Symphony No. 6 (Mahler)

Mahler conducted the work's first performance at the Saalbau concert hall in Essen on 27 May 1906. He composed the symphony during an exceptionally happy time in his life, as he had married Alma Schindler in 1902, and during the course of the work's composition, his second daughter was born. This contrasts with the tragic, even nihilistic, ending of the symphony. Both Alban Berg and Anton Webern praised the work when they first heard it. Berg expressed his opinion of the stature of this symphony in a 1908 letter to Webern: == Nickname of ==

The status of the symphony's nickname is problematic. Nor does the word appear on any of the scores that C. F. Kahnt published (first edition, 1906; revised edition, 1906), in Specht's officially approved ('thematic guide') or on Zemlinsky's piano duet transcription (1906). By contrast, in his Gustav Mahler memoir, Bruno Walter claimed that "Mahler called [the work] his Tragic Symphony". Additionally, the programme for the first Vienna performance (4 January 1907) refers to the work as . Although not using the title, Alma Mahler's famous statement has influenced the association of the symphony with tragedy: == Instrumentation ==

The symphony is scored for a very large orchestra, the largest purely instrumental forces Mahler ever wrote for, consisting of the following: ;Woodwinds : piccolo (used only in movement 4) : 4 flutes (3rd and 4th doubling 2nd and 3rd piccolos) : 4 oboes (3rd and 4th doubling 2nd and 3rd cor anglais; 2nd cor anglais used only in Scherzo) : cor anglais (used only in movement 4) : E clarinet (doubling 4th clarinet) : 3 B and A clarinets : bass clarinet : 4 bassoons (4th used only in movement 4) : contrabassoon ;Brass : 8 horns : 6 trumpets (5th and 6th used only in movement 4) : 4 trombones (4th used only in movement 4) : tuba ;Keyboards : celesta (doubled or tripled if possible) ;Percussion : 6 timpani (two players) : bass drum : 2 snare drums (used in movements 1 and 4) : several pairs of crash cymbals : suspended cymbals : several triangles : cowbells (offstage in movements 1 and 4, onstage in Andante) : hammer (see description below) : 2 tam-tams (standard and deep) : rute (to be struck on the bass drum case, used only in movement 4) : small wooden stick (to be struck on the bass drum case, used only in the scherzo) : deep, untuned bells (used only in movement 4, offstage) : glockenspiel : xylophone ; Strings : 4 harps : 1st violins : 2nd violins : violas : cellos : double basses Listed above is the full, original orchestration of the sixth symphony. The critical edition does not account for everything listed, especially regarding the very large percussion section. The number of harps specified is ambiguous; Mahler called for two in his list of instruments, but at one point he called for four harps in the score. Due to costs, however, most performances use only two. In addition to very large woodwind and brass sections, Mahler augmented the percussion section with several unusual instruments, including untuned bells, offstage cowbells, and the famous "Mahler hammer". 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 axe)." 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. Contemporaries mocked the use of the hammer, as shown by a caricature from the satirical magazine . == Structure ==

The work is in four movements and has a duration of around 80 minutes. The order of the inner movements has been a matter of controversy. The first published edition of the score (C. F. Kahnt, 1906) featured the movements in the following order: Mahler later placed the as the second movement, and this new order of the inner movements was reflected in the second and third published editions of the score, as well as the Essen premiere. The first three movements are relatively traditional in structure and character, with a standard sonata form first movement (even including an exact repeat of the exposition, unusual in Mahler) leading to the middle movements – one a scherzo-with-trios, the other slow. However, attempts to analyze the vast finale in terms of the sonata archetype have encountered serious difficulties. As Dika Newlin has pointed out: I. 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 the loudest in the first chord and the oboes in the second. This motif reappears in subsequent movements. The first movement also features a soaring melody which the composer's wife, Alma Mahler, claimed represented her. This melody is often called the "Alma theme". A restatement of that theme at the movement's end marks the happiest point of the symphony. \relative c'' { \clef treble \key f \major \numericTimeSignature \time 4/4 \partial 8*3 a'8(\f\ II. : The scherzo marks a return to the unrelenting march rhythms of the first movement, though in a 'triple-time' metrical context. { \new PianoStaff > } Its trio (the middle section), marked ('old-fashioned'), is rhythmically irregular ( switching to and ) and of a somewhat gentler character. \relative c'' { \clef treble \key f \major \time 3/8 \partial 8*1 c8\f-. | c\>-. c-. c-.