As has been mentioned, there's no such thing as "typical" Mahler as his style evolved too much for one piece to capture everything. Given that, the one piece that IMO encapsulates the most of those elements is the second symphony. It has a Wunderhorn vocal setting, funeral march, song based scherzo, chorus, wide range of emotions, etc etc. While it doesn't have a transcendent slow movement, many of those emotional buttons are pushed in the often beautiful finale. However, for an introduction to his music I would recommend the first symphony, in particular Kubelik's recording which can be had also coupled with a nice Fischer-Dieskau setting of the Wayfarer songs. With the first Mahler emerges with his mature voice. From there one whose interest is piqued can proceed sequentially through the symphonies and experience Mahler's evolution as a composer. Stopovers at the contemporary song cycles along the way would add to the rewards. I would never say that Mahler is best realized in his songs. Like the symphonies, they are also masterpieces but to me he is our greatest symphonist. The more intimately that I know this music, the better it gets. What might have come across as sprawling and diffuse at first hearing now seems compact and logical. At times I still get the feeling that the over 30 minute finale to the second should have an extra verse or two. Tim Dickinson [log in to unmask] http://www.tdware.com/