6. Symphony Concert(s)

Sunday, June 21, 11:00 h
Mahler-Zyklus I
Joseph Haydn Symphony No. 7 in C major Hob. I:7 Le Midi
Gustav Mahler Symphony No. 1 in D major

Monday, June 22, 19:30 h
Mahler-Zyklus II
Gustav Mahler Symphony No. 6 in A minor

Saturday, June 27, 19:30 h
Mahler-Zyklus III
Alexander Zemlinsky Psalm 23 for mixed choir and orchestra op. 14
Gustav Mahler Symphony No. 9 in D major

Cornelius Meister and the Staatsorchester Stuttgart conclude their multi-year Gustav Mahler cycle with three concerts. Since 2018, they have performed all nine of the Viennese composer’s symphonies together. In just one week, the Stuttgart Liederhalle offers a unique overview of Mahler’s symphonic oeuvre: from the world-embracing First to the tragic Sixth and the pensive, introspective Ninth.

Mahler sparked emotional turmoil with the premiere of his first symphony in 1889. He initially presented the work as a symphonic poem and gave it the title Titan, which he took from Jean Paul’s novel of the same name. Even though Mahler published the composition ten years later as a symphony and without a program, the rousing music lives up to the original title. This symphony concert opens with Joseph Haydn’s Seventh Symphony. It is the only one of his more than one hundred contributions to this genre for which he himself notated a title on the autograph: Le Midi (The Midday).

Mahler caused particularly strong controversy with his Sixth Symphony. In it, the composer acknowledges his changing moods to a particular degree. In order to express what moved him, Mahler needed a highly differentiated orchestra – which entailed a huge orchestration. For many of his contemporaries, this went beyond the principles of good taste. Mahler pulled out all the stops with the percussion in particular. A whole arsenal of cowbells in particular caused surprise at the time.

When Mahler’s Ninth was premiered in June 1912, a year after his death, there was great excitement in the audience: Which sounds would they hear? In this work, the composer turns to the last things. This symphony sounds like a grand, fully composed farewell. However, it is not sadness that predominates in this farewell, but a great inner peace. This can also be found in Alexander Zemlinsky’s setting of the 23rd Psalm “Goodness and mercy“, the choir insists here.