Monergism Books

Format: CD
Publisher: Harmonia Mundi

Availability: Usually ships the same business day.

Description: 

When it was performed for the first time in 1910, Mahler's eighth symphony received an enthusiastic reception such as no work by the great Viennese composer had yet encountered. In many ways, this composition, which he considered his magnum opus, takes up where Beethoven's 9th left off nearly a century before. It combines two enormous choral cantatas, Veni, creator spiritus (an old Pentecostal hymn), with a setting of Goethe’s Faust. Scored for an eight-part double choir, boys’ choir, eight soloists and a huge orchestra including organ, the work gained its decidedly un-official nickname, "The Symphony of a Thousand," as indeed, 1004 performers took part in the Munich premiere. Even if Mahler insisted on crossing out this subtitle on the poster, it actually expresses the work’s monumental quality quite well. In this new recording led by Kent Nagano, the symphony's rich drama and fervid passion are revealed as never before.

Rundfunkchor Berlin
MDR Rundfunkchor Leipzig
Windsbacher Knabenchor
Sigurd Brauns (organ)
Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin

Kent Nagano