Symphony Concert No. 2

Aware of his approaching death, Gustav Mahler composed *Das Lied von der Erde*, which he described as his most personal work. “Is this even bearable?” he is said to have asked the conductor Bruno Walter—who was speechless with emotion—after studying the score, referring to the intensity of the final movement, titled “Farewell.” Mahler conceived the six movements as a “cycle of orchestral songs” based on texts from Hans Bethge’s *Die chinesische Flöte*. Far-Eastern-sounding timbres and a striking, pentatonic motif combine with a deeply moving world of expression, into which TLT Chief Conductor Gerrit Prießnitz, mezzo-soprano Zanda Švēde, tenor Heiko Börner, and the TSOI immerse themselves together.

Mahler’s “Song of the Earth” is preceded by a work by Arnold Schoenberg, who was a great admirer of Mahler and arranged several of his compositions. “Verklärte Nacht” was originally composed as a string sextet and—much like Mahler’s symphonic song cycle—oscillates between inner turmoil and transcendent calm. Based on the poem of the same name by Richard Dehmel, Schoenberg crafted a musical narrative of guilt, understanding, and transfiguration that is deeply rooted in the late-Romantic soundscape of Gustav Mahler while simultaneously pointing beyond it.