Mahler's Symphony No. 6

In summer 1903, Mahler was at his happiest time of life.  Married to the beautiful Alma and father to two healthy daughters, it doesn’t seem like the time when one would compose a symphony often called the Tragic.  However, in an eerily prescient stroke, this is exactly what Mahler does.  In the years that followed, Mahler suffered the death of a child, the loss of his position in Vienna, and learned of his debilitating heart disease—three blows of fate predicted by the blows of the drum that fell the Hero at the close of Symphony No. 6.

Mahler's Symphony No. 9

Almost exactly one hundred years ago, on May 18, 1911, the great composer and conductor Gustav Mahler died of a blood infection just weeks before his fifty-first birthday.  His last complete work, the Symphony No. 9, was composed following a whirlwind period of great loss and supreme achievement, including the composition of his “symphony without a number,” Das Lied von der Erde.  Symphony No. 9 reaches the greatest apex of Mahler’s compositional catalogue, exhibiting his characteristic subtle transition, expansion, and continuous variation at their fullest.

Berlioz's "Symphonie fantastique"

A man spots a woman across the room at a party and falls instantly in love with her. In a fit of despair over his unrequited love, he poisons himself and fantastic dreams and visions result. This is the story, inspired by his own love for the actress Harriet Smithson, that Hector Berlioz portrays in his Symphonie fantastique, premiered in 1830. Using recurring musical motifs to represent characters and brand new instrumental colors, Berlioz worked on foundations laid by Beethoven to bring music fully into the Romantic era.

Vaughan Williams's Symphony No. 2, "A London Symphony"

In 1903, Ralph Vaughan Williams began collecting folk songs. His dedication to his English heritage was evident early on in his career, from his editions of Purcell’s music for the Purcell Society to his assembling, editing, and contributing to The English Hymnal. It is fitting, then, that his first instrumental symphony should be called A London Symphony. Vaughan Williams's Symphony No. 2 is inspired by the vibrant city life of London, and has been described as the musical equivalent of Claude Monet’s paintings of the sun rising over the foggy Thames.

Sibelius's Symphony No. 2

At the close of the nineteenth century, Finnish natives were enjoying a renaissance of their native culture, in opposition to their Russian occupiers. Jean Sibelius was swept up in this nationalistic fervor, and composed several patriotic tone poems, including Finlandia. Symphony No. 2, misinterpreted at its premiere as a commentary on the Finnish political conflict, was composed mostly in Italy, where Sibelius was renting a studio. Working with fragments and sketches intended for four separate tone poems, Sibelius then assembled the pieces into this full-fledged symphony.

Bach’s Mass in B minor

Bach’s Mass in B minor can viewed as a compendium of all of the musical styles in which the composer was fluent. The work encompasses many different styles popular in the Baroque era, including polyphonic choral textures, instrumental solos, and operatic aria solos for the vocalists. A work of huge scale, it is unlikely that Bach ever heard the Mass performed in its entirety. Composed at intervals throughout his life and finally compiled into a complete work just before his death, the B minor Mass stands as an embodiment of Bach’s genius.

Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 4

On an extended journey through Italy in 1830 and 1831, Felix Mendelssohn began work on his Fourth Symphony.  A wildly talented composer who wrote his famous Octet when he was only sixteen, Mendelssohn was prompted to finish the work when the London Philharmonic Society requested a symphony from him (and offered payment of a hundred guineas). Mendelssohn called it the jolliest music he had ever composed. Although he remained dissatisfied with the symphony and planned numerous revisions, the Italian Symphony still stands as one of his most easily recognizable works.