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Frequently one can hear into a composer’s life through his or her music. Consider when Schumann’s health was on the decline, or when Brahms was in a contented period of his life. Indeed, many romantic composers poured their own souls into their works. But where do the grim and aggressive sounds of Mahler’s Symphony No. 6 ("Tragic") come from?
Gustav Mahler wrote the Sixth between 1903 and 1905, and by all accounts he was happily married and a family man at the time. Yet whereas all of his other symphonies either end in triumph (1, 2, 5, 7 and 8), tranquility (3, 4) or resigned acceptance (Das Lied, 9 and 10) the Sixth is almost unremittingly bleak. Mahler himself was superstitious about conducting this work, and reportedly burst into tears when told, by Richard Strauss, before the premiere in Essen in 1906, that he should include a funeral march in the concert, as the city's mayor had just died. The symphony also features three great hammer blows (usually achieved by hitting a reinforced section of the floor with a sledgehammer) which represent the three blows of fate which befall the hero of the symphony.

A Gripping Interpretation

Host Magaret Juntwait presents the aggressive and muscular Sixth in an interpretation by Pierre Boulez. Boulez’s ongoing Mahler survey for Deutsche Grammophon focuses on two qualities. First, he looks back at Mahler through the lens of Viennese cohorts, Arnold Schoenberg and Anton Webern, stressing the revolutionary nature of Mahler’s musical language. Secondly, Boulez’s trademark insistence on the clarity of orchestral texture brings out unusual qualities and seems to uncover new layers of meaning. Tune in beginning at 7PM, and decide for yourself why Mahler's Sixth is so powerful and fascinating.