Welcome to this digital edition of Phillip Huscher's Program Notes for upcoming concerts by the CSO May 17-22. His final completed work before his tragic death at the age of fifty, Mahler's Ninth Symphony reflects his personal turmoil and spiritual uncertainty as he faced his own mortality. The result is a fearlessly introspective symphony containing some of the most devastatingly beautiful music he ever composed. Esa-Pekka Salonen leads the CSO, one of the world's great Mahler orchestras, in this profound work by one of history's greatest symphonists.