Mahler Symphony No. 9, Part 1

Two events, occurring on the same day, drove Mahler to the brink.
His daughter Maria died at the age of just 4, and Mahler himself
was diagnosed with a heart condition that would prove to be fatal.
He became consumed even more so than he ever was before with the
idea of death, the afterlife, and all the philosophical trials and
travails that came with these thoughts.  These ideas of death
did not come only from his own sense of loss and grief; they were
about his place in history, and how he would be remembered. The 9th
symphony explores all of these questions in a remarkably powerful
way. The symphony sets up two poles: acceptance and struggle, and
then wavers between them for its duration, vacillating between
desperately clinging to life, and accepting and letting go.
 Leonard Bernstein famously said that the symphonies' 4
movements represent 4 ways for Mahler to say farewell, but they
could just as easily be 4 movements for Mahler to say he will be
here forever. Join us today for part 1 to discuss the first
movement of this monumental symphony!