The three hammer blows in the finale of Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 6 seem prophetic: Mahler lost his position at the Wiener Staatsoper one year after this work premiered in 1906, his daughter died, and the composer was diagnosed with a cardiac anomaly. A pervading dark atmosphere is not unfamiliar in Mahler's Symphonies, but to not have a glorious finale or peaceful acceptance was an absolute...
