Symphony No. 7 by Gustav Mahler was written in 1904–05, with repeated revisions to the scoring. It 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". The complexity of the work's tonal scheme was analysed in terms of "interlocking structures" by Graham George.
Date of composition | 1905 (1904-1905) |
Premiered | 1908, September 19th in Prague, Czech Republic by Gustav Mahler |
First published | 1909, Bote & Bock in Berlin, Germany |
Type | Symphony |
Tonality | E Minor |
Approx. duration | 70 minutes |
Instruments |
Orchestra
Mandolin Guitar |
Autotranslations beta |
Gustav Mahler: Symphonie n°7 en mi mineur Gustav Mahler: Sinfonia n. 7 in mi minore Gustav Mahler: Sinfonie Nr. 7 e-moll |