A conductor with white hair

Mahler’s Das klagende Lied

BBC SCOTTISH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

Mahler’s Das klagende Lied

BBC SCOTTISH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

Seize a rare chance to hear Gustav Mahler’s epic cantata Das klagende Lied (The Song of Lamentation). 

The Edinburgh Festival Chorus performs with a team of first-rate soloists and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of their former Chief Conductor Donald Runnicles, who is credited as making the orchestra sound ‘explosively alert’ (The Scotsman).    

Mahler's Das klagende Lied 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. 

This concert will be recorded for broadcast by our partners BBC Radio 3. Find out more.

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one of Scotland’s proudest periods in orchestra history

The Guardian on BBC SSO and Donald Runnicles

The Warm Up: Mahler’s Das klagende Lied

Listen to The Warm Up, your bite-sized audio introduction to the performance.

Mezzo soprano Catriona Morison joins soprano Kathleen O'Mara & James Grossmith as we explore Mahler's dark fairytale.

Downloads List

Supported by Pirie Rankin Endowed Fund

Programme

Sung in German with English surtitles 

Full programme

Schubert Symphony No.8 in B minor ‘Unfinished’

Mahler Das klagende Lied

I. Waldmärchen
II. Der Spielmann
III. Hochzeitsstück

Performers

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  • BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
  • Sir Donald Runnicles
    Conductor
  • 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 (NYCoS)
BBC Scottish Symphony OrchestraCloseOpen
  • First Violins
    Emma Steele (guest leader)
    Kanako Ito (associate leader)
    David Routledge
    Iona McDonald
    Jane Mackenzie
    Elita Poulter
    Amy Cardigan
    Katrina Lee
    Olivier Lemoine
    Gent Koço
    Kana Kawashima
    Tom Hankey
    Gillian Risi
    Laura Ghiro
    Abigail Young
    Catherine James
  • Second Violins
    xLise Aferiat
    Donnie Deacon
    Liza Johnson
    Brigid Leman
    Julia Norton
    Julia Carpenter
    Barbara Downie
    Alice Rickards
    Alex Gascoine
    Ana do Vale
    Jane Lemoine
    Wen Wang
    Julia Lungu
    Feargus Hetherington
  • Violas
    Andrew Berridge
    Jessica Beeston
    Rhoslyn Lawton
    Rik Evans
    Lukas Bowen
    Mary Ward
    Martin Wiggins
    Liam Brolly
    Emma Connell-Smith
    Yvette Berridge
    Shelagh McKail
    Sagnick Mukherjee
  • Cellos
    Rudi De Groote
    Alison Lawrance
    Nick Byrne
    Anne Brincourt
    Juliette Lemoine
    Jason Ma
    Naomi Pavri
    Feargus Egan
    Sonia Cromarty
    Clea Friend
  • Double Basses
    Gyunam Kim
    Iain Crawford
    Genna Spinks
    Tom Berry
    James Trowbridge
    Lynette Eaton
    May Halyburton
    Rhona MacDonald
  • Flutes
    Matthew Higham
    Brontë Hudnott
    Luke Russell
  • Oboes
    Stella McCracken
    Alexandra Hilton
    Michael O’Donnell
  • Clarinets
    Yann Ghiro
    Emily Crook
    Elaine Ruby
  • Bassoons
    Graeme Brown
    Rhiannon Carmichael
    Peter Wesley
  • Horns
    Chris Gough
    Hector Salgueiro
    Lauren Reeve-Rawlings
    Stephanie Jones
    Andy Saunders
  • Trumpets
    James Nash
    Mark Calder
    Hedley Benson
    Mark Addison
  • Trombones
    Merin Rhyd
    Philip White
  • Bass Trombone
    Alexander Kelly
  • Tuba
    Matthew Lait
    Craig Anderson
  • Timpani
    Richard Cartlidge
  • Percussion
    Joe Richards
    David Lyons
    Kate Openshaw
    David Kerr
  • Harp
    Helen Thomson
    Sharron Griffiths
