Mahler wrote his fifth symphony during the summers of 1901 and 1902. In February 1901 Mahler had suffered a sudden major hemorrhage and his doctor later told him that he had come within an hour of bleeding to death. T… See more

The score appeared first in print in 1904 at Peters, Leipzig. A second "New Edition", incorporating revisions that Mahler made in 1904, appeared in 1905. Final revisions made by Mahler in 1911 (by which time he had comple… See more

The symphony is generally regarded as the most conventional symphony that he had yet written, but from such an unconventional composer it still had many peculiarities. It almost has a four-movement structure, a… See more

• World premiere: October 18, 1904, Cologne – Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne conducted by the composer.
• United States premiere: March 24, 1905, Cincinnati – conducted by Frank Van der Stucken.… See more

• After its premiere, Mahler is reported to have said, "Nobody understood it. I wish I could conduct the first performance fifty years after my death."
• Herbert von Karajan once said that when you hear the symphony, … See more