The Symphony No. 6 in A minor by Gustav Mahler, sometimes referred to as the Tragische ("Tragic"), was composed between 1903 and 1904 (rev. 1906; scoring repeatedly revised). The work's first performance was in Essen, on May 27, 1906, conducted by the composer. Also see: A major, or A-sharp minor. ... “Mahler” redirects here. ... Essen is a city in the center of the Ruhr Area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. ... is the 147th day of the year (148th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1906 (MCMVI) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ...

The tragic, even nihilistic^{[citation needed]} ending of No. 6 has in fact been seen^{[attribution needed]} as particularly unexpected, given that the symphony was composed at what was apparently an exceptionally happy time in Mahler's life: he had married Alma Schindler in 1902, and during the course of the work's composition his second daughter was born. Alma Mahler Alma Maria Mahler-Werfel (née Schindler) (August 31, 1879 – December 11, 1964) was noted in her native Vienna for her beauty and intelligence. ...

The symphony is not the most popular Mahler symphony among "general" listeners.^{[citation needed]} However, both Alban Berg and Anton Webern praised it when they first heard it: for Berg it was "the only sixth, despite the 'Pastoral'"; while Webern actually conducted it on more than one occasion. Bust of Alban Berg at Schiefling, Carinthia, Austria Alban Maria Johannes Berg (February 9, 1885 – December 24, 1935) was an Austrian composer. ... Anton Webern (December 3, 1883 – September 15, 1945) was an Austrian composer and conductor. ... Ludwig van Beethovens Symphony No. ...

The status of the work's nickname is problematic. The programme for the work's first Vienna performance (January 4, 1907) shows the subtitle Tragische, but this word is not found on the programme for the earlier performance in Munich on November 8, 1906. Nor does the word Tragische appear on any of the scores that C.F. Kahnt published (first edition, 1906; revised edition, 1906), or in Richard Specht's officially approved "thematic analysis", or on Alexander Zemlinsky's piano duet transcription (1906). In his Gustav Mahler memoir, Bruno Walter claimed that "Mahler called [the work] his Tragic Symphony", and this is often cited in support of a nickname that many people clearly find congenial. The fact remains, however, that Mahler did not so title the symphony when he composed it; when he first performed it; when he published it; when he allowed Specht to analyse it; or when he allowed Zemlinsky to arrange it. He had, moreover, decisively rejected and disavowed the titles (and programmes) of his earlier symphonies by 1900; and neither the "Lied der Nacht" subtitle of the Seventh Symphony, nor the "Sinfonie der Tausend" of the Eighth, stem from Mahler. For all these reasons, the Tragische nickname is not used in serious works of reference. is the 4th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1907 (MCMVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... is the 312th day of the year (313th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1906 (MCMVI) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Bruno Walter (Bruno Walter Schlesinger) (September 15, 1876 – February 17, 1962) was a German-born conductor and composer. ...

