London Symphony Orchestra / Michael Tilson Thomas

Berg Chamber Concerto
Mahler Symphony No 1 (‘Titan’)

Michael Tilson Thomas conductor
Yefim Bronfman piano
Gil Shaham violin
London Symphony Orchestra

Berg’s Chamber Concerto plays out a musical puzzle, weaving into its musical tapestry coded encryptions of his own name alongside fellow Serialists Schoenberg and Webern. Mahler’s Symphony No 1 is nicknamed the ‘Titan’ because of its original conception as a tone poem based on Jean Paul’s novel of the same name and demonstrates Mahler’s preoccupation with juxtaposing the vulgar and sublime through an unnerving canon on Frère Jacques intermingled with grotesquely exaggerated café music.