Symphony No. 4 (Mahler) - Structure

Structure

A typical performance of the Fourth lasts about an hour, making it one of Mahler's "shorter" symphonies. The performing forces are also small by Mahler's usual standard. These features have made it the most frequently performed Mahler symphony, though in recent years the First has gained ground.

The movements of the symphony:

1. Bedächtig, nicht eilen (Moderately, not rushed) (Sonata Form)
2. In gemächlicher Bewegung, ohne Hast (Leisurely moving, without haste) (Scherzo & Trio)
3. Ruhevoll, poco adagio (Peacefully, somewhat slowly) (Theme & Variations)
4. Sehr behaglich (Very comfortably) (Strophic)

Flutes and sleigh bells open the unusually restrained first movement (and used later with a melodic theme known commonly as the 'bell theme', which helps define sections throughout the movement) often described as possessing classical poise. As would be expected for the first movement of a symphony, the first movement of Mahler's Symphony No. 4 is in sonata form.

The second movement is a scherzo, which would be expected as a third movement structure rather than a second. This movement features a solo part for a violin whose strings are tuned a tone higher than usual. The violin depicts Freund Hein, (lit. "Friend Henry") a figure from medieval German art; Hain (or Hein) is a traditional German personification of death, invented by poet Matthias Claudius. Freund Hein is a skeleton who plays the fiddle and leads a Totentanz or "danse macabre". According to Mahler's widow, Alma, Mahler took inspiration for this movement from the 1872 painting by Swiss artist Arnold Bocklin entitled: 'Self-Portrait with Death playing the Fiddle. The scherzo represents his dance and the unusual tuning of the violin adds tension to its sound and contributes to the music's ghostly character.

The third movement is a solemn processional march cast as a set of variations. Mahler uses the theme and variation structure in a more unconventional way. This movement can be divided into five main sections: A1 - B1 - A2 - B2 - A3 - CODA. The theme is presented in the first 16 bars of A1, but the true variations don't appear until section A3, although the theme is developed slightly within the preceding sections; sections A1, A2, B1 and B2 are in bar form. This movement remains mostly in G major, but does modulate to D minor, E minor and E major; the B2 section has a rather unstable tonality, being more chromatic and moving through many keys.

The fourth movement opens with a relaxed, bucolic scene in G major. A child, voiced by a soprano, presents a sunny, naive vision of Heaven and describes the feast being prepared for all the saints. The scene has its darker elements: the child makes it clear that the heavenly feast takes place at the expense of animals, including a sacrificed lamb. The child's narrative is punctuated by faster passages recapitulating the first movement. Unlike the final movement of traditional symphonies, the fourth movement of Mahler's No. 4 is essentially a song, containing verses, with interludes, a prelude and a postlude (a strophic structure). By the time the postlude is heard, there is a modulation to E major (the tonic major of the relative minor) and unusually stays in this key, ending the symphony away from the tonic of G major. Several ties to the Third Symphony can be heard in these passages as well.