Orchestra: The combined municipal orchestras of Essen and Utrecht
Chorus: No
Concert number: c185
Notes: Owing to the sudden death of the Essen burgomeister, on the eve of the concert, Richard Strauss asked Gustav Mahler to open the concert with “some funeral overture or other” in honor of the deceased, a request Mahler apparently declined. The general rehearsal took place at 11:00 am 27-05-1906. On 01-05-1906 Mahler had conducted a sight reading of the work with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (VPO). At some point during the rehearsals in Essen, he decided to reverse the order of the two middle movements “The Scherzo” originally was the 2nd movement, “The Andante”, the 3rd. A notice attached to the study score informs the audience about the change.
