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Schubert’s enigmatic Unfinished Symphony opens tonight’s concert with music of profound longing and unanswered questions, setting the scene perfectly for Mahler’s Das klagende Lied, a vast early masterpiece where folklore, tragedy and fate take centre stage.

Presented by Kate Molleson and recorded at Edinburgh's Usher Hall on 27 August 2026.

Schubert: Symphony No. 8 in B minor, ‘Unfinished’
Interval
Mahler: Das klagende Lied (original version, 1880)

Kathleen O'Mara, soprano
Catriona Morison, mezzo-soprano
John Findon, tenor
Nicholas Brownlee, baritone
Edinburgh Festival Chorus
James Grossmith, chorus director
Members of the National Youth Choir of Scotland
Christopher Bell, chorus director
Â鶹Éç Scottish Symphony Orchestra
Sir Donald Runnicles, conductor

Mahler's cantata is inspired by two chilling German fairytales and explores themes of fratricide and ghostly revenge. A jealous man murders his younger brother. When a wandering minstrel makes one of the victim’s bones into a flute, it sings the tale of the crime – with cataclysmic consequences.

Mahler’s score anticipates his later great symphonies in its colourful orchestration and melodic beauty. Highlights include vivid depictions of idyllic woodland and a lively wedding feast, plangent lyrical solos and choral writing full of drama.

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