Mahler Symphony 6 ‘Tragische’

Antony Hermus

If there is one composer who found the sounds that capture humankind’s struggle against its inescapable fate, then it is Gustav Mahler in his Symphony No. 6. But why this score precisely, with its funeral marches, hammer blows and ominous A minor, at a time when things were going so well for Mahler? As the artistic director of the Vienna State Opera, he achieved one success after another: his own compositions gained in popularity and the birth of his second daughter gave him a stable and happy home. Did he want to ward off, pre-emptively, the calamity that befalls every overly happy mortal in the Greek tragedies? Did he sense how dark clouds were gathering over him? Whatever prompted him to write this symphony, fate did indeed strike mercilessly: within a year of the premiere, his four-year-old daughter Maria died, his own ultimately fatal heart condition was diagnosed, and he was forced to resign from the Vienna Opera. Three blows that give his symphony the grim appearance of a self-fulfilling prophecy. The nickname 'Tragische' was never more appropriate … 

For the execution of this awe-inspiring symphony with its huge cast, the musicians of the La Monnaie Symphony Orchestra will perform alongside the Belgian National Orchestra. Led by conductor Antony Hermus, this work will resound as it was intended: as music in which something is really at stake. 

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