RNCM Symphony Orchestra

Mahler’s Ninth Symphony has divided opinion for decades – is it a hymn to the end of all things or an ultimately affirmative lovesong to life and to mortality? It is, of course, down to the listener to interpret the piece and find their own meaning. The Ninth took shape against a background of painful memories, frustrated love and a life about to be cut short – Mahler’s daughter had died, he was in an unhappy marriage, his own health was failing and it was the end of his reign as Artistic Director of the Vienna Court Opera.

Tonight’s programme is completed by a composition by Mahler’s good friend, Arnold Schoenberg. The two men respected and admired each other enormously. This early work was written in 1909, during a time of intense personal and artistic crisis for the composer. This is reflected in the tensions and at some times extreme violence of the score mirroring the Expressionist movement of the time, in particular its preoccupation with the subconscious and burgeoning madness.