, it's all there. And last, but not least: the final movement, that Mahler, when he pondered a programmatic approach to the symphony, aptly, gave the title: "What Love Tells Me" (he left the idea of a program for the symphony sometime before publication, though). With its "Heavenly Length" it can stand as a beautiful example of Mahler's gift for writing deeply moving, emotionally intense slow movements. And with Bruno Walter's word on this movement, I rest my case: "In the last movement, words are stilled-for what language can utter heavenly love more powerfully and forcefully than music itself? The Adagio, with its broad, solemn melodic line, is, as a whole-and despite passages of burning pain-eloquent of comfort and grace. It is a single sound of heartfelt and exalted feelings, in which the whole giant structure finds its culmination".

[@rdelilkhan9522]

This would be my choice too, Dave. I was blown away the first time I heard the 2nd, and it still is gut wrenching decades later, erschütternd, like no other of his symphonies.

[@stephenjcarr1]

Before I saw your choice, I said to myself it has to be No. 2 - so we agree

[@stephenjcarr1]

"Hits you in the gut" is right. My favorite moment in the finale is "Bereite dich" sung by the male voices, and then the soloists come in..."Zu leben"

[@theosalvucci8683]

Oh, mensch, the Resurrection Symphony is great, but greater still is Das Lied Von Der Erde. I love it because it makes no sense, whatsoever. It's like doing kung-fu in lederhosen. It can be done, but should it have? Of the symphonies I seem to be attached to the Fourth, which makes no sense, either. Could someone explain this to me? The second would only be my logical choice, since it contains everything and so a person could extract anything he wanted from it.

[@michaelgray3643]

For me it’s the 9th, the most profound symphonic statement ever written!

[@stephenmarmer543]

Mozart will present a problem because there are so many categories of his greatness. But I suggest Don Giovanni. Perhaps the greatest of all operas and displaying the full range of Mozart’s compositional genius.

[@steveschwartz8944]

Because I'm shallow, my favorite is Des Knaben Wunderhorn. For me, Mahler is with Schubert the acme of German Lieder. It shows Mahler's orchestral and contrapuntal genius. It is music without emotional inflation, varied in character (which makes it ideal for repeated listening), and with melodies that surpass your expectations and even your imagination. That is, not only are the melodies wonderful in themselves and every note seeming to have found its perfect place, but you couldn't predict them or their twists and turns.

[@iankemp1131]

Surely nothing shallow about Des Knaben Wunderhorn. Marvellous use of the right orchestral colour - often sparingly - for each song. And then used in his first 4 symphonies! I first appreciated Mahler through Bernstein's 1980s TV programme on DKN.

[@barryguerrero6480]

They're all great. I'd probably pick 7, but it has to be a really good performance.

[@wayneday3116]

There are certain works that should bring one to their feet at the closing bars and Mahler's Second is certainly one of them.

[@robertjones447]

Mahler 5. Erich Leinsdorf/BSO with Roger Voisin on trumpet. Breathtaking!

[@RModillo]

I am still trying to find the essay, but Leinsdorf wrote once about having a maiden aunt when he was little, whose hobby was attending Viennese military funerals. It was direct exposure to this style that kept him from letting the opening get all goopy. Interestingly, the tempo he chose was nearly identical to the one asked for by the composer of another famous piece of Viennese outdoor military funeral music-- about a century before Mahler wrote his. Just to prove that it wasn't a total coincidence, the harmonic rhythm of the first few bars is the same in both examples, even if Mahler changed the key from c-minor to c#-minor.

[@robertjones447]

@@RModillo Somehow, that rings true! Leinsdorf was thought of as cold and exacting. The Boston Symphony musicians were not fond of him, particularly as he followed Munch, a gregarious lush. Leinsdorf was succeeded by Seiji Ozawa, who was also beloved. His recorded legacy has become nearly forgotten, which is a shame, considering what beautiful sounds he produced from the BSO.

[@benjaminharris2043]

For me, it's the 6th. Today's choice: Ligeti: Etudes Book 1

[@eddihaskell]

Music critic Michael Steinberg colored Mahler for me by referring to it as "pogrom music" vs. "program music" in a lecture but I think he quoting someone and being ironic.

[@brossjackson]

I'm happy with this pick. Yeah it has all the big loud stuff, but it also has some lovely quiet bits, notably including "Urlicht" and things like that moment of stillness in the finale when the bird/flute kicks in. Also, given that it's nearly 1.5 hours long, it doesn't really feel flabby. The last movement is the only one with any "sprawl" to it, and it's such a vivid and epic journey that it doesn't really lose my interest at any point. (The real "hot take" choice would have been Das Klagende Lied)

[@josecarmona9168]

I'd like to offer the God Cancrizans a Messiaen's work, and was doubting between Turangalila and the Quatuor. But, oh my, I have remembered the fantastic double Warner CD with Previn's Turangalila and Yvonne Loriod's Quartet. And the God also allows us to choose a CD set. So that is my choice for Messiaen. Is this a forbidden trick?

[@sbor2020]

Like choosing a favourite offspring! 2nd, 9th, Das Lied.., sure but isn't the easier question *which Mahler symphony **_could you live without_* ? My suggestion ... Like many, I suggest the *EIGHTH Symphony* .

[@nerowolfe5175]

Motion is seconded and passed.

[@miketackett4283]

At last we agree! But the WOW factor didn't hit me all at once; in fact I was somewhat bored on first hearing, believe it or not (via the old '58 Columbia recording of Bruno Walter with the NY Phil). Fortunately I came around (5 or 6 recorded versions and concert performances later...).

