Symphony No. 7 by Gustav Mahler was written in 1904–05, with repeated revisions to the scoring.
The Seventh remains the least well-known of all Mahler's symphonies. Precisely because its material is so enormously wide-ranging, its colors so thrillingly kaleidoscopic, this work is also perhaps the one from all the composer's canon most reliant on a knowing, strong-willed interpretive presence. This Michael Tilson Thomas provides in spades in one of his finest performances on disc.
- Thomas May
The Symphony No. 7 is sometimes referred to by the title Song of the Night (German: Lied der Nacht), which Mahler never knew (and certainly would be unlikely to have sanctioned). Although the symphony is often described as being in the key of E minor, its tonal scheme is more complicated. The symphony’s first movement moves from B minor (introduction) to E minor, and the work ends with a rondo finale in C major. Thus, as Dika Newlin has pointed out, “in this symphony Mahler returns to the ideal of ‘progressive tonality’ which he had abandoned in the Sixth”.
Track Listing:
Disc: 1
1. Langsam: Allegro risoluto, ma non troppo
2. Nachtmusic: Allegro moderato
3. Scherzo: Schattenhaft
Disc: 2
1. Nachtmusik: Andante amoroso
2. Rondo – Finale: Tempo I (Allegro ordinario)
