Gustav Mahler’s Sixth Symphony (composed in 1903–04) is often called the “Tragic”. It was a title Mahler himself used for a time, at least in connection with the first performances, but he later withdrew it. The name has nevertheless remained attached to the work, not least because of the dark शक्ति that permeates it throughout. Here we encounter a Mahler who hurls himself between the joy of life and catastrophe, between march-like determination and a resignation heavy with fate.

In the final movement, something unique occurs: a great hammer strikes, with deafening force, a resonant box – an audible expression of how humanity seems to be cut down by fate. Mahler originally wrote three hammer blows into the score, but after two personal tragedies – the death of his daughter and his own diagnosis of illness – he superstitiously removed the third.

This has led to one of the symphony’s most discussed interpretative choices: does the conductor opt for two or three? Franz Welser-Möst is a frequent guest with The Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra. He has been praised for his intense and deeply affecting interpretations of the work – which he himself has described as “a monster”.