CONCERT PROGRAMME
G. Mahler. Symphony No. 6 ("The Tragic")
Gustav Mahler (1860–1911) wrote his Sixth Symphony in 1903–1904, while he was the director of the Vienna Opera and at the peak of his career as a conductor. While Europe was experiencing significant political and social upheavals and tensions that would later lead to World War I, Mahler’s personal life was similarly filled with anxiety, strained relationships, and health problems. At the same time, however, the composer experienced a very active creative period. At that time, Vienna, where Mahler lived and worked, was a thriving cultural centre, teeming with artistic movements and intellectual debate. Mahler drew inspiration for his Sixth Symphony from philosophical and literary sources: the composer was greatly influenced by Friedrich Nietzsche, especially his concept of “eternal recurrence” (the idea of facing life’s challenges with courage and perseverance), and by the Austrian poet Heinrich Leopold Wagner, whose themes of fate and human suffering resonated deeply with Mahler. The title of the Sixth Symphony – “The Tragic” – reflects Mahler's interest in the tragic worldview prevalent in the literature and drama of the time.
At that time, the musical landscape was shifting towards modernism, and composers were experimenting with new harmonic languages and forms. However, Mahler's avant-garde compositions were met with controversy. The Sixth Symphony is a thread of a recurring musical motif woven by Mahler – the so-called “Alma Theme”. This catchy melody, heard at the beginning of the work, undergoes various transformations in the symphony, thus reflecting the multifaceted nature of Mahler's feelings for his wife and the turbulent nature of their relationship – their marriage suffered from jealousy, infidelity and competition, was accompanied by huge emotional ups and downs, passionate love and intense conflicts. The entire Sixth Symphony is like a deep meditation on the human experience, changing from absolute ecstasy to complete despair. In the dramatic finale, G. Mahler's hammer strikes the “blows of fate”, which became a prophetic sign of the tragedies of the composer's life.