Scored only for strings and harp, the meditative Adagietto is a reflective intermezzo between the exuberant Scherzo and concluding Rondo. According to the composer’s friend, conductor Willem Mengelberg: “This Adagietto was Gustav Mahler’s declaration of love for Alma! Instead of a letter, he sent her this manuscript without further explanation. She understood and wrote back that he should come!!! Both have told me this!”
The concluding Rondo follows without pause.
A brief introduction provides a glimpse of the Finale’s central themes, the first of which is ultimately presented in a more fully developed form by the horns. The strings launch a vigorous contrapuntal episode. After a repeat of the initial melody and contrapuntal passage, the strings offer yet another central theme, based upon the preceding Adagietto. Throughout the Finale, the themes are repeated and manipulated with stunning virtuosity. Toward the Rondo’s conclusion, the second-movement chorale returns in its most triumphant form, as the Fifth Symphony hurdles to a joyous conclusion.