work in greater
detail, for he is second only to Strauss as a composer in Germany, and
the principal musician of South Germany.

His most important work is a suite of symphonies; and it was the fifth
symphony of this suite that he conducted at the Strasburg festival. The
first symphony, called _Titan_, was composed in 1894. The construction
of the whole is on a massive and gigantic scale; and the melodies on
which these works are built up are like rough-hewn blocks of not very
good quality, but imposing by reason of their size, and by the obstinate
repetition of their rhythmic design, which is maintained as if it were
an obsession. This heaping-up of music both crude and learned in style,
with harmonies that are sometimes clumsy and sometimes delicate, is
worth considering on account of its bulk. The orchestration is heavy and
noisy; and the brass dominates and roughly gilds the rather sombre
colouring of the great edifice. The underlying idea of the composition
is neo-classic, and rather spongy and diffuse. Its harmonic structure is
composite: we get the style of Bach, Schubert, and Mendelssohn fighting
that of Wagner and Bruckner; and, by a decided liking for canon form, it
even recalls some of Franck's work. The whole is like a showy and
expensive collection of bric-a-brac.

The chief characteristic of these symphonies is, generally speaking, the
use of choral singing with the orchestra. "When I conceive a great
musical painting (_ein grosses musikalisches Gemaelde_)," says Mahler,
"there always comes a moment when I feel forced to employ speech (_das
Wort_) as an aid to the realisation of my musical conception."

Mahler has got some striking effects from this combination of voices and
instruments, and he did well to seek inspiration in this direction from
Beethoven and Liszt. It is incredible that the nineteenth century should
have put this combination to so little use; for I think the gain may be
poetical as well as musical.

In the _Second Symphony in C minor_, the first three parts are purely
instrumental; but in the fourth part the voice of a contralto is heard
singing these sad and simple words:

"_Der Mensch liegt in groesster Noth!
Der Mensch liegt in groesster Pein!
Je lieber moecht ich im Himmel sein_!"[194]

The soul strives to reach God with the passionate cry:

"_Ich bin von Gott und will wieder zu Gott_."[195]

Then there is a symphonic episode (_Der Rufer in der Wueste_), and w