Uploaded June 2020 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 8 "Symphony of a Thousand" is one of the largest musical juggernauts that a huge ensemble can conquer. Mahler himself noted this work as easily his biggest, and probably the greatest piece he ever wrote, and for many reasons clear to see. He quoted it as "A vision that struck me by lightning! I only had to write it down, if it has been dictated to me." This piece combines everything that a Romantic-era symphony has to offer and then some, especially with such a massive instrumentation like this, seeing so many people united into one huge force is quite an awe-inspiring event.
In the summer of 1906, Mahler experienced an incredibly intense burst of inspiration for this piece. Within only a few weeks, he composed the entire symphony. Mahler described this symphony as such, "Imagine that the universe begins to sound and ring out. These are no longer human voices, but planets and suns that are circling." This work has been nicknamed "Symphony of a Thousand" for a reason; the 1910 premiere in Munich had 171 instrumentalists and a whopping 858 singers (1,029 people). In Mahler's lifetime, this was his biggest career success. The Munich premiere was the last time that Mahler conducted a premiere of one of his own works. He died at the age of 50 eight months later.
Commonly argued as Mahler's most joyful symphony, the text sung by the choruses and vocal soloists centers around the theme of redemption through the power of love. Unlike the layout of a normal symphony, this is split into 2 parts rather than 4 movements. Part I uses the sacred text of the 9th-century Latin hymn, "Veni creator spiritus" (Come, Creator Spirit). Part II uses the closing passages from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's 19th-century dramatic poem, "Faust."
INSTRUMENTATION:
2 piccolos (1st doubling 5th flute), 4 flutes, 4 oboes, cor anglais, 3 B♭ clarinets, E♭ clarinet, bass clarinet, 4 bassoons, contrabassoon, 8 horns, 8 trumpets (four offstage), 7 trombones (three offstage), tuba, 4 timpani, bass drum, cymbals, triangle, tam-tam, 2 tuned bells in A and A♭, glockenspiel, organ, celesta, piano, harmonium, 2 mandolins, 2 harps (preferably doubled), 1st violins, 2nd violins, violas, cellos, double basses (with low C-string), 3 soprano solos, 2 alto solos, tenor solo, baritone solo, bass solo, 2 SATB choirs, children's choir
COMPOSER: Gustav Mahler
CONDUCTOR: Klaus Tennstedt
ORCHESTRA: London Philharmonic Orchestra
CHOIRS I & II: London Philharmonic Choir
BOYS CHOIR: Tiffin School Boys' Choir
VOCAL SOLOISTS:
Elizabeth Connell, soprano I
Edith Wiens, soprano II
Felicity Lott, soprano III
Trudeliese Schmidt, alto I
Nadine Denize, alto II
Richard Versalle, tenor
Jorma Hynninen, baritone
Hans Sotin, bass
Recorded in 1987 by EMI Records Ltd.
TRACKLIST:
0:00 - I. Hymnus: Veni, creator spiritus
24:41 - II. Closing scene from Goethe's "Faust"
Please be aware that all of the music (and images) featured in this video belong to their respective owners, and I or this channel does not claim any right over them. I upload these solely for archiving purposes, and for the sharing and enjoyment of great music. Monetization is not enabled. If you are the rightful owner of copyrighted material used and would like the video removed from YouTube, please, instead of reporting/striking my channel, leave a comment below with your statement and I will take the video down effective immediately.
Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 8 "Symphony of a Thousand" is one of the largest musical juggernauts that a huge ensemble can conquer. Mahler himself noted this work as easily his biggest, and probably the greatest piece he ever wrote, and for many reasons clear to see. He quoted it as "A vision that struck me by lightning! I only had to write it down, if it has been dictated to me." This piece combines everything that a Romantic-era symphony has to offer and then some, especially with such a massive instrumentation like this, seeing so many people united into one huge force is quite an awe-inspiring event.
In the summer of 1906, Mahler experienced an incredibly intense burst of inspiration for this piece. Within only a few weeks, he composed the entire symphony. Mahler described this symphony as such, "Imagine that the universe begins to sound and ring out. These are no longer human voices, but planets and suns that are circling." This work has been nicknamed "Symphony of a Thousand" for a reason; the 1910 premiere in Munich had 171 instrumentalists and a whopping 858 singers (1,029 people). In Mahler's lifetime, this was his biggest career success. The Munich premiere was the last time that Mahler conducted a premiere of one of his own works. He died at the age of 50 eight months later.
Commonly argued as Mahler's most joyful symphony, the text sung by the choruses and vocal soloists centers around the theme of redemption through the power of love. Unlike the layout of a normal symphony, this is split into 2 parts rather than 4 movements. Part I uses the sacred text of the 9th-century Latin hymn, "Veni creator spiritus" (Come, Creator Spirit). Part II uses the closing passages from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's 19th-century dramatic poem, "Faust."
