Symphony No. 9

The Symphony No. 9 by Gustav Mahler was written between 1908 and 1909, and was the last symphony that he completed. A typical performance takes about 75 to 90 minutes. A survey of conductors voted Mahler's Symphony No. 9 the fourth greatest symphony of all time in a ballot conducted by BBC Music Magazine in 2016. As in the case of his earlier Das Lied von der Erde, Mahler did not live to see his Symphony No. 9 performed. Though the work is often described as being in the key of D major, the tonal scheme of the symphony as a whole is progressive. While the opening movement is in D major, the finale is in D major. Instrumentation The symphony is scored for a large orchestra, consisting of the following: Woodwinds piccolo 4 flutes 4 oboes (4th doubling cor anglais) E clarinet 3 B and A clarinets bass clarinet 4 bassoons (4th doubling contrabassoon)