Instrumentation

The symphony is written for a large orchestra comprising piccolo, 4 flutes (3rd and 4th doubling piccolo), 4 oboes (3rd and 4th doubling English horn), English horn, 3 clarinets in A, B flat, and C, clarinet in D and E flat (alternating on fourth clarinet in A), bass clarinet in A and B flat, 4 bassoons, contrabassoon, 8 horns, 6 trumpets in B flat, C, and F, 4 trombones, tuba, 6 timpani (the second player plays 2 of the drums), bass drum (also played with rute, or birch sticks), snare drum, cymbals, both crash and suspended, triangle, tam-tam, glockenspiel, xylophone, 2 or more deep bells of deep sound and indeterminate pitch, placed off-stage, cowbells, used both on- and off-stage, hammer, celesta, strings, and 2 harps. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... For the song titled Orchestra, see The Servant (band). ... This article is about the instrument in the flute family. ... ♠ This article is about the family of musical instruments. ... This article is about the instrument in the flute family. ... For other uses, see Oboe (disambiguation). ... Cor anglais The cor anglais or English horn is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. ... Cor anglais The cor anglais or English horn is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. ... Two soprano clarinets: a B♭ clarinet (left, with capped mouthpiece) and an A clarinet (right, with no mouthpiece). ... Two soprano clarinets: a B♭ clarinet (left, with capped mouthpiece) and an A clarinet (right, with no mouthpiece). ... The bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. ... The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that typically plays music written in the bass and tenor registers and occasionally even higher. ... The contrabassoon, also contrafagotto or double bassoon, is a larger version of the bassoon sounding an octave lower. ... For other uses, see Horn. ... Trumpeter redirects here. ... The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. ... For other uses, see Tuba (disambiguation). ... A timpanist in the United States Air Forces in Europe Band. ... A bass drum is a large drum that produces a note of low definite or indefinite pitch. ... Córdoba most commonly means Córdoba, Spain, a famous city in Spain inhabited since the time of ancient Rome, and the seat of the Emir of Córdoba and the Caliph of Córdoba. ... The snare drum or side drum is a tubular drum made of wood or metal with skins, or heads, stretched over the top and bottom openings, and with a set of snares (cords) stretched across the bottom head. ... For the Japanese rock band, see Cymbals (band). ... An old-fashioned triangle, with wand (beater) Angelika Kauffmann: LAllegra, 1779 The triangle is an idiophone type of musical instrument in the percussion family. ... A tam tam is also a kind of Gong A tam is also kind of Jamaican hat, probably from the Irish tam-o-shanter. ... Most orchestral glockenspiels are mounted in a case. ... Kulintang a Kayo, a Philippine xylophone The xylophone (from the Greek meaning wooden sound) is a musical instrument in the percussion family which probably originated in Indonesia. ... Bell has a range of meanings: A bell is a simple sound_making device, including Tubular bells and cowbells. ... The cowbell is a percussion instrument. ... For other uses, see Hammer (disambiguation). ... French type, four-octave Celesta The Celesta (IPA ) is a struck idiophone operated by a keyboard. ... The string section of an orchestra is the section containing bowed string instruments. ... For other uses, see Harp (disambiguation). ...

As in many other of his compositions, Mahler indicates in several places that extra instruments should be added, including two or more celestas "if possible," "several" triangles at the end of the first movement, doubled snare drum (side drum) in certain passages, and in one place in the fourth movement "several" cymbals. While at the beginning of each movement Mahler calls for 2 harps, at one point in the Andante he calls for "several," and at one point in the Scherzo he writes "4 harps." Often he does not specify a set number, especially in the last movement, simply writing "harps."

While the first version of the score (currently available from Dover Publications) included slapstick and tambourine, these were removed over the course of Mahler's extensive revisions. The whip or slapstick is a percussion instrument consisting of two wooden boards joined by a hinge at one end. ... “Buben” redirects here. ...

Unlike Mahler's second, third, fourth, and eighth symphonies, there are no vocal forces.

The sound of the hammer, which features in the last movement, was stipulated by Mahler to be "brief and mighty, but dull in resonance and with a non-metallic character (like the fall of an ax)." The sound achieved in the premiere did not quite carry far enough from the stage, and indeed the problem of achieving the proper volume while still remaining dull in resonance remains a challenge to the modern orchestra. Various methods of producing the sound have involved a wooden mallet striking a wooden surface, a sledgehammer striking a wooden box, or a particularly large bass drum, or sometimes simultaneous use of more than one of these methods.

Structure

The work is in four movements. The inner movement order is the matter of some debate (see below), but the current Critical Edition of the Symphony shows the following order:

1. Allegro energico, ma non troppo. Heftig, aber markig.
2. Andante moderato (see below)
3. Scherzo: Wuchtig (see below)
4. Finale: Sostenuto - Allegro moderato - Allegro energico

The duration is around 80 minutes. In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for time) is the speed or pace of a given piece. ... This article is about tempo in music. ... The Symphony No. ... The Symphony No. ... In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for time) is the speed or pace of a given piece. ... This article is about tempo in music. ... In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for time) is the speed or pace of a given piece. ...