\! | \time 4/8 a(\p c16 a f8->)\breathe c' | \time 3/8 c-.\ According to Alma Mahler, in this movement Mahler "represented the unrhythmical games of the two little children, tottering in zigzags over the sand". The chronology of its composition suggests otherwise. The movement was composed in the summer of 1903, when Maria Anna (born November 1902) was less than a year old. Anna Justine was born a year later in June 1904. III. {{listen|type=music The provides a respite from the intensity of the rest of the work. Its main theme is an introspective ten-bar phrase in E major, though it frequently touches on the minor mode as well. This theme, which is repeated three times, is actually a quote from , the first song of Kindertotenlieder. The movement's second theme eventually returns in the violins, leading to climax played by the horns, with cowbells loudly clashing with the rest of the orchestra. The strife is short lived, however, and the music finds solace in its final bars. \relative c' { \clef treble \key ees \major \numericTimeSignature \time 4/4 \tempo "Andante moderato" \partial 4*1 ees8\pp( f) | g4( ees'8 g,) aes( fes) ees-- d-- | ees2( bes4) d!8( ees) | f!4.--( f8--) f([ ges16 f ees8 f)] | ges2. } IV. for performances in November 2016 The last movement is an extended sonata form with an introduction and coda, characterized by drastic changes in mood and tempo, the sudden change of glorious soaring melody to deep agony. | bes,2.-> aes4-> | g1-> } \new RhythmicStaff { \clef bass b4_"Hammer"\ff r4 r2 | r1 | r1 } >> Alma quoted 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 hammer strokes so that the music built to a sudden moment of stillness in place of the third blow. Some recordings and performances, notably those of Leonard Bernstein, have restored the third hammer blow. The piece ends with the same rhythmic motif that appeared in the first movement, but the chord above it is a simple A minor triad, rather than A major turning into A minor. After the third 'hammer-blow' passage, the music gropes in darkness and then the trombones and horns begin to offer consolation. However, after they turn briefly to major they fade away and the final bars erupt in the minor. == Order of the inner movements and performance history issue ==

Initial history Controversy exists over the order of the two middle movements. Mahler conceived the work as having the scherzo second and the slow movement third, a somewhat unclassical arrangement adumbrated in such earlier large-scale symphonies as Beethoven's No. 9, Bruckner's No. 8 and (unfinished) No. 9, and Mahler's own four-movement No. 1 and No. 4. 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, as noted by Mahler biographer Henry-Louis de La Grange: Alfred Roller, a close collaborator and colleague of Mahler's in Vienna, communicated in a letter dated 2 May 1906 to his fiancée Mileva Stojsavljevic, on the Mahlers' reaction to the orchestral rehearsal of the work in Vienna on 1 May 1906 in its original movement order: During those later May 1906 rehearsals in Essen, however, Mahler decided that the slow movement should precede the scherzo. Klaus Pringsheim, another colleague of Mahler's at the Hofoper, reminisced in a 1920 article on the situation at the Essen rehearsals, on Mahler's state of mind at the time: Mahler instructed his publishers 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. Mahler conducted the public premiere on 27 May 1906 and his other two subsequent performances of the Sixth Symphony, in November 1906 (Munich) and 4 January 1907 (Vienna) with his revised order of the inner movements. History from 1911 to 1960 In the period immediately after Mahler's death, scholars such as Paul Bekker, Ernst Decsey, Richard Specht, and Paul Stefan published studies with reference to the Sixth Symphony in Mahler's second edition with the Andante/Scherzo order. Anna Mahler, Mahler's daughter, attended both of these performances. and criticised the Ratz edition for its lack of documentary evidence to justify the Scherzo/Andante order. In contrast, scholars such as Theodor W. Adorno, Henry-Louis de La Grange, Hans-Peter Jülg and Karl Heinz Füssl have argued for the original order as more appropriate, expostulating on the overall tonal scheme and the various relationships between the keys in the final three movements. Füssl, in particular, noted that Ratz made his decision under