The Beginning of Summer – Mahler’s Third Symphony | London Symphony Orchestra

Michael Tilson Thomas conducts Mahler’s magnificent vision of a world teeming with joyful life.

‘Bring along ears and a heart,’ Mahler instructed his audiences, reluctant to explain the meaning behind the music. But we know that in his Third Symphony, Mahler set out to compose a work that encompassed the whole of existence.

Summer marches in, heralded by horns. Delicate flowers emerge in the meadow. Forest creatures startle at the approach of humankind. A voice sings, cloaked in night. We hear the sparkling music of bells and angels and, finally, a rapturous slow movement evokes the beauty of love.

Conductor Laureate Michael Tilson Thomas is passionate about Mahler, and his recordings of the composer’s oeuvre have won no fewer than seven Grammy awards. He’s joined by expert Mahlerian vocalists.

In this symphony of nature, the LSO becomes what the poet Dylan Thomas called ‘the force that through the green fuse drives the flower’.