Mahler set the conclusion of Goethe's Faust, a tragedy completed in 1832, in his Eighth Symphony, knowing the hero's full and stormy life.
Composition History
Mahler preceded the Faust conclusion with a thousand-year-old Pentecost hymn, 'Veni, creator spiritus', unaware that Goethe also admired these verses.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Mahler's Eighth Symphony reflects his belief in immortality, which he saw as a prerequisite for profoundly creative acts.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Mahler's belief in the eternal continuation of existence was influenced by physicist and natural philosopher Gustav Theodor Fechner, through writer Siegfried Lipiner.
Composition History
Gustav Mahler's Eighth Symphony, a colossal 'vocal symphony', required an unprecedented musical ensemble when its score was completed in early 1907.
Composer Biography
Gustav Mahler, born Jewish, converted to Catholicism in 1897 for tactical reasons, as it was the only path to becoming Director of the Vienna Court Opera in an antisemitic climate.
Compositional Technique
The Eighth Symphony, though divided into two parts, retains the contours of Mahler's original four-movement plan, with the first part as a closed first movement and the second part containing the remaining three.
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