historical circumstances where the history of the different autographs and versions was not completely known at the time. Füssl has also noted the following features of the Scherzo/Andante order: • The Scherzo is an example of 'developing variation' in its treatment of material from the first movement, where separation of the Scherzo from the first movement by the Andante disrupts that linkage. • The Scherzo and the first movement use identical keys, A minor at the beginning and F major in the trio. • The Andante's key, E major, is farthest removed from the key at the close of the first movement (A major), whilst the C minor key at the beginning of the finale acts as transition from E major to A minor, the principal key of the finale. The 1968 Eulenberg Edition of the Sixth Symphony, edited by Hans Redlich, restores most of Mahler's original orchestration and utilises the original order of Scherzo/Andante for the order of the middle movements. Matthews has noted the interconnectivity of the first movement with the Scherzo as similar to Mahler's interconnectivity of the first two movements of the Fifth Symphony, and that performing the Mahler with the Andante/Scherzo order damages the structure of the tonal key relationships and removes this parallel, a structural disruption of what de La Grange has described as follows: Matthews, Paul Banks, and scholar Warren Darcy (the last an advocate for the Andante/Scherzo order) have independently proposed the idea of two separate editions of the symphony, one to accommodate each version of the order of the inner movements. Music commentator David Hurwitz has likewise remarked: An additional question is whether to restore the third hammer blow. Both the Ratz edition and the Kubik edition delete the third hammer blow. However, advocates on opposite sides of the inner movement debate, such as Del Mar and Matthews, have separately argued for restoration of the third hammer blow. == Selected discography ==

This discography encompasses both audio and video recordings, and classifies them as to the order of the middle movements. Recordings with three hammer blows in the finale are noted with an asterisk (*). Scherzo / Andante • Erich Leinsdorf, Boston Symphony Orchestra, RCA Victor Red Seal LSC-7044 • Jascha Horenstein, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Unicorn UKCD 2024/5 (live recording from 1966) • Leonard Bernstein, New York Philharmonic, Sony Classical SMK 60208 (*) • Václav Neumann, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Berlin Classics 0090452BC • George Szell, Cleveland Orchestra, Sony Classical SBK 47654 • Bernard Haitink, Concertgebouw Orchestra, Amsterdam, Q-DISC 97014 (live performance from November 1968) • Rafael Kubelík, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Deutsche Grammophon 289 478 7897-1 • Rafael Kubelík, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Audite 1475671 (live recording of 6 December 1968 performance) • Bernard Haitink, Concertgebouw Orchestra, Amsterdam, Philips 289 420 138-2 • Jascha Horenstein, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, BBC Legends BBCL4191-2 • Georg Solti, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Decca 414 674-2 • Hans Zender, Saarbrücken Radio Symphony Orchestra, CPO 999 477-2 • Maurice Abravanel, Utah Symphony, Vanguard Classics SRV 323/4 (LP) • Herbert von Karajan, Berlin Philharmonic, Deutsche Grammophon 289 415 099-2 • Leonard Bernstein, Vienna Philharmonic, Deutsche Grammophon DVD 440 073 409-05 (live film recording from October 1976) (*) • James Levine, London Symphony Orchestra, RCA Red Seal RCD2-3213 • Herbert von Karajan, Berlin Philharmonic, Saint Laurent Studio (live recording of 17 June 1977 performance) • Herbert von Karajan, Berlin Philharmonic, Fachmann FKM-CDR-193 (live recording of 27 August 1977 performance) • Kirill Kondrashin, Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra, Melodiya CD 10 00811 • Václav Neumann, Czech Philharmonic, Supraphon 11 1977-2 • Claudio Abbado, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Deutsche Grammophon 289 423 928-2 • Milan Horvat, Philharmonica Slavonica, Line 4593003 • Kirill Kondrashin, SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg, Hänssler Classic 9842273 (live recording from January 1981) • Lorin Maazel, Vienna Philharmonic, Sony Classical S14K 48198 • Klaus Tennstedt, London Philharmonic Orchestra, EMI Classics CDC7 47050-8 • Klaus Tennstedt, London Philharmonic Orchestra. LPO-0038 (live recording from the 1983 Proms) • Erich Leinsdorf, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Orfeo C 554 011 B (live recording of 10 June 1983 performance) • Gary Bertini, Cologne Radio Symphony Orchestra, EMI Classics 94634 02382 • Giuseppe