Mahler's Fifth represents a departure from the composer's earlier conception of the symphony. “The fusion of Mahler’s brilliant, passionate and intense narratives with a compositional rhetoric focused on contrapuntal transparency requires a distinct approach,” says Bernard. “Without words, even implied words, to guide us, the music must speak for itself—in a language markedly different than Mahler’s previous symphonies.”

“In conceiving his Fifth Symphony, Mahler was absolutely obsessed with the horizontal dimension and contrapuntal transparency,” says Conductor David Bernard. “The proximity of the genesis of the Fifth and Mahler’s deep dive into the works of Johann Sebastian Bach may have been the catalyst for this new style—a style that pervades the work on both the micro-level—featuring pronounced linear voicing crafted and propelled through careful succession of consonance and dissonance, and on the macro-level—featuring flamboyant contrapuntal episodes and a finale that brings a tour-de-force display of Mahler’s own ‘Grand Style’—evoking Mozart’s similar display of contrapuntal prowess in the Finale of his “Jupiter” Symphony.”