It’s supposed to be 90 degrees in the Philadelphia-Princeton area for forever at this point, so it’s best to imagine Gustav Mahler taking a break from his work and hiking about his summer home in the Alps.

Right now on WPRB, we’re listening to an early work of Mahler to celebrate his birthday – the cantata “Das klagende Lied,” inspired by the Grimms’ fairy tale, “The Singing Bone.” But for Mahler, apparently, the original Grimm tale wasn’t quite grim enough. So he made a few changes to ensure things end miserably for everyone!

Two brothers seek the hand of a queen. The younger brother finds the red flower that will win her favor. When the elder brother finds out, he kills the younger, steals the flower, and claims the queen as his bride. A wandering minstrel finds one of the younger brother’s bones and makes a flute from it. When the flute is played, it tells the story of the murder. The minstrel plays the flute at the wedding before the horrified guests, and the castle falls to ground, KILLING EVERYONE.

This is all actually quite tame when compared to the events of “The Juniper Tree,” which include child abuse, a beheading, cannibalism and death by millstone. I’m hoping to get to a one-act opera based on the tale, by Philip Glass and Robert Moran, before the shift is out.

All in all, we’ll be having a Grimm morning, until 11 EDT, on WPRB 103.3 FM and at wprb.com.

NOTE: I just heard from three of you in the last few minutes who wrote to let me know that the streaming is down. The tech folk have been notified, so hopefully we’ll be back up soon. Thanks for letting me know!