The piece is scored for a large orchestra made up of four flutes (two doubling piccolo), three oboes (one doubling cor anglais), three clarinets (one doubling bass clarinet[?]), three bassoons (one doubling double bassoon[?]); six French horns, four trumpets, three trombones, tuba; four timpani, cymbals, bass drum, side drum, triangle, glockenspiel, tamtam[?], wood clapper, harp and strings.
The piece is generally regard to Mahler's most conventional symphony up to that point, but from such an unconventional composer it still had many peculiarities. It almost has a four movement structure, as the first two can easily be viewed as essentailly a whole. The symphony also ends with a Rondo, in the classical style. Some peculiariteis are the funeral march that opens the piece, and the Adagietto for harp and strings that interupts the booming score.
The work is in five movements:
The first two movements constitute Part I of the symphony (as designated by Mahler in the score), the long Scherzo constitutes Part II, and the last two movements constitute Part III.
The adagietto is sometimes heard alone. It was used liberally in Luchino Visconti's film, Death in Venice.
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