Symphony No. 6 (Mahler)

Symphony No. 6
Symphony No. 6
by Gustav Mahler
	Gustav Mahler in 1907
Key	A minor
Composed	1903–1904: Maiernigg
Published	1906 C. F. Kahnt (original edition); 1906 C. F. Kahnt (revised edition);
Recorded	F. Charles Adler, Vienna Symphony, 1952
Duration	77–90 minutes
Movements	4
Premiere
Date	27 May 1906
Location	Saalbau Essen
Conductor	Gustav Mahler

The Symphony No. 6 in A minor is a piece of orchestral music by Gustav Mahler. The composer wrote the symphony from 1903 and 1904. It is sometimes called the Tragic, but nobody knows where this name came from.^[1]

The symphony was first played on 27 May 1906 at the Saalbau concert hall in Essen. It was conducted by Mahler.^[2]

Instrumentation

The symphony was written for a large orchestra with:^[3]

Woodwinds: piccolo (used only in movement 4); 4 flutes (3rd and 4th doubling 2nd and 3rd piccolos); 4 oboes (3rd and 4th doubling 2nd and 3rd cor anglais; 2nd cor anglais used only in Scherzo); cor anglais (used only in movement 4); E♭ clarinet (doubling 4th clarinet); 3 B♭ and A clarinets; bass clarinet; 4 bassoons (4th used only in movement 4); contrabassoon
Brass: 8 horns; 6 trumpets (5th and 6th used only in movement 4); 4 trombones (4th used only in movement 4); tuba
Keyboards: celesta (doubled or tripled if possible)

Percussion: 6 timpani (two players); bass drum; 2 snare drums (used in movements 1 and 4); several pairs of crash cymbals; suspended cymbals; several triangles; cowbells (offstage in movements 1 and 4, onstage in Andante); hammer (see description below); 2 tam-tams (standard and deep); rute (to be struck on the bass drum case, used only in movement 4); small wooden stick (to be struck on the bass drum case, used only in the scherzo); deep, untuned bells (used only in movement 4, offstage); glockenspiel; xylophone
Strings: 4 harps; 1st violins; 2nd violins; violas; cellos; double basses

Form

The work is in four movements. The first version had the form:^[4]

Allegro energico, ma non troppo. Heftig, aber markig.
Scherzo: Wuchtig
Andante moderato
Finale: Sostenuto – Allegro moderato – Allegro energico

Mahler changed the Andante to be the second movement. The form became:^[5]

Allegro energico, ma non troppo. Heftig, aber markig.
Andante moderato
Scherzo: Wuchtig
Finale: Sostenuto – Allegro moderato – Allegro energico

References

↑ Rabinowitz, Peter J. (September 1981). "Pleasure in Conflict: Mahler's Sixth, Tragedy, and Musical Form". Comparative Literature Studies. 18 (3): 306–313. JSTOR 40246269.
↑ "Symphony No. 6, "Tragic", Gustav Mahler". LA Phil. Retrieved 2026-02-19.
↑ Hurwitz, David (2004). The Mahler Symphonies: An Owner's Manual. Pompton Plains, New Jersey: Amadeus Press. pp. 101-102. ISBN 1-57467-099-9.
↑ Darcy, Warren (Summer 2001). "Rotational Form, Teleological Genesis, and Fantasy-Projection in the Slow Movement of Mahler's Sixth Symphony". 19th-Century Music. XXV (1): 49–74. doi:10.1525/ncm.2001.25.1.49. JSTOR 10.1525/ncm.2001.25.1.49.
↑ ccaspell (2008-08-31). "Gustav Mahler's Sixth Symphony: Andante–Scherzo or Scherzo–Andante? - The Classical Source". Retrieved 2026-02-19.

Other websites

Symphony No. 6: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
MahlerFest XVI, 2003 programme book Archived 2023-12-03 at the Wayback Machine
David Matthews, "The order of the middle movements in Mahler's Sixth Symphony" (website blog entry), January 2016]

[Rabinowitz-1] Rabinowitz, Peter J. (September 1981). "Pleasure in Conflict: Mahler's Sixth, Tragedy, and Musical Form". Comparative Literature Studies. 18 (3): 306–313. JSTOR 40246269.

[2] "Symphony No. 6, "Tragic", Gustav Mahler". LA Phil. Retrieved 2026-02-19.

[3] Hurwitz, David (2004). The Mahler Symphonies: An Owner's Manual. Pompton Plains, New Jersey: Amadeus Press. pp. 101-102. ISBN 1-57467-099-9.

[Darcy-4] Darcy, Warren (Summer 2001). "Rotational Form, Teleological Genesis, and Fantasy-Projection in the Slow Movement of Mahler's Sixth Symphony". 19th-Century Music. XXV (1): 49–74. doi:10.1525/ncm.2001.25.1.49. JSTOR 10.1525/ncm.2001.25.1.49.

[5] spell (2008-08-31). "Gustav Mahler's Sixth Symphony: Andante–Scherzo or Scherzo–Andante? - The Classical Source". Retrieved 2026-02-19.

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