Gustav Mahler was superstitious and therefore dared not call Das Lied von der Erde his Ninth Symphony – as his examples Beethoven and Bruckner did not survive that number.

Das Lied von der Erde thus became a six-part song cycle for tenor, alto and orchestra, on poems that were translated very freely and via via from Chinese. By far the longest, almost half, is the closing song Der Abschied, ending with “Ewig, ewig”.

Because the orchestra is so large and limits the performance possibilities, Arnold Schönberg started a version for small instrumental ensemble for his short-lived but influential Verein für musikalische Privataufführungen in Vienna. This version, only completed in the 1980s by Rainer Riehn, is performed by the Belgian ensemble Oxalys, previously a successful guest in Musica Sacra Maastricht.

Source : Theater aan het Vrijthof official web page