Where his previous symphonies were strongly tied to words of songs, Gustav Mahler sought to break away from a “program” with his Fifth Symphony, preferring to let the music speak for itself. The resulting work is powerful, poignant, brilliant, and immediate, and it is considered by many to represent Mahler’s finest orchestration. With the exception of the well-known, exquisitely tender Adagietto movement, which is scored for harp and strings, Mahler uses a large orchestra to deliver boldness, anguish, passion, and intimacy in this masterwork. Richard Strauss’s tone poem Don Juan is a virtuostic tour-de-force for orchestra, which evocatively illustrates Don Juan’s incessant quest for new passion.