Podcasts Music Mahler Foundation Mahler Symphony No. 8 - Intro - Listening Guide

Mahler Symphony No. 8 - Intro - Listening Guide

Published: March 18, 2021, 5 p.m.

\u201cTry to imagine the whole universe beginning to ring and resound. There are no longer human voices, but planets and suns revolving\u201d (Gustav Mahler).

  • Part I is based on the (sacred) Latin text of a 9th-century Christian hymn for Pentecost, Veni creator spiritus (\u201cCome, Creator Spirit\u201d).
  • Part II is a setting of the words from the (secular) closing scene of Goethe\u2019s Faust. The depiction of an ideal of redemption through eternal womanhood (das Ewige-Weibliche).

The two parts are unified by a common idea, that of redemption through the power of love, a unity conveyed through shared musical themes.

---

A listening guide of Symphony No. 8 - Intro with Lew Smoley.