Mahler 5

Berlioz’s Les Nuits d’été, a song cycle set to poems by Théophile Gautier, is renowned as the first fully orchestrated French mélodie cycle. A master of orchestration and author of the Treatise on Instrumentation, Berlioz was one of the most influential figures in French orchestral writing. In this cycle, he employs a refined and restrained instrumentation, using each instrument sparingly to achieve maximum expressive effect.

Mahler, in his own way, also revolutionized the orchestra. In his Fifth Symphony, there is no restraint or understatement—the orchestra expands on a grand scale, delivering one of the most poignant and tragic works in the repertoire.

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