Mahler's 9th Symphony (Audio + Score)

pf: Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra cond/ Leonard Bernstein (live recording)

0:00 - Andante comodo (D major)
27:43 - Im Tempo eines gemächlichen Ländlers. Etwas täppisch und sehr derb (C major)
43:41 - Rondo-Burleske: Allegro assai. Sehr trotzig (A minor)
55:51 - Adagio. Sehr langsam und noch zurückhaltend (D-flat major)

The Symphony No. 9 by Gustav Mahler was written between 1908 and 1909, and was the last symphony that he completed. It is actually his tenth symphonic work, as Mahler gave no ordinal number (nor the title 'symphony') to his symphonic song-cycle Das Lied von der Erde. Though the work is often described as being in the key of D major, the tonal scheme of the symphony as a whole is progressive. While the opening movement is in D major, the finale is in D-flat major.

A typical performance takes about 75–90 minutes.

Mahler died in May 1911, without ever hearing his Ninth Symphony performed. The work's ending is usually interpreted as his conscious farewell to the world, as it was composed following the death of his beloved daughter Maria Anna in 1907 and the diagnosis of his fatal heart disease. However, this notion is disputed inasmuch as Mahler felt that he was in good health at the time of the composition of the 9th Symphony; he had had a very successful season (1909–10) as the conductor of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra and, before that, the Metropolitan Opera (New York). In his last letters, Mahler indicated that he was looking forward to an extensive tour with the orchestra for the 1910–11 season. Moreover, Mahler worked on his unfinished Tenth Symphony until his death from endocarditis in May 1911.