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The mysterious curse of the ninth symphony that haunted famous composers [1]
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Date: 2025-06-11
The "Curse of the Ninth" haunts classical music: write nine symphonies and die before your tenth. And some of history's greatest composers took this deadly seriously.
Gustav Mahler was so spooked he tried to cheat death through creative accounting. After Symphony No. 8, he wrote "Das Lied von der Erde" – technically a symphony, but he called it a song cycle. Then came his "official" Ninth. Clever? Not quite. Death caught up with him during his Tenth.
The curse gained credibility from its high-profile victims. Beethoven and Schubert never finished their tenth symphonies. The body count grew: Malcolm Arnold, Anton Bruckner, Ralph Vaughan Williams – all stopped at nine. Even in 2012, Philip Glass admitted, "Everyone is afraid to do a ninth. It's a jinx."
Though modern composers have loosened up about the curse, here's some advice: if you're working on Symphony No. 9, maybe skip the skydiving lessons until No. 10 is safely on paper.
See also: Brian Eno: Composers as Gardeners
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