Sinopoli, Philharmonia Orchestra, Deutsche Grammophon 289 423 082-2 • Eliahu Inbal, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, 1986, Denon Blu-spec cd (COCO-73280-1) • Leonard Bernstein, Vienna Philharmonic, Deutsche Grammophon 289 427 697-2 (*) • Michiyoshi Inoue, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Pickwick/RPO CDRPO 9005 • Bernard Haitink, Berlin Philharmonic, Philips 289 426 257-2 • Riccardo Chailly, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Decca 444 871-2 • Hartmut Haenchen, Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, Capriccio 10 543 • Hiroshi Wakasugi, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, 1989, Fontec FOCD9022/3 • Leif Segerstam, Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Chandos CHAN 8956/7 • Christoph von Dohnányi, Cleveland Orchestra, Decca 289 466 345-2 • Klaus Tennstedt, London Philharmonic Orchestra, EMI Classics 7243 5 55294 28 (live recording from November 1991) • Anton Nanut, Radio Symphony Orchestra Ljubljana, Zyx Classic CLS 4110 • Neeme Järvi, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Chandos CHAN 9207 • Antoni Wit, Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Naxos 8.550529 • Seiji Ozawa, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Philips 289 434 909-2 • Yevgeny Svetlanov, State Symphony Orchestra of the Russian Federation, Warner Classics 2564 68886-2 (box set) • Emil Tabakov, Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra, Capriccio C49043 • Edo de Waart, Radio Filharmonisch Orkest, RCA 27607 • Pierre Boulez, Vienna Philharmonic, Deutsche Grammophon 289 445 835-2 • Zubin Mehta, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Warner Apex 9106459 • Thomas Sanderling, Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, RS Real Sound RS052-0186 • Yoel Levi, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Telarc CD 80444 • Michael Gielen, SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg, Hänssler Classics 93029 • Günther Herbig, Saarbrücken Radio Symphony Orchestra, Berlin Classics 0094612BC • Michiyoshi Inoue, New Japan Philharmonic, 2000, Exton OVCL-00121 • Michael Tilson Thomas, San Francisco Symphony, SFS Media 40382001 (recorded September 2001) • Bernard Haitink, Orchestre National de France, Naïve V4937 • Christoph Eschenbach, The Philadelphia Orchestra, Ondine ODE1084-5B • Mark Wigglesworth, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, MSO Live 391666 • Bernard Haitink, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, CSO Resound 210000045796 • Vladimir Fedoseyev, Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra of Moscow Radio, Relief 2735809 • Eiji Oue, Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra, Fontec FOCD9253/4 • Takashi Asahina, Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra, Green Door GDOP-2009 • Jonathan Nott, Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, Tudor 7191 • Esa-Pekka Salonen, Philharmonia Orchestra, Signum SIGCD275 • Hartmut Haenchen, Orchestre Symphonique du Théâtre de la Monnaie, ICA Classics DVD ICAD5018 • Antal Doráti, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Helicon 9699053 (live recording of 27 October 1963 performance) • Lorin Maazel, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, RCO Live RCO 12101 DVD • Paavo Järvi, Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, C-Major DVD 729404 • Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Oslo Philharmonic, Simax PSC1316 (*) • Pierre Boulez, Lucerne Festival Academy Orchestra, Accentus Music ACC30230 • Antonio Pappano, Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, EMI Classics (Warner Classics 5099908441324) • Lorin Maazel, Philharmonia Orchestra, Signum SIGCD361 • Jaap van Zweden, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, DSO Live • Libor Pešek, Czech National Symphony Orchestra, Out of the Frame OUT 068 • Václav Neumann, Czech Philharmonic, Exton OVCL-00259 • Zdeněk Mácal, Czech Philharmonic, Exton OVCL-00245 • Vladimir Ashkenazy, Czech Philharmonic, Exton OVCL-00051 • Eliahu Inbal, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, 2007, Fontec SACD (FOCD9369) • Eliahu Inbal, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, 2013, Exton SACD (OVCL-00516 & OVXL-00090 "one point recording version") • Gary Bertini, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, Fontec FOCD9182 • Georges Prêtre, Wiener Symphoniker, Weitblick SSS0079-2 • Giuseppe Sinopoli, Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra, Weitblick SSS0108-2 • Rudolf Barshai, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, Tobu YNSO Archive Series YASCD1009-2 • Martin Sieghart, Arnhem Philharmonic Orchestra, Exton HGO 0403 • Heinz Bongartz, Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra, Weitblick