Season One

Season One
Mahler's First Symphony

Season 1 focuses on Mahler’s Symphony No. 1 in D major (1888), taking listeners back to the work’s origins in the street songs, folk tunes, and bugle calls of Mahler’s childhood. Each of the four episodes is devoted to a movement of the symphony.

Listen to the Season 1 trailer here:

Stream the full episodes below, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Season 1 of Embrace Everything – The World of Gustav Mahler was made possible by a generous grant from the Kaplan Foundation Read more »

Episode 1: Isn’t This a Splendid World?

Gustav Mahler’s First Symphony is the story of a young man beginning his journey through life. Read more »

Episode 2: All Music Proceeds from the Dance

In the second movement of his First Symphony, Gustav Mahler draws upon the dance music of his youth. Read more »

Episode 3: The Huntsman’s Funeral

Early audiences found the third movement of Gustav Mahler’s First Symphony grotesque, macabre and unsettling. Read more »

Episode 4: The Battle of Fate

Gustav Mahler originally titled his First Symphony “Titan,” because of the mighty struggle between his hero and fate, a monumental battle that reaches its climax in the fourth movement. Read more »

The Cast of Season 1

• James Lurie as the voice of Gustav Mahler.
• Laura Gragtmans as the voice of Mahler’s friend and confidante, Natalie Bauer-Lechner.

Conductors:
• Kent Nagano, Montreal Symphony Orchestra and Hamburg State Opera and Philharmonic
• Michael Tilson Thomas, San Francisco Symphony and New World Symphony

Musicians:
• William Hudgins, Principal Clarinet, Boston Symphony Orchestra
• Jennifer Montone, Principal Horn, Philadelphia Orchestra
• Dominic Seldis, Principal Bass, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra

Music scholars:
• Philip V. Bohlman, University of Chicago
• Christine Lee Gengaro, Los Angeles City College
• Christian Glanz, University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna
• Caroline Kita, Washington University in St. Louis
• Marilyn McCoy, Columbia University, New York