From Apr. 5 to 8, the Los Angeles Philharmonic will perform Austrian composer Gustav Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde at the Walt Disney Concert Hall. Described as a symphony upon publication, Das Lied von der Erde translates to The Song of the Earth, and is a collection of six songs meant to be performed by two singers alternating between lines. As the work was written during the darkest period of his life, it addresses the themes of living, separation, and salvation.

A series of tragedies befell Mahler in 1907. As a result of antisemitism and political maneuvering, Mahler, who was a Jew, was forced to resign from his position as Director of the Vienna Court Opera. His eldest daughter passed away due to scarlet fever and diphtheria, and Mahler himself discovered that he had a congenital heart defect. In a letter to his friend, he wrote, “With one stroke, I have lost everything I have gained in terms of who I thought I was, and to have to learn my first steps again like a newborn.”

He later read Hans Bethge’s Die chinesische Flöte, a volume of Tang dynasty poems that had been translated into German. Mahler was so entranced by the scenes of earthly beauty expressed in the poems that he chose seven of them to set to music. His work on The Song of the Earth was completed in 1909. He specified that the work should be performed by a tenor and an alto, but allowed for a baritone if an alto was not available.

As mentioned before, The Song of the Earth is actually comprised of six individual songs. The first, “The Drinking Song of the Earth’s Misery”, is based on the poem “A Pathetic Song” by renowned poet Li Bai, in which the tenor’s taxing part imitates the style of Peking opera. “The Solitary One in Autumn” laments the transience of beauty in the life and death of a flower, while also expressing a deep longing for sleep. The third song, titled “ Of Youth”, is the shortest of the six, while the fourth, “Of Beauty”, paints the image of the most beautiful in a group of young women picking lotus flowers admiring the most handsome in a group of young men passing by on horseback. “The Drunkard in Spring” is the second shortest song, featuring a solo violin and flute meant to represent the bird the singer describes. The finale, which is nearly as long as the five previous movements combined, is “The Farewell”. It was taken from two poems, and describes the exchange of two friends bidding each other a final farewell.

There is a recurring message through The Song of the Earth: “The earth will stay beautiful forever, but man cannot live for even a hundred years.” The Song of the Earth provides a nostalgic portrayal of nature, as well as guides its audience through the loneliness and eventual acceptance of farewells. The grand finale is one that culminates in a delicate touchdown, one that leaves listeners in awe and contemplative silence.