Among the most popular of Mahler's symphonic works, the 7th Symphony has neither a "program" nor a folk-song theme. It is a purely instrumental composition, both hopeful and romantic in feeling. The restrained mood and thematic economy of the symphony make it one of the least extravagant of the composer's works; it is also one of the most enjoyable.
Despite the lack of a "program" for the 7th, some critics profess to find that "a good case can be made out for the symphony as a whole having been consciously built round the poetic idea of nocturnal nature, progressing through various...

Widely regarded as the crowning achievement of his career, Mahler's Symphony No. 8 received overwhelming recognition at its first performance, conducted by the composer in Munich on September 12, 1910.
A massive, complex work that integrates on a truly grand scale the musical ideas, forms, and media that dominated Mahler's creative life, the symphony -- in two great sections -- is scored for orchestra, eight solo voices, double chorus, boys' choir, and organ, with the words for the first section taken from the medieval Latin hymn -Veni, Creator Spiritus.- The text of the second part is...