Tragedy and ecstasy are intertwined in Mahler’s Symphony No. 6. The work opens with a menacing march, but reaches rapturous heights in a theme that represents Mahler’s wife, Alma. There are life-affirming moments, such as celebrations of nature recalling mountain pastures with distant cowbells, but fate lurks nearby. The finale—a nearly 30-minute journey through stormy emotions—reaches its climax with hammer strokes fatefully presaging Mahler’s personal tragedies: the death of his child and his own ultimately fatal illness.