Following his health and conducting crises in 1900, Mahler turned to Beethoven's Fifth Symphony as a model for his own Symphony No. 5. The opening motive of the Beethoven symphony serves to unify the entire symphony, and the opening trumpet motto of Mahler's symphony serves a similar function. That motto is itself based on Beethoven's opening motive, and the key regions Mahler uses are the same as Beethoven (the second movement of both is in the submediant). The Trauermarsch of the second movement is a varied form of the first movement's, which is similar to the way the Scherzo in the Beethoven is based on an altered form of the symphony's opening motive. The moments in Mahler's work when earlier material returns are based on Beethoven's practice.

Works: Mahler: Symphony No. 5 in C sharp Minor (51-66), Symphony No. 2 in C Minor (52-53), Symphony No. 1 in D Major (58).

Sources: Beethoven: Symphony No. 5 in C Minor (51-55, 57, 61-2); Mahler: Kindertotenlieder (58, 60), Des Knaben Wunderhorn (59), Rückertlieder (59-60); Wagner: Tristan und Isolde (60); Mahler: Symphony No. 4 in G Major (65).

Index Classifications: 1900s

Contributed by: Marc Geelhoed