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Season favourite and Mahler expert Jac van Steen returns to Kirklees for a programme on a truly epic scale. 'Tragic' remains most listeners' verdict on the emotional contents of Mahler's great 6th Symphony. But with its classical conception and execution, including imperious march music, moments of pastoral repose (complete with cowbells), and heaven-storming passages overflowing with joy, it is first of all an endlessly fascinating tumultuous whirlwind of musical extremes. On a smaller scale but no less intense is Haydn's 44th Symphony. Popularly known as 'Mourning', Haydn asked late in his life for the work's slow movement to be played at his funeral.