History

There is some controversy over the order of the two middle movements, though recent research has clarified the issue considerably. Mahler is known to have conceived the work as having the scherzo second and the slow movement third, a somewhat unclassical arrangement adumbrated in such earlier gargantuan symphonies as Beethoven's Ninth and Bruckner's Eighth and (unfinished) Ninth, as well as in Mahler's own four-movement First and Fourth. It was in this arrangement that the symphony was completed (in 1904) and published (in March 1906); and it was with a conducting score in which the scherzo preceded the slow movement that Mahler began rehearsals for the work's first performance, in May 1906. During those rehearsals, however, Mahler decided that the slow movement should precede the scherzo, and he instructed his publishers C.F. Kahnt to prepare a "second edition" of the work with the movements in that order, and meanwhile to insert errata slips indicating the change of order into all unsold copies of the existing edition. The seriousness of such a decision is not to be underestimated: as Jeffrey Gantz has pointed out, "A composer who premières his symphony Andante/Scherzo immediately after publishing it Scherzo/Andante can expect a degree of public ridicule, and [the reviewer of the first Vienna performance] didn't spare the sarcasm". Moreover, this revised, "second thoughts" ordering was observed by Mahler in every single performance he gave; it is also how the symphony was performed by others during his lifetime.

The first occasion on which the abandoned, original movement order was reverted to seems to have been in 1919, after Alma had sent a telegram to Willem Mengelberg which said "First Scherzo, then Andante". Mengelberg, who had been in close touch with Mahler until the latter's death, and had happily conducted the symphony in the "Andante/Scherzo" arrangement right up to 1916, then switched to the "Scherzo/Andante" order. In this he seems to have been alone: other conductors, such as Oskar Fried and Dimitri Mitropoulos, continued to perform (and eventually record) the work as 'Andante/Scherzo', as per Mahler's own second edition, right up to the early 1960s. Willem Mengelberg (Utrecht, Netherlands on March 28, 1871 – Zuort, Switzerland on March 21, 1951) was a Dutch conductor. ... Dimitris Mitropoulos (Greek: Δημήτρης Μητρόπουλος) (March 1, 1896 – November 2, 1960) was a Greek conductor, pianist, and composer who spent most of his career in the United States. ...

In 1963, however, Erwin Ratz's "Critical Edition" of the Sixth appeared, and in this the Scherzo preceded the Andante. Ratz, however, never offered any support (he did not even cite Alma's telegram) for his assertion that Mahler "changed his mind a second time" at some point before his death; but his editorial decision was questioned by few musicians—and even those who did not accept his "third thoughts" ordering (such as Barbirolli in his acclaimed 1967 recording) could find that their 'Andante/Scherzo' performance would be changed by the record company to "Scherzo/Andante" so as to make their recording agree with the "Critical Edition". The utter lack of documentary or other evidence in support of Ratz's (and Alma's) reverted ordering has caused the most recent Critical Edition to restore the Andante/Scherzo order; however, many conductors continue to perform the Scherzo before the Andante. The matter remains hotly debated, however.^[1][2] Erwin Ratz (1898 - 1973) was an Austrian musicologist and music theorist. ... Year 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the 1967 Gregorian calendar. ...

Formally, the symphony is one of Mahler's most outwardly conventional. The form and character of each individual movement are also quite traditional, with a fairly standard sonata form first movement (which even includes an exact repeat of the exposition, most unusual in Mahler), leading to the middle movements, one slow, the other a scherzo, and the finale, also in sonata form, quicker and recapping some previously heard material. This article includes a list of works cited or a list of external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ... This article includes a list of works cited or a list of external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ...

Recorded and performed movement order

Recorded and performed examples on the inner movements' order by several prominent conductors.^[3]

