The slow D minor Introduction to the first movement is a piece of pure picture painting. Mahler described it as depicting Nature awakening from a long Winter's sleep . The strings play high octave As in harmonics. We hear cuckoo calls (here unusually portrayed by the interval of a falling fourth) and distant trumpet calls – the interval of a fourth is something of a recurrent motto in this symphony. These calls lead to the movement's main theme, in D major, taken from the second Gesellen song (Ging heut' Morgen ü bers Feld) , before the mood returns to the music of the Introduction. The remainder of the movement is based almost entirely on the Gesellen material, developing it extensively and leading to a climax, with fanfare brass. The movement finally scurries to a conclusion.