Mahler's Sixth Symphony

RECORDINGS OF THE WORKS

Gustav Mahler: Symfoni nr. 6 i a-moll

Whole work

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Mahler's Sixth Symphony

Description

Bergen audiences love Gustav Mahler's mighty and gripping symphonies. After a number of memorable Mahler experiences, it is now time for his most personal symphony, which contains the mysterious “hammer blows of fate”. It is a pleasure to welcome back to Bergen Kahchun Wong, who is enjoying international success with his Mahler interpretations. Symphony No. 6 is Gustav Mahler's most personal work according to his wife Alma. Mahler himself said little about this symphony, unlike what he did with his first four. Alma, in the form of the poignant «Alma theme», is woven in various ways into the whole symphony, and perhaps tells of their turbulent relationship. The work was given the nickname “The Tragic”, a title the composer sometimes used himself, according to Mahler's friend the conductor Bruno Walter. Perhaps because the symphony does not “end well” in the end - the fourth and final movement is Mahler's darkest ending to a symphony. In this movement we hear the «hammer blows of fate» before the symphony ends in a dim darkness and a sudden and violent outburst. For the mysterious hammer blows a new and enormous percussion instrument had to be made, which thunders through the whole orchestra. Programme: Gustav Mahler / Symphony No. 6 «The Tragic»