Symphony No. 6

E840292

Symphony No. 6 is Gustav Mahler’s intensely dramatic and often tragic orchestral work, renowned for its emotional depth, powerful orchestration, and the iconic “hammer blows” in its finale.

All labels observed (2)

Label Occurrences
Symphony No. 6 canonical 1
Symphony No. 6 (Mahler) 1

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (49)

Predicate Object
instanceOf symphony
alsoKnownAs Mahler's Sixth Symphony NERFINISHED
Tragic Symphony NERFINISHED
catalogueNumber WAB 106 (not applicable)
composer Gustav Mahler NERFINISHED
compositionEndDate 1904
compositionPeriod 1903–1904
compositionStartDate 1903
dedicatedTo Alma Mahler NERFINISHED
duration approximately 80–85 minutes
emotionalCharacter intensely dramatic
often described as tragic
frequentlyPerformed yes
hasTheme catastrophic climaxes in the finale
grim, driving Scherzo
lyrical Andante moderato
march-like main theme in first movement
influencedBy Austro-German symphonic tradition
key A minor
languageOfText none (purely instrumental)
movement I: Allegro energico, ma non troppo. Heftig, aber markig
II: Scherzo. Wuchtig
III: Andante moderato NERFINISHED
IV: Finale. Sostenuto – Allegro moderato – Allegro energico NERFINISHED
notableElement often performed with two hammer blows instead of three
three hammer blows originally conceived in the finale
notableRecording Claudio Abbado, Berlin Philharmonic NERFINISHED
Herbert von Karajan, Berlin Philharmonic NERFINISHED
Leonard Bernstein, New York Philharmonic NERFINISHED
Pierre Boulez, Vienna Philharmonic NERFINISHED
numberOfMovements 4
opusNumber none
orchestrationFeature expanded percussion section
large late-Romantic orchestra
use of cowbells
use of hammer blows in the finale
partOf Mahler symphonies NERFINISHED
period Late Romantic
placeComposed Maiernigg, Austria NERFINISHED
Vienna NERFINISHED
premiereConductor Gustav Mahler NERFINISHED
premiereDate 1906-05-27
premierePlace Essen, Germany NERFINISHED
relatedWorkByComposer Symphony No. 5 NERFINISHED
Symphony No. 7 NERFINISHED
style late-Romantic symphonic
tonalCenterFinale A minor
tonalCenterFirstMovement A minor
workNumberInCycle 6

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (2)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Des Knaben Wunderhorn (song settings) usedIn Symphony No. 6
this entity surface form: Symphony No. 6 (Mahler)