This was the original version of the first movement of Mahler's Second Symphony. Composed in 1888, it stood alone as either a tone poem or a single movement for five years. It was not until 1893 that Mahler decided to expand Totenfeier into a Symphony. Originally, Totenfeier (Funeral Feast) was based loosely on Adam Mickiewicz's dramatic epic Dziady, as translated into German by Mahler's poet friend Siegfried Lipiner. Upon its revision for the Second Symphony, which was fairly minimal, Mahler dropped the title Totenfeier and changed the program for the movement to represent the funeral of the hero from his own First Symphony. Apparently the music itself was far enough removed from specific reference to the original program that it could easily be exchanged for another. At any rate, the difference between Totenfeier and the first movement of the Second Symphony is slight, and probably only of interest to the connoisseur.

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