It has taken ten months for Gloucestershire to get round to celebrating Mahler's centenary, but this performance of his Sixth Symphony by the CSO under David Curtis's baton was well worth the wait.

It was preceded by Richard Strauss's Fanfare for the City of Vienna for brass and timpani. Placing the musicians in the north and south aisles created a splendid effect for music which alternated between grandeur, lyricism and high spirits.

There was not a hint in the piece, composed in 1943, of the war that had engulfed Europe at the time. Nor would you have guessed that Mahler composed his so-called Tragic Symphony during one of the happiest periods of his life.

This is a sombre work - a recognition, perhaps, that life seldom turns out to be as rosy as it seems. Conductor David Curtis seemed determined to pile on the agony in the gloomy, relentless march which features so prominently in the first movement, and not even the sound of cowbells evoking a more placid rural scene could lighten the mood.

The dance-like scherzo was even more sinister, though its trio coda, which sounded quaintly old fashioned and doddery, had a certain charm. It was only during the slow movement, with its calm, serene atmosphere, that one felt the composer at peace with the world.

The finale started defiantly and produced plenty of searing, weird, disturbing music. There was little respite from the sense of gloom and desolation, and towaes the end three hammer blows presaged disaster.

Playing this uncompromising 90 minute work non-stop was an ambitious undertaking. However, the hundred strong Cheltenham Symphony Orchestra never faltered, responding magnificently to David Curtis's clear direction to create a musical event of epic proportions.

Roger Jones