Later in his life, like Berlioz and Brahms before him, Mahler turned to the sombre-hued viola for his most personal confessions. The violas open the Tenth Symphony with fifteen gentle bars that hint at a possible G major harmony; but as they progress, they seem to repudiate the idea of resolving into in any key at all. At the last possible moment the strings envelop them with a warm F-sharp major embrace.