Ladies and gentlemen, we present Gustav ... and say: “no use looking up there, that’s all been composed by me.” But that’s Mahler for you. And let’s be fair, his Third Symphony ...

Or were these all premonitions? The "hammer-blows of fate" from the 6th Symphony seemed to be meant for Mahler himself when, in the summer of 1907, his much-loved daughter died of diptheria during ...