Composer of the Week

At the dawn of the 20th century, now firmly installed as the most powerful musician in Europe, Gustav Mahler bade farewell to his youthful "Wunderhorn" period, to embark on a tempestuous final decade of love and death, ecstasy and despair. To end this week's exploration of Mahler's early years, Donald Macleod introduces a complete performance of the composer's serene Fourth Symphony, the pinnacle of his first compositional period and his most profound fusion of song and symphony before "Das Lied von Der Erde", a decade later.