Mahler in the Mountains

Perhaps more than any other composer, Gustav Mahler sought inspiration in nature, spending his summers in the Austrian Alps where he crafted his monumental symphonies and songs. These works are profound philosophical musings in sound that explore the very essence of the human experience as part of the eternal order of the natural world. The Wirth Institute's Mahler in the Mountains project begins with Mahler's music and the power of nature, but relocates this music in the Canadian Rockies, a very different geographical and cultural context. Mahler in the Mountains asks composers from Austria, Alberta and British Columbia not only to reimagine Mahler's music, but also to rethink the complex relationships between music, people and place.