Dimitris Mitropoulos (Greek: Δημήτρης Μητρόπουλος) (March 1, 1896 – November 2, 1960) was a Greek conductor, pianist, and composer who spent most of his career in the United States. ... Herbert von Karajan (April 5, 1908 – July 16, 1989) was an Austrian conductor. ... Sir John (Giovanni Battista) Barbirolli (December 2, 1899 - July 29, 1970), was a British conductor and cellist who led the London Symphony Orchestra and the London Philharmonic Orchestra, among many others. ... Sir Georg Solti, KBE (pronounced IPA: ) (21 October 1912 – 5 September 1997) was a world-renowned Hungarian-British orchestral and operatic conductor. ... Claudio Abbado (born June 26, 1933) is a noted Italian conductor. ... Jascha Horenstein (May 6 [O.S. April 24] 1898 in Kiev - April 2, 1973 in London) was a conductor. ... Simon Rattle recording Porgy and Bess with the London Symphony Orchestra at Abbey Road in 1988, aged 33. ... Pierre Boulez Pierre Boulez (IPA: /pjɛʁ.buˈlÉ›z/) (born March 26, 1925) is a conductor and composer of classical music. ... Sir Alan Charles Maclaurin Mackerras, AC, CH, CBE (born November 17, 1925) is an Australian conductor. ... Leonard Bernstein in 1971 Leonard Bernstein (IPA pronunciation: )[1] (August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, and pianist. ... Mariss Jansons (born 1943) is a prominent Latvian conductor. ... Michael Tilson Thomas (born December 21, 1944), nicknamed MTT, is an American conductor, pianist and composer. ... Lorin Varencove Maazel (born March 6, 1930) is a conductor, violinist and composer. ... Benjamin Zander (born March 9, 1939, Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, England) is an English-American conductor. ... Frederick Charles Adler (usually known as F. Charles Adler) was an English-German conductor. ... ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Seiji Ozawa , born September 1, 1935) is a Japanese conductor. ... Yannick Nézet-Séguin (born 1975, Montreal) is a French Canadian conductor. ... Klaus Tennstedt (June 6, 1926 - January 11, 1998) was a German conductor. ... Gary Bertini (1928 - 18 March 2005) was an Israeli conductor and musician. ... Rafael Jeroným Kubelík (June 29, 1914 – August 11, 1996) was a Czech conductor and composer. ... Riccardo Chailly (born February 20, 1953) is an Italian conductor. ... Eliahu Inbal (born February 16, 1936) is a prominent orchestral conductor. ... Giuseppe Sinopoli (November 2, 1946 - April 20, 2001) was a conductor and composer. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Michael Gielen (born July 20, 1927) is an Austrian conductor and composer. ... Yoel Levi (1950—) is a musician and conductor. ... Zubin Mehta (b. ... Erich Leinsdorf (February 4, 1912 - September 11, 1993) was a conductor. ... Neeme Järvi (born June 7, 1937) is an Estonian-born conductor. ... James Levine (born June 23, 1943 in Cincinnati, Ohio) is an American orchestral pianist and conductor and most well known as the music director of the Metropolitan Opera in New York. ...

Composition

The first movement, which for the most part has the character of a march, features a motif consisting of an A major triad turning to A minor over a distinctive timpani rhythm (the chords are played by trumpets and oboes when first heard, with the trumpets sounding most loudly in the first chord and the oboes in the second): A march, as a musical genre, is a piece of music with a strong regular rhythm which in origin was expressly written for marching to and most frequently performed by a military band. ... A major is a major scale based on A, consisting of the pitches A, B, C♯, D, E, F♯, G♯, and A. Its key signature consists of three sharps. ... Typical fingering for a second inversion C major chord on a guitar. ... Also see: A major, or A-sharp minor. ... For the popular Tamil film, see Rhythm (film). ...

[Sound sample(MIDI)] Image File history File links The fate motif from Gustav Mahlers Symphony No. ...

This motif, which some commentators have linked with fate, reappears in subsequent movements. The first movement also features a soaring melody which the composer's wife, Alma Mahler, claimed was representative of her; this melody is now often known as the "Alma theme". The movement's end marks the happiest point of the symphony with a restatement of the Alma theme. Alma Mahler Alma Maria Mahler-Werfel (née Schindler) (August 31, 1879 – December 11, 1964) was noted in her native Vienna for her beauty and intelligence. ...

The andante is a respite from the brutal intensity of the rest of the work. Its main theme is an introspective ten-bar phrase that is technically in E-flat major, though the theme alone can seem major and minor at once. The orchestration is more delicate and reserved in this movement, making it all the more poignant when compared to the driving darkness of the other three. This article is about tempo in music. ...

