Mahler Symphony No. 8 | Symphony of a Thousand

Andris Nelsons, conductor
Latonia Moore, soprano 1
Christine Goerke, soprano 2
Ying Fang, soprano 3
Mihoko Fujimura, mezzo-soprano 1
Gerhild Romberger, mezzo-soprano 2
Andreas Schager, tenor
Michael Nagy, baritone
Ryan Speedo Green, bass-baritone
Tanglewood Festival Chorus
 James Burton, conductor
Boys of the St. Paul’s Choir School 
 Brandon Straub, Music Director

MAHLER Symphony No. 8

Mahler’s Eighth Symphony, the so-called “Symphony of a Thousand” for eight soloists, large chorus, children’s chorus, organ, and orchestra, was the composer’s most ambitious work philosophically as well as musically. In this oratorio-like work, Mahler pairs a vast setting of the hymn “Veni, creator spiritus” with the redemptive final scene of Goethe’s Faust, striving for the widest possible scope of spiritual optimism.