On September 12, 1910, Gustav Mahler conducted the Munich Philharmonic in the world premiere of his monumental Eighth Symphony. The performance - his final conducting appearance in Europe - was an overwhelming critical and popular triumph. Nicknamed the “Symphony of a Thousand” for the vast instrumental and choral forces it requires, Mahler’s Eighth remains one of the most ambitious works in the classical repertoire. Mahler himself understood its extraordinary place in his output, remarking: “Th

Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 7 received its premiere on September 19, 1908, in Prague, performed by the Czech Philharmonic as part of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations for Emperor Franz Joseph. Mahler had begun the work in 1904 during his summer retreat in Maiernigg, where he sketched the two Nachtmusik movements (the second and fourth). The following summer, he completed the remaining movements in what he claimed was just four weeks of concentrated effort. At its premiere, however, the symphony