Wikipedia:Today's featured article/January 25, 2022
The Symphony No. 4 in G major by Gustav Mahler was composed from 1899 to 1900, incorporating a song that he wrote in 1892. That song, "Das himmlische Leben", presents a child's vision of heaven and is sung by a soprano in the symphony's fourth and final movement. The Fourth Symphony was both smaller in orchestration and shorter in length than Mahler's earlier symphonies. The premiere was performed in Munich on 25 November 1901 by the Kaim Orchestra conducted by the composer. It was met with negative audience and critical reception over the work's confusing intentions and perceived inferiority to the Second Symphony. The work received its American and British premieres in 1904 and 1905, respectively. After Mahler's death, the symphony continued to receive performances under conductors such as Willem Mengelberg and Bruno Walter. Its first recording was a 1930 Japanese rendition conducted by Hidemaro Konoye that was also the first electrical recording of any Mahler symphony. (Full article...)