Gustav Mahler's song cycle, Kindertotenlieder (Songs on the death of Children), was based on poems written by Friedrich Ruckert in 1834. Not intended for publication, the 428 poems were composed as a way of trying to cope with the grief that he felt after losing his two children to scarlet fever. Mahler, born into a large family in what was then called Bohemia (now the western part of the Czech Republic), lost seven of his thirteen siblings before they had left infancy, and so he was very familiar with both the causes and effects of such tragedies. His decision to set the poems was a difficult one; it's certain that his wife, Alma, was strongly opposed to the idea. Mahler's response was: "I don't choose my material. It chooses me." It's hard to disagree with that assessment after listening to the program, and particularly the fifth and final section, "In diesem Wetter!", which is one of the most extraordinary sound paintings ever written: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9GXIHvwGqM&feature=related