G. Mahler: "Blumine" from Symphony no.1 (with score)

This recording is the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra led by Sir Simon Rattle.
Adapted from Wikipedia:
Blumine is the title of the rejected andante second movement of Mahler’s first symphony. It was first named Blumine in 1893. Blumine translates to "floral", or "flower", and some believe this movement was written for Johanna Richter, with whom Mahler was infatuated at the time. The movement originates from some incidental music Mahler wrote for Joseph Victor von Scheffel's dramatic poem Der Trompeter von Säckingen. It was originally scored for a small orchestra and this is how it appears in Blumine, which is in contrast to the large orchestra used in the rest of the symphony.
The movement was not discarded until after the first three performances, where it remained the second movement. After the 1894 performance (where it was called Bluminenkapitel), the piece received harsh criticism, especially regarding the second movement. In the Berlin premiere in 1896, Blumine was cut out. Shortly after, the symphony was published without the Blumine movement and in the subsequent versions of the symphony it was gone.
The movement was rediscovered by Donald Mitchell in 1966, and premiered by Benjamin Britten in 1967, after it had been lost for over seventy years. Many people did not agree with playing this music as part of the symphony: Mahler had rejected it from his symphony, they reasoned, so it should not be played as part of it. Famous Mahler conductors such as Leonard Bernstein, Georg Solti and Bernard Haitink never performed it. Others perform Blumine before or after the symphony, while still others have performed it on its own or alongside Mahler's other works.

[@JB-dm5cp]

Interesting how - to my ears - Mahler cleverly (and more masterfully) 'condensed' this music into parts of the the finale of his First Symphony. Personally, I think the symphony does make sense with the Blumine included. The final version may be the better one without it, but it is nice to be able to have the Blumine in the back of one's head, so to speak, when listening to the symphony.

[@sea7kenp]

My favorite part of Symphony # 1. Too bad Mahler cut it. Also, thanks for the Score!

[@jmwoods190]

Mehta often re-incorporates the Blumine into the rest of the symphony in both his recordings & live concerts!

[@Quotenwagnerianer]

@@jmwoods190 Creating a hybrid version of the work that Mahler never intended. If you want to have the Blumine movement in there you have to perform the entire Symphony in the unrevised form. That does change quite a bit in orchestration and in the case of the Finale also structure. One should also keep in mind that "Blumine" was written before the entire Symphony and was part of an incidental music to a play. It was the only piece of music from that play that Mahler salvaged and put it in his symphony. But since it was never written as a symphonic movement in the first place it is obvious why he later changed his mind and dropped from the symphony again. It's a beautiful little piece, but it should stand on its own and not be part of the 1st Symphony.

[@Dylonely42]

This is gorgeous. Thank you for the video of the performance with the score.

[@emanuelecrepet3630]

That trumpet solo...Hans Rott vibes

[@carlosgiacoman3781]

Hermoso. Simplemente hermoso e inquietante. Como una delicia abrazadora que fricciona el aire.

[@arlenehathaway3076]

great to read the history of this few minutes of beautiful music, Mahler is my favorite composer and I'm grateful to know this is still being played although not as originally written in the symphony.

[@remomazzetti8757]

It's a beautiful piece of music. While I don't believe it should be played as part of Mahler's definitive version, I love hearing the 5 movement "Hamburg " version of 1893, which I prefer to the final version. And it's not at all unusual for the middle movements of Mahler's symphonies to use reduced orchestral forces, such as the 4th movements of the Fifth and Seventh Symphonies.

[@evandanger547]

I'm glad you enjoyed it!

[@ClassicalDavid]

I definitely agree, this is too nice to not be played, and although the landler movement is also great, i believe it should be played in 5 movements too! theres too much difference between this and the landler so they can both be considered unique movements

[@jadseif8102]

Why that movement was criticized ? It's not awful, one of the most beautiful Malher's piece, and not hard to listen.

[@sea7kenp]

I am somewhat surprised that if people, back then, were going to complain of a "slow movement" in this Symphony, why not the current 3rd Movement (which I call the "Frere Jacques in minor Movement")?

[@CaptainStereo]

David Vernons biography on Mahler states that he cut it due him finding it "not quite symphonic enough"

[@mauriziotestino9998]

Questa bellissima musica la partecipo con assoluta sincerità alla famiglia del forte campione scomparso oggi

[@juancarlosgt2514]

Thanks for the score :D

[@zzzaphod8507]

Very pretty. I can't quite hear the final harp chord with my suboptimal sound setup, ha

[@nightshockplayz5894]

I hear inspiration from Brahm's First Symphony!

[@stephenjablonsky1941]

How interesting it is to hear music by Mahler that would have been a real achievement for any other composer, but just misses the mark for the master. I just finished listening to the symphony and this doesn't quite measure up to that perfection.

[@derby2510]

Would make a nice concert opener at any rate. Doesn’t sound particularly Mahlerian to me, but it is very sweet music.

[@nonosquare1066]

3:28 bass solo 😀

[@user-wi2in9bx1v]

Do you have the score?

[@evandanger547]

Here is the one I used: issuu.com/theodorepresser/docs/mahler_blumine_issuu