Mahler Symphony No. 10 - 3rd Movement - Listening Guide

The Purgatorio movement (originally entitled Purgatorio oder Inferno (Purgatory or Hell)) but the word “Inferno” was struck out, is a brief vignette presenting a struggle between alternately bleak and carefree melodies with a perpetuum mobile accompaniment, that are soon subverted by a diabolical undercurrent of more cynical music.The short movement fails to end in limbo though, as after a brief recapitulation a sudden harp arpeggio and gong stroke pull the rug out from under it; it is consig...