Before Pan Awoke: A Quiet Beginning for Mahler’s Third Symphony

Abstract

Abstract In the genesis of Mahler’s Third Symphony, the composition of the first movement occupies a particularly interesting and important position. The first in the symphony but the last to be composed, this movement had a complex structural development from the mere introduction that it was originally supposed to be to the gigantic and extraordinary construction that we know today. As it is, every new piece of evidence that surfaces sheds more light on this fascinating process. This article examines one such item: an original manuscript source in a private collection which gives a fresh take on the creative mechanism behind the composition of this movement and is directly connected to a well-known manuscript housed in the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek in Vienna.