The original version of Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 1 in D major was the symphonic poem in two parts called "Titan," after a novel of the same name by Jean Paul. A comparison with the published symphony shows that this early work is quite close in its musical construction and mostly recognizable in its brilliant, if somewhat heavier, orchestration. It also includes the "Blumine" movement, which Mahler later rejected, but which many modern conductors feel duty bound to restore to the symphony. But if they enjoy conducting ...
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The original version of Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 1 in D major was the symphonic poem in two parts called "Titan," after a novel of the same name by Jean Paul. A comparison with the published symphony shows that this early work is quite close in its musical construction and mostly recognizable in its brilliant, if somewhat heavier, orchestration. It also includes the "Blumine" movement, which Mahler later rejected, but which many modern conductors feel duty bound to restore to the symphony. But if they enjoy conducting "Blumine" so much, they really should record "Titan" and leave the symphony alone, because it plainly weakens the symphonic structure. In "Titan," one could make the same claim that "Blumine" is a brake on the work's momentum, coming so quickly after the energetic first movement and delaying the boisterous Scherzo -- only here, the first part is a continuous, if subdivided, whole: Spring and No End, Flowers, In Full Sail -- so there is no reason to accept the demands of a symphonic...
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