Symphony Concert N° 11

Like its predecessors, Mahler’s Third also has a narrative programme. But in contrast to the »Resurrection Symphony«, which describes inner processes, the Third shifts the focus outwards to explore the whole world in ever larger circles. Mahler called this musical cosmology »a summer’s midday dream«, transporting the listener from soulless matter to plants, animals, people and angels, all the way up to divine love, reflected in the massive, wordless finale. With its huge orchestration and unprecedented length of over 90 minutes, this work confidently shattered all previous symphonic conventions: »For me, writing a symphony means creating an entire universe with all the technical means at my disposal«.