Oxford Millennium Orchestra: Mahler Nine

The Oxford Millennium Orchestra returns to the Sheldonian for its termly concert, performing Gustav Mahler’s Ninth Symphony, under the baton of Joe Davies. 

Written between 1908 and 1909, Mahler’s Ninth Symphony turned out to be his last: he did not even live to see its premiere by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in 1912. The symphony’s ending is often viewed as an intentional farewell to music and to life, as Mahler was composing in the wake of his daughter’s death in 1907, and his own heart disease diagnosis. Many critics dispute the label ‘Ninth’ for this work: troubled by the ‘Curse of the Ninth’ which supposedly killed Beethoven, Schubert, and Bruckner, he had avoided including his ninth symphonic work, Das Lied von der Erde, in his numerical sequence, saving that ill-fated title for this, his prophetically final masterpiece. Although the Ninth Symphony follows the typical four-movement structure, Mahler subverts tradition with first and last movements that are slow rather than fast. The second movement draws its inspiration from the Ländler (a popular European folk dance), and despite the third movement’s title (‘Rondo-Burleske’) suggesting parody and humour, this is not reflected in the movement’s mood; rather, it is a nod to the unusual blending of Baroque counterpoint and dissonance that underpins it. 

The Oxford Millennium Orchestra, comprised of university undergraduates, postgraduates, and staff, as well as members of the wider Oxford community, is an ambitious and exciting large-scale symphony orchestra, with recent critically acclaimed performances of Mahler 3, Mahler 7, Shostakovich 5, Shostakovich 10, Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto (with soloist Violetta Suvini), and Berlioz’s ‘Symphonie fantastique’. The orchestra is known for its big, bold, and daring performances, and its most recent concert in the Sheldonian was described by Seen and Heard International as ‘thrilling’, ‘gloriously emphatic’, ‘palpable and dynamic’. 

The concert will last approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes, with no interval.

Ticket Information

• General Admission: £22/£16 (Premium/Standard)
• Concessions: £11/£8 (Premium/Standard)
• Start Time: 7:30pm
• Doors: 7pm
• Suitable for all ages 
• Running time of 1 hour 30 minutes with no interval
• Latecomers permitted between movements
• For ticketing queries, email oxford.millennium.orchestra@gmail.com