Songs of Parents & Children

In the summer of 1901, Mahler's health crisis inevitably led him to think about his own mortality. This was one of his most prolific summers during which he composed several songs with texts from Friedrich Rückert's Kindertotenlieder. Mahler quotes from one of these songs on the final page of his Ninth Symphony. Mahler's wife, Alma, was not pleased at the subject matter, “For Heaven’s sake, don’t tempt Providence!” On this program we also offer t...