Distant OrchestraCloseOpen
  • Flute
    Eilidh Gillespie
    Siobhan Grealy
    Molly Gribbon
  • Clarinet
    Lesley Bell
    Jenny Stephenson
    Barry Deacon
    Aaron Hartnell-Booth
  • Bassoon
    Heather Brown
    Luis Eisen
    Emma Simpson
  • Trumpet
    Peter Franks
    Brian McGinley
    Alistair Douglas
    Leo Brychta
  • Cornet
    Rebecca Wilson
    Juliette Murphy
  • Trumpet
    Alasdair Kelly
  • Percussion
    Thomas Lowe
    Christopher Edwards
Edinburgh Festival ChorusCloseOpen
  • Soprano 1
    Carol-Anne Burnett
    Louise Cameron
    Annette Chapman
    Louise Cunningham
    Lisa Dawson
    Tanith Donnelly
    Maggie Gilchrist
    Clare Hewitt
    Lorna Holl
    Talitha Kearey
    Andrea Kocsis
    Amber Marshall-Porter
    Louise McGregor
    Morag Michael
    Natsuko Mortimer
    Kat Preston-Hynd
    Alison Pryce-Jones
    Roxane Pryse Hawkins
    Lynn Strang
    Ros Sutherland
    Jennifer Swan
    Lesley Walker
    Roberta Yule
  • Soprano 2
    Emma Aitken
    Anne Backhouse
    Claire Bennett
    Emily Borthwick
    Susan Bowden
    Rhona Brown
    Deborah Buckingham
    Rachael Cartwright
    Kathryn Coad
    Margaret Cumming
    Rosamund Davidson
    Dorothy Fairweather
    Aileen Fraser
    Carol Haley
    Leila Inglis
    Lesley Johnston
    Maggie Kinnes
    Debbie Logan
    Janet McKenzie
    Kathy Miller
    Emily Gibson Moseley
    Katharine Oyler
    Heather Priedhorsky
    Sally Sandground
    Liz Sharkie
    Kirsten Stuart
    Karen Traill
    Federica Vian
    Kathy White
  • Alto 1
    Ann Allcoat
    Moira Allingham
    Alison Beck
    Ruth Bowen
    Barbara Brodie
    Jessica Brown
    Yvonne Connell
    Susan Crosby
    Caroline Dunmur
    Kirstie Fairnie
    Rona Gray
    Anne Grindley
    Jane MacLeod
    Tatiana Malikova
    Fiona Milligan
    Fiona Murray
    Nicola Stock
    Fiona Taylor
    Mary Taylor
    Sue Walker
    Kirsty Weaver
    Brenda Williamson
  • Alto 2
    Alison Bolster
    Anna Borbely
    Dinah Bourne
    Sally Cameron
    Wendy Colquhoun
    Helen Coskeran
    Jennie Davidson
    Ann Firth
    Tori Graham
    Linda Hunter
    Helen Johnson
    Tamsin Kilgour
    Ellen Cate MacDougall
    Carol Madden
    Frances McDevitt
    Catriona McDonald
    Marita McMillan
    Lucy O'Leary
    Judith Robertson
    Elspeth Smith
    Penny Stone
    Morag Watson
  • Tenor 1
    Joanna Bleau
    Brendan Glen
    Matthew Kimble
    David Leaver
    Gio MacDonald
    Iain McIntyre
    Martin McKean
    Matt Norriss
    Alex Rankine
    Ian Stuart
    Alistair Thom
    Mike Towers
  • Tenor 2
    Richard Allison
    Malcolm Bennett
    Andrew Binnian
    Geoff Brooks
    Harrison Clark
    Graham Drew
    Richard Hellewell
    Guy Johnson
    Calum Lowe
    Jamie Menzies
    Stuart Mitchell
    Eric Turnbull
    James White
  • Bass 1
    John Buckley
    Derek Calder
    Malcolm Crosby
    Martin Gray
    Nick Harding
    David Hewitson
    Andrew Hyder
    Alastair Johnston
    Alistair Laird
    Andrew Lyons
    David Mack-Smith
    Tom Marshall
    Colin Miller
    Christopher Pryse Hawkins
    Peter Saunders
    Charles Stewart
    Richard Stewart
  • Bass 2
    Ken Allen
    Nick Balneaves
    Felix Boecking
    Peter Cannell
    Philip Coad
    John Halliday
    Callum Hay
    Stephen Lipton
    John McLeod
    Hamish Millar
    Roger Robertson
    Neil Ryrie
    Graham Scott
    Martin Scott
    Mike Smith
    Chris Spencer
    David Traill

Dive Deeper

Listen to The Warm Up: your audio introduction to the performance.

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