The scherzo marks a return to the unrelenting march rhythms of the first movement, though in a 'triple-time' metrical context. Its trio (the middle section), marked Altväterisch ('old-fashioned'), is rhythmically irregular (4/8 switching to 3/8 and 3/4) and of a somewhat gentler character. Alma's report, often repeated, that in this movement Mahler "represented the unrhythmic games of the two little children, tottering in zigzags over the sand" is refuted by the chronology: the movement was composed in the Summer of 1903, when Maria Anna Mahler (born November 1902) was less than a year old, and when Anna Justine (born July 1904) had not even been conceived. All the same, it is widely accepted by contemporary interpretors and conductors and it is usually in this playful-turned-terror-filled manner that this movement is conducted. Trio is generally used in any of the following ways: Three musicians playing the same or different musical instrument. ...

The last movement is an extended sonata form, characterized by drastic changes in mood and tempo, the sudden change of glorious soaring melody to deep pounded agony. The movement is punctuated by three hammer blows. Alma quotes her husband as saying that these were three mighty blows of fate befallen by the hero, "the third of which fells him like a tree". She identified these blows with three later events in Gustav Mahler's own life: the death of his eldest daughter Maria Anna Mahler, the diagnosis of an eventually fatal heart condition, and his forced resignation from the Vienna Opera and departure from Vienna. When he revised the work, Mahler removed the last of these three blows for structural reasons, though some modern performances restore it. The piece ends with the same rhythmic motif that first appeared in the first movement, but the chord above it is a simple A minor triad, rather than A major turning into A minor. This ending is one of the most brutal in all music, after the third 'hammer-blow' passage, the music gropes around in darkness and then the horns begin to offer consolation. However after they turn briefly the major they fade away and the final bars erupt fff to hammer home the minor.

It has been suggested by Stephen Johnson that Mahler in his 6th symphony may have "pilfered" music from a piano duet of Carl Maria von Weber.^[9] Carl Maria von Weber Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst, Freiherr von Weber (November 18, 1786 in Eutin, Holstein – June 5, 1826 in London, England) was a German composer, conductor, pianist and critic, one of the first significant composers of the Romantic school. ...

Quotations

My sixth will propound riddles the solution of which may be attempted only by a generation which has absorbed and truly digested my first five symphonies.

(Mahler, in a letter to Richard Specht).

The only Sixth, despite the Pastoral. Ludwig van Beethovens Symphony No. ...

(Alban Berg, in a letter to Anton Webern).

Premieres

• World premiere: May 27, 1906, Essen, conducted by the composer.
• American premiere: December 11, 1947, New York City, conducted by Dimitris Mitropoulos.
• Recording premiere: F. Charles Adler conducting the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, 1952.

is the 147th day of the year (148th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1906 (MCMVI) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Essen is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. ... is the 345th day of the year (346th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1947 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ... Dimitris Mitropoulos (Greek: Δημήτρης Μητρόπουλος) (March 1, 1896 – November 2, 1960) was a Greek conductor, pianist, and composer who spent most of his career in the United States. ... Frederick Charles Adler (usually known as F. Charles Adler) was an English-German conductor. ... Categories: Musical group stubs | Austrian orchestras ...

References

1. ^ http://www.mahlerfest.org/mfXVI/notes_myth_reality.htm Mahlerfest - Symphony No. 6 - Myth and Reality explores in some detail the controversy surrounding the movement order
2. ^ http://www.andante.com/profiles/Mahler/symph6.cfm Extensive history and analysis by renowned Mahler scholar Henry Louis de La Grange
3. ^ http://mahlerarchives.net/archives/wagnerM6.pdf Naturlaut Vol. 4 No. 4
4. ^ Barbirolli's 1967 recording was re-ordered as Scherzo-Andante in the original release
5. ^ originally performed the work Scherzo-Andante
6. ^ originally performed the work Scherzo-Andante
7. ^ originally performed the work Andante-Scherzo
8. ^ made the first recording of the 6th, with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra
9. ^ In Discovering Music - Hindemith's Symphonic Variations of Themes by Carl Maria von Weber from 38:50 to 42:05, particularly from 41:26

External links

• Symphony No. 6 was available at the International Music Score Library Project.
• Synoptic survey: Extensive critical analysis of many recordings by Tony Duggan