INSTRUMENTATION:
2 piccolos (1st doubling 5th flute), 4 flutes, 4 oboes, cor anglais, 3 B♭ clarinets, E♭ clarinet, bass clarinet, 4 bassoons, contrabassoon, 8 horns, 8 trumpets (four offstage), 7 trombones (three offstage), tuba, 4 timpani, bass drum, cymbals, triangle, tam-tam, 2 tuned bells in A and A♭, glockenspiel, organ, celesta, piano, harmonium, 2 mandolins, 2 harps (preferably doubled), 1st violins, 2nd violins, violas, cellos, double basses (with low C-string), 3 soprano solos, 2 alto solos, tenor solo, baritone solo, bass solo, 2 SATB choirs, children's choir
COMPOSER: Gustav Mahler
CONDUCTOR: Klaus Tennstedt
ORCHESTRA: London Philharmonic Orchestra
CHOIRS I & II: London Philharmonic Choir
BOYS CHOIR: Tiffin School Boys' Choir
VOCAL SOLOISTS:
Elizabeth Connell, soprano I
Edith Wiens, soprano II
Felicity Lott, soprano III
Trudeliese Schmidt, alto I
Nadine Denize, alto II
Richard Versalle, tenor
Jorma Hynninen, baritone
Hans Sotin, bass
Recorded in 1987 by EMI Records Ltd.
TRACKLIST:
0:00 - I. Hymnus: Veni, creator spiritus
24:41 - II. Closing scene from Goethe's "Faust"
Please be aware that all of the music (and images) featured in this video belong to their respective owners, and I or this channel does not claim any right over them. I upload these solely for archiving purposes, and for the sharing and enjoyment of great music. Monetization is not enabled. If you are the rightful owner of copyrighted material used and would like the video removed from YouTube, please, instead of reporting/striking my channel, leave a comment below with your statement and I will take the video down effective immediately.
![Sarah Kirkland Snider — The Reserved, The Reticent (2004) [w/ score]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ULDvP2jDTIo/mqdefault.jpg "Sarah Kirkland Snider — The Reserved, The Reticent (2004) [w/ score]
Snider writes in the program notes of this wonderful work for solo cello:
I wrote this piece in my first year of graduate study at Yale. I wanted to create a lyrical, ruminative, single-movement narrative for solo cello, an instrument I had studied as a child and often longed to play. The music was inspired by this passage from As One Put Drunk Into the Packet-Boat, a poem by John Ashbery.
COMPOSER: Sarah Kirkland Snider
CELLO: Hrant Parsamian
Please be aware that all of the music (and images) featured in this video belong to their respective owners, and I or this channel does not claim any right over them. I upload these solely for archiving purposes, and for the sharing and enjoyment of great music. Monetization is not enabled. If you are the rightful owner of copyrighted material used and would like the video removed from YouTube, please, instead of reporting/striking my channel, leave a comment below with your statement and I will take the video down effective immediately.
#scorefollower #contemporaryclassical #classicalmusic")
![John Mackey — Juba (2003) [w/ score]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/UbW689sEazc/mqdefault.jpg "John Mackey — Juba (2003) [w/ score]
John Mackey’s intense, rhythmically driving “Juba,” for electric string quartet and percussion, was commissioned by and written in collaboration with dancer, choreographer, and Artistic Director of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Robert Battle. Mackey and Battle have had many music-dance collaborations over the years, with many other pieces in Mackey’s catalog created in this collaboration like “Strange Humors” and “Mass.”
Mackey writes in the program notes of this work:
“Robert wanted something aggressive. His only specific musical request was that the work have a ‘Rite of Spring’ sort of nastiness, with repeated eighth-notes and featuring syncopated accents. Robert also wanted percussion, and although I was initially reluctant to incorporate it – almost all of our works have featured percussion – I relented, and Robert was, as usual, completely right. As you’ll hear, this piece wouldn’t be the same without the percussion, and specifically, the amazing playing of Damien Bassman. (Yes, these are real, live musicians. No synths here.) The first movement is full of ‘power chords,’ with those repeated eighth-notes that Robert requested. The second movement allows the dancers to catch their breath briefly before the final movement, a rhythmically dense and virtuosic 7-minute crescendo of raw energy.”
COMPOSER: John Mackey
ENSEMBLE:
Vesselin Gellev, violin
Annaliesa Place, violin
Ralph Farris, viola
Rebecca Patterson, cello
Damien Bassman, percussion
TRACKLIST:
0:00 - Introduction
0:13 - I.
5:18 - II.
7:30 - III.
Please be aware that all of the music (and images) featured in this video belong to their respective owners, and I or this channel does not claim any right over them. I upload these solely for archiving purposes, and for the sharing and enjoyment of great music. Monetization is not enabled. If you are the rightful owner of copyrighted material used and would like the video removed from YouTube, please, instead of reporting/striking my channel, leave a comment below with your statement and I will take the video down effective immediately.
#scorefollower #contemporaryclassical #classicalmusic")