[@nerowolfe5175]

How odd, for it was that very version that made an instant convert of me. Ah, well: De gustibus non est disputandem.

[@miketackett4283]

@@nerowolfe5175 What he said...

[@a.m.rademaker3360]

This is a very tough choice indeed! The Second is a grand work for special occasions. But for me, humour is one of Mahler's most distinctive features, and there is not a lot of that in No. 2 (the Scherzo excepted). So for me it would have to be No. 4 or No. 7. Ultimately, the contrapuntal and thematic subtleties of the earlier piece decide the matter. And importantly, it has a song too. So well, yes, the Humoreske that is Symphony No. 4 would be the most typically Mahlerian work for me.

[@11superchelseafc]

I went into this thinking “he’s going to pick Das Lied, but my personal choice would be the 2nd” the 2nd is just magic

[@nelsoncamargo5120]

I would choose... the nine! The first Mahler's symphony I really liked!

[@RModillo]

The 9th is too much of a ball-breaker to enjoy unreservedly. 1 and 4 are easily-digestible, the 4th being unexpectedly sophisticated. Quite Webernian in its own way. No special argument against the 2nd, though. It speaks directly. Beyond his skill at the time, but set him up well. Like Brahms 1, in that sense. Brahms, who was an honest judge, said "I'd once thought that Strauss was the radical who would explode everything. Now I know it will be Mahler." He also said that the Scherzo was a "work of genius", and he didn't say that a lot.

[@martinbishop2966]

There is only one option, the 8th symphony. The greatest music of all time.🙂

[@gavrosaurus]

If Mahler did not write anything other than _I. Bedächtig, nicht eilen_ [Symphony No. 4] that would be enough for me. OK, maybe also _I.Trauermarsch_ from Symphony No. 5 but 1st movement from Forth is just gorgeous to me.

[@cspiegs1]

I flip flop between the first and the second symphonies. Yes, the second is spiritual and expansive. But there is a richness and a representative of triumph in the first that gives me goosebumps. It's called "Titan" for a reason. I'm actually listening to all the symphonies since I recently acquired the new DG record box set with Leonard Bernstein. Then I'll listen to my Bernstein Columbia limited edition box set (which I had him sign in person). I could stop there and resume my life but I also have box sets with Ozawa and the BSO and Solti and the CSO (mostly) I could re listen to (I would like to find a Haitink set).

[@davidmayhew8083]

I bought the Bernstein NYP box recording and played alittle and thought, "eeh". I had it for months unplayed. Then on a rainy day I was painting a picture on the floor and put on the 2nd from the beginning. I was soon absolutely transported. I was astounded over and over again. The next day I loaned it to 2 good friends and we all became big Mahler fans. The next year I bought different symphonies, with Bernsteim. and had the most glorious music experience of my life. I feel so lucky to have been so young and to have experienced the great Mahler awakening.

[@dankoppel6271]

The symphony that first made me a lover of Mahler. It's hard not to put the 3rd (especially the finale) on this list though. Thankfully, the god of selective destruction of music doesn't exist!

[@Chromexus]

I'm with De La Grange: There may be music as beautiful as the final movement of the 9th but there is none more powerful and beautiful... just look at the orchestra in Abbado's Lucerne perfomance and how even these performers-who have probably seen and heard it all- are swept away by the sheer ovewhelming monumental greatness of the music

[@ilunga146]

No. 2 is my No. 1, too.

[@jennyrook715]

Totally agree. Love all of Mahler, so passionately, but the second does the furious, despairing depths and the only musical portrayal of the Divine which truly convinces.

[@sdka9922]

Of course all the suggestions are great. I havd a little preference for the 9th but i love the 5th too. That said and only for personal history i would choose the Kindertotenlieder, his most personal and deeply moving piece.

[@stephenwu1524]

I absolutely adore everything Mahler wrote, but my personal favorite is his 6th symphony. I have absolutely no idea why either, something about the music (especially the 4th movement) just strikes me in a way no other art has. Das Lied von der Erde and the 9th are close 2nds and 3rds for me

[@DavidJohnson-of3vh]

You have chosen wisely!

[@RichardGreen422]

Almost any choice is reasonable. Mine would be the 3rd. One of its virtues is its length--so if I can only have one Mahler, quantity matters! And for me (and I know this is personal), the last movement of the 3rd is even more moving than the last movement of the 9th.

[@nerowolfe5175]

I agree, but with this distinction: the final movement of the Third is the slow gathering of everything into a shining whole; the equally moving final movement of the Ninth is the slow, gentle re-moving of everything, bit by piece, into the quiet and gathering dark.

[@scp240]

Mahler's lieder stands out for me. Tough to pick just one song cycle, but Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (Songs of a Wayfarer) is the one I return to most often.

[@stevemcclue5759]

Sorry Dave, can't agree with this one. For me the 2nd Symphony is a stop-start intermittently interesting piece. Of course, the finale - done well - will blow your socks off, making the whole thing seem worthwhile, but to get there you've to plod through much ponderous coming and going, "important" silences, and you've to get through the sickly-sweet 2nd movement. For me, it's not what the Germans call "Durchcomponiert": it doesn't flow all the way through: a fine journeyman work, but not a masterwork. There! I've said it!. For me Mahler doesn't manage mastery until the 3rd Symphony, which could, perhaps be my offering to your strange, fussy musical God, even though i love the 5th more and think the 6th is a better composition. But no, it would have to be the 3rd. Bim Bam!😉

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

That's OK. You're entitled to be wrong once in a while. Cancrizans will forgive you. Or maybe not.