Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 8 ‘Symphony of a Thousand’

The premiere of Mahler’s colossal Eighth Symphony in Munich in September 1910 was the greatest success of his life. Ten years earlier, his future wife Alma had received the blunt verdict from her stepfather, the painter Carl Moll: “Mahler? Great conductor. He composes too – but it’s no good.” Until 1910, many would have shared Moll’s doubts about Mahler as a composer; but by the premiere of the Eighth Symphony at the latest, that had changed. Mahler’s impresario, the shrewd and somewhat theatrical Emil Gutmann, did an excellent job. It was he who coined the sensational name “Symphony of a Thousand,” to Mahler’s initial dismay, which subsided somewhat when he saw how much interest Gutmann had generated. Munich’s colossal new music festival hall was sold out twice. These first performances under Mahler’s own direction were exceptionally well prepared, and the response was sensational, both from the audience in the hall and from the press.