MAHLER 6 · CHICHESTER PSALMS
with voices of singapore

SAT, 13 JUL 2024, 7.30pm
esplanade CONCERT HALL

Synopsis

Renowned Taiwan-born conductor Lü Shao-Chia returns to conduct OMM in an exciting programme consisting the music of Bernstein and Mahler!

OMM is joined by the award-winning Voices of Singapore in Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms, a choral work sung in Hebrew that features a selection of Biblical psalms. Combining elements from Church music, Jewish liturgical tradition and the American composer’s own contemporary style, the piece - regarded by Bernstein himself as ”the most accessible, B-flat major-ish tonal piece” that he had ever written - represents a fortuitous confluence of different cultures and musical ideas.

Maestro Lü then leads the orchestra through Mahler’s Sixth Symphony, aptly subtitled the “Tragic”. The work, written around the peak of the Austrian composer’s career and family life, ironically grapples with the inevitability of fate and death. Join us on a cathartic journey through this colossal piece, considered to be “the first nihilist work in the history of music” by the musical giant and conductor Wilhelm Fürtwangler himself, to arrive at its grim conclusion of resignation and defeat, signified by the blows of a hammer.

Embark on this diverse musical journey with us as we explore these masterpieces!