Kenneth Woods, conductor
MahlerFest Orchestra

SCHUBERT arr. MAHLER String Quartet No. 14 in D minor, “Death and the Maiden”
STRAUSS An Alpine Symphony

When Mahler died in 1911, Strauss began working in earnest on An Alpine Symphony. This work became his memorial to Mahler. The simple story of the climber who ascends and descends is much more than simply a pictorial description of a day’s hike. It is a metaphor about life and death. It is a wonderful evocation of a friend, of the struggle we all face in life, of that feeling of what it takes to get to a summative life, and that terrible feeling of knowing once you’re there that you can’t stay. Eventually, we all have to descend back into the darkness.

Nick Pfefferkorn will give a pre-concert discussion at 6:30 p.m.