SSS0053-2 • Teodor Currentzis, MusicAeterna, Sony Classical 19075822952 • Paavo Järvi, NHK Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo, RCA Victor Red Seal SICC 19040 • Michael Gielen, SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg, SWR Classic SWR19080CD (live concert performance from 1971) • Michael Tilson Thomas, San Francisco Symphony, SFS Media (digital release, UPC 821936007723, live recording of September 2019) • Tomáš Netopil, Essen Philharmonic, Oehms Classics OC 1716 • Jahja Ling, San Diego Symphony, San Diego Symphony proprietary label, Jacobs Masterworks (recorded 2008) • Mariss Jansons, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, BR Klassik 900719 (live performance from October 2011) • Yutaka Sado, Tonkünstler Orchestra, Tonkünstler Orchestra TON2016 • Bernard Haitink, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, RCO Live RCO 25003 (live performance from 7 December 2001) • Semyon Bychkov, Czech Philharmonic, Pentatone PTC5187490 Andante / Scherzo • Charles Adler, Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Spa Records SPA 59/60 • Eduard Flipse, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Philips ABL 3103-4 (LP), Naxos Classical Archives 9.80846-48 (CD) • Dimitri Mitropoulos, New York Philharmonic, NYP Editions (live recording from 10 April 1955) • Eduard van Beinum, Concertgebouw Orchestra, Amsterdam, Tahra 614/5 (live recording from 7 December 1955) • Sir John Barbirolli, Berlin Philharmonic, Testament SBT1342 (live recording of 13 January 1966 performance) • Sir John Barbirolli. New Philharmonia Orchestra, Testament SBT1451 (live recording of 16 August 1967 Proms performance) • Sir John Barbirolli, New Philharmonia Orchestra, EMI 7 67816 2 (studio recording, 17–19 August 1967) • Harold Farberman, London Symphony Orchestra, Vox 7212 (CD) • Heinz Rögner, Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, Eterna 8-27 612-613 • Simon Rattle, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, EMI Classics CDS5 56925-2 • Glen Cortese, Manhattan School of Music Symphony Orchestra, Titanic 257 • Andrew Litton, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Delos (live recording, limited commemorative edition) • Sir Charles Mackerras, BBC Philharmonic, BBC Music Magazine MM251 (Vol 13, No 7) (*) • Mariss Jansons, London Symphony Orchestra, LSO Live LSO0038 • Claudio Abbado, Berlin Philharmonic, Deutsche Grammophon 289 477 557-39 • Iván Fischer, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Channel Classics 22905 • Mariss Jansons, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, RCO Live RCO06001 • Claudio Abbado, Lucerne Festival Orchestra, Euroarts DVD 2055648 • Simone Young, Hamburg Philharmonic, Oehms Classics OC413 • David Zinman, Tonhalle Orchester Zürich, RCA Red Seal 88697 45165 2 • Valery Gergiev, London Symphony Orchestra, LSO Live LSO0661 • Jonathan Darlington, Duisburg Philharmonic, Acousence 7944879 • Petr Vronsky, Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra, ArcoDiva UP0122-2 • Fabio Luisi, Vienna Symphony, Live WS003 • Vladimir Ashkenazy, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, SSO Live • Riccardo Chailly, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Accentus Music DVD ACC-2068 • Markus Stenz, Gürzenich Orchestra Köln, Oehms Classics OC651 • Gabriel Feltz, Stuttgart Philharmonic, Dreyer Gaido 9595564 • Daniel Harding, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, BR-Klassik 900132 • Simon Rattle, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, BPH 7558515 (live recording from 1987) • James Levine, Boston Symphony Orchestra, BSO Classics 0902-D • Osmo Vänskä, Minnesota Orchestra, BIS 2266 • Simon Rattle, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (live recordings from 1987 and 2018, with DVD of 2018 performance) • Michael Gielen, SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg, SWR Classic SWR19080CD (live concert performance from 2013) • Hans Rosbaud, Southwest German Radio Symphony Orchestra, SWR 19099 (live recording) • Ádám Fischer, Düsseldorfer Symphoniker, CAvi-music AVI 8553490 (*) • Simon Gaudenz, Jenaer Philharmonie, Odradek Recordings ODRCD450 • Sir Simon Rattle, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, BR Klassik 900217 • Kirill Petrenko, Berlin Philharmonic, BPHR200364 (live recording) == Premieres ==

• World premiere: 27 May 1906, Saalbau Essen, conducted by the composer • Dutch première: 16 September 1916, Amsterdam, with the Concertgebouw Orchestra conducted by Willem Mengelberg • American premiere: 11 December 1947, New York City, conducted by Dimitri Mitropoulos • Recording premiere: F. Charles Adler conducting the Vienna Symphony, 1952 == References ==