]
[Footnote 197: What is born must pass away; What has passed away must
rise again.]
And all the orchestra, the choirs, and the organ, join in the hymn of
Eternal Life.
In the _Third Symphony_, known as _Ein Sommermorgentraum_ ("A Summer
Morning's Dream"), the first and the last parts are for the orchestra
alone; the fourth part contains some of the best of Mahler's music, and
is an admirable setting of Nietzsche's words:
"_O Mensch! O Mensch! Gib Acht! gib Acht!
Was spricht die tiefe Mitternacht_?"[198]
[Footnote 198:
O Man! O Man! Have care! Have care!
What says dark midnight?
The fifth part is a gay and stirring chorus founded on a popular legend.
In the _Fourth Symphony in G major_, the last part alone is sung, and is
of an almost humorous character, being a sort of childish description of
the joys of Paradise.
In spite of appearances, Mahler refuses to connect these choral
symphonies with programme-music. Without doubt he is right, if he means
that his music has its own value outside any sort of programme; but
there is no doubt that it is always the expression of a definite
_Stimmung_, of a conscious mood; and the fact is, whether he likes it or
not, that _Stimmung_ gives an interest to his music far beyond that of
the music itself.
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