Wo die schönen Trompeten blasen

Using text from Des Knaben Wunderhorn (The Youth’s Magic Horn), Mahler wrote this song, which translates as “where the lovely trumpets play,” while on vacation in South Tyrol, Austria. Focusing on the fate of young lovers when one is called away to war, this song tells the story powerfully with marching rhythms, but remains restrained in volume, calling for pianissimo dynamics almost completely throughout. It should be performed as if in a dream or a nightmare, a challenging but worthwhile task for advanced groups.