Anderson opens the program with a presentation of his superb arrangement for chamber ensemble of the overture of Johann Strauss II's 1874 operetta Die Fledermaus, which microphilharmonic premiered at Jaqua Concert Hall on January 27, 2019 as a part of our celebration of the 100th anniversary of the founding of Arnold Schoenberg's Society for Private Musical Performances (Verein für musikalische Privataufführungen), which was the inspiration for Michael's, Alice's and The Shedd's establishment of microphilharmonic the year before. That program also paired Strauss with Mahler: in that instance with Schoenberg's own arrangement for chamber ensemble of the latter's 1885 Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (Songs of a Wayfarer).

Mahler described the Fourth Symphony as the conclusion to the "perfectly self-contained tetralogy" of his first four symphonies: the First depicts heroic suffering and triumph; the Second explores death and resurrection; the Third contemplates existence and God; and the Fourth, as an extension of the Third's ideas, explores life in heaven. The piece builds throughout on his 1892 song "Das himmlische Leben" ("The Heavenly Life"), which presents a child's vision of heaven and is sung by a soprano in the symphony's Finale.

For this project we are pleased to present in that role Northwest soprano Arwen Myers.

Received negatively on its 1901 premiere because of its complicated and unusual form, the symphony enjoyed continued attention over subsequent decades—in part, opined British musicologist Donald Mitchell, because of its accessibility—and contributed significantly to Mahler's increasing post-WWII reputation.