In his 6th Symphony Anton Bruckner struck out in new directions. His "boldest", as he himself called it, has a scenically figurative character and uses the modal keys of early church music. After the work’s premiere in Vienna in 1883, in which only the 2nd and 3rd movements were played, the critic Ludwig Benedikt Hahn described it as "strange, bewildering, primevally raw". This performance was extraordinary, though: never before had the Vienna Philharmonic included a Bruckner symphony in its regular concert programme. To this day the Sixth is among the least understood and most infrequently played of Bruckner’s works, yet it was none other than Gustav Mahler who first performed the work in its entirety in 1899. In his day Mahler had to put up with a great deal of criticism for his Kindertotenlieder, first and foremost from his wife Alma: "I cannot understand how it is possible to sing of the death of children when not half an hour before they were happy and healthy and you were hugging and kissing them." German contralto Wiebke Lehmkuhl will interpret these songs about anguish, grief and consolation. The evening’s second + is the last great fugue by Austrian composer Franz Schmidt. Scored for solo organ, 16 brass instruments, timpani and tom-tom, the Fuga Solemnis in the Basel Minster promises to be a monumental listening experience.