Some 20 recordings exist that include Blumine; however, most of them combine it with the revised edition of the other movements, thus making a "blended" version of the symphony that was at no time authorised by Mahler.

Under this early five-movement scheme, the work was envisioned by Mahler as a large symphonic poem in two parts, and he wrote a programme to describe the piece, but without adding any further title for the 1889 Budapest premiere.

[1] The opening of the third movement features a double bass soloist performing a variation on the theme of "Frère Jacques", distinguishing it as one of the few symphonic pieces to use the instrument in such a manner.

Mahler uses the song, which he cites as "Bruder Martin",[3] changed from major to minor, thus giving the piece the character of a funeral march.

A descending two-note motif is then presented by the woodwinds, and eventually establishes itself into the following repeated pattern: This opening quotes the fourth movement of Johannes Brahms's Symphony No.

[citation needed] This theme is then interrupted by a fanfare-like material first presented in the clarinets, and later by offstage trumpets, indicated in the score as "In sehr weiter Entfernung aufgestellt" ("placed at a very far distance").

A slow melody is also played by the horns, and the descending two-note motif is sped up in the clarinet, imitating the sound of a cuckoo.

This melodic material is recycled from the second of Mahler's Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, entitled "Ging heut' Morgen über's Feld" ("I Went This Morning over the Field").

This melody builds in dynamic, as the music modulates to A major, and a brief second theme, based on a new E–F#–C#–F#–E motif, is presented on the higher woodwinds.

A slower development ensues, bringing back material from the introduction, including the drone on A, the cuckoo calls in the clarinet, and the original motif, but modulates through various keys.

The tension gradually builds up in this section which foreshadows the theme of the fourth movement, ultimately reaching a triumphant cadence in D major.

Ultimately, the two-note motive takes over the final measures of the recapitulation, and a coda brings the movement to a fiery and humorous close.

Mahler uses cymbal, bass drum, oboes, clarinets and a trumpet duo to produce the sound of a small folk band.

[11][12] After a brief return to the 1st subject, a more contemplative B section, in G major ensues, featuring material from the fourth of Mahler's Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, "Die zwei blauen Augen von meinem Schatz" ("The Two Blue Eyes of my Beloved").

The fourth movement, in sonata-allegro form with a very long and extended development section and a shortened recapitulation, is by far the most involved, and expansive.

The movement's introduction begins with an abrupt cymbal crash, a loud chord in the upper woodwinds, string and brass, and a timpani roll, all in succession.

The fast-paced and loud development is only interrupted by a brief quiet section in which a brass fanfare based on the theme appears in C major.

The horns then play a full-forced altered version of the descending fourth pattern from the beginning of the symphony: However, this ultimately leads to a decrescendo, and the momentum sinks to the retransition, bringing back other quotes from the first movement, including fanfares, and "Ging heut' Morgen übers Feld" (see Lieder section).

The symphony concludes with fanfare material from the beginning, ultimately ending humorously with a quick octave drop.

In his first symphony, Mahler borrowed material from his song cycle Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, thus innovating the symphonic form and potentially answering questions about programmatic and personal elements in the music.

Within the symphonic movement, the "Ging heut' Morgen" melody is a bright exposition in contrast with the slower and darker introduction.

[13] In the third movement of the symphony, the quotation of the lied "Die zwei blauen Augen" demonstrates the subtlety with which Mahler combined the two genres.

In the last verse of the song cycle, the speaker acknowledges the painlessness of death, saying, "[under the linden tree] I knew not how life fared, [there] all was good again!"

The subtlety and implications of Mahler's incorporation of the Gesellen song into the funeral march bring us to the issue of programme.

Among this uncertainty though, it is clear that some narrative elements that are associated with the poet and composer of a lied were transferred from the song cycle to the symphony.

Blumine translates to "floral", or "flower", and some believe this movement was written for Johanna Richter, with whom Mahler was infatuated at the time.

It was rediscovered by Donald Mitchell in 1966, while doing research for his biography on Mahler in the Osborn Collection at Yale University, in a copy of the Hamburg version of the symphony.

The second movement of the symphony was played in the episode "Counterpoint" of the fifth season of Star Trek: Voyager to relax the crew of the starship during alien inspections.