姊妹艺术中的母题是音乐意义的重要来源。文章运用音乐话题理论的研究方法，分析马勒《第六交响曲》的话题运作方式与美术、文学“死亡之舞”母题的内在关联，由此提出“母题的音乐化”这一命题，旨在解释马勒交响曲音乐形式观念的同时，建构一种解释纯器乐与乐外意义之关系的研究理路。

Motif in fine arts is an important source of musical meaning.This paper puts forward a proposition of “ musicalization of the motif ” through interpreting analytically the intrinsic connection between the devices of musical topic in Mahler's Sixth Symphony and the “dance of death”in visual arts and literature by applying the method of musical topic theory,which aims to elaborate the concept of musical form to Mahler's symphonies and establish a research framework to explain the relationship between pure instrumental music and extra-musical meaning.