On this week’s episode of Encore Houston we have just one piece, but it is a big one… one of the biggest, in fact! The Texas Music Festival Orchestra performed Mahler’s Third Symphony back in 2011, and the work is a beast. Generally considered the longest symphony in the canon, this piece certainly seems to fulfill Mahler’s axiom that a “symphony must be like the world.” When writing the work, Mahler was considering the arrival of summer, with the opening horns seeming to herald its approach.
Music in this episode:
- GUSTAV MAHLER, Symphony No. 3
- Melanie Sonnenberg, mezzo-soprano
- Festival Women’s Chorus
- Kelly Turner, director
- Houston Treble Choir
- Marianna Parnas-Simpson, director
- Franz Anton Krager, conductor
- Performance date: 6/11/11
- Originally aired: 6/2/18
New episodes of Encore Houston air Saturdays at 10 PM, with a repeat broadcast Sundays at 4 PM, all on Houston Public Media Classical.