Symphony No. 2 (Mahler)
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The Symphony No. 2 in C minor by Gustav Mahler, known as the Resurrection, was written between 1888 and 1894. Apart from the Eighth Symphony, this symphony is one of Mahler's most popular and successful works. The work has a duration about eighty to ninety minutes.
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[edit] Origin
The symphony began life as Totenfeier (Funeral Rites), a one movement symphonic poem based on an epic poem by Adam Mickiewicz, which Mahler completed in 1888. Later, he returned to the movement, and added three others so that by late 1893, the first four movements of the symphony as we now know it were complete. He then set the work aside for a while, aware that it needed something else to complete it, but lacking inspiration as to what that something else might be.
In 1894, the conductor Hans von Bülow died, and Mahler went to his funeral. There he heard Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock's Aufersteh'n (Resurrection Ode), and this inspired him to complete his symphony with a massive choral movement with text based on Klopstock's ode.
Mahler devised a narrative programme for the work which he told to a number of friends. He did not approve of audiences being made aware of it, but it is often recounted nowadays. In this programme, the first movement represents a funeral and asks questions such as "Is there life after death?"; the second movement is a remembrance of happy times in the life of the deceased; the third movement represents a complete loss of faith, and belief in life as meaningless; the fourth movement, a song, is a rebirth of faith ("I am from God, and will return to God"); and the fifth movement, after a return of the doubts of the third movement and the questions of the first, ends with a realization of God's love, and recognition of everlasting life.
[edit] Publication and arrangement
The work was first published in 1897. In 1899 an arrangement by Bruno Walter for piano four hands (two players at one piano) was published.
[edit] Orchestration
The symphony is written for an orchestra and an offstage ensemble of brass and percussion.
- Woodwinds
- 4 Flutes (All four doubling 4 Piccolos)
- 4 Oboes (two doubling 2 English Horns)
- 3 Clarinets in B-flat, A, C (one doubling Bass Clarinet)
- 2 E-flat Clarinets (one doubling Clarinet) (both doubled in ff where possible)
- 3 Bassoons
- Contrabassoon (doubling Bassoon)
(Requires total of seven players)
- 7 Timpani, six (three players) onstage, one offstage
- 2 pairs of Cymbals, one offstage
- 2 Triangles, one offstage
- Snare Drum (more than one, where possible)
- Glockenspiel
- 3 "Bells" (steel rods with deep, unpitched sound)
- 2 Bass Drums (one offstage with rute, or "switch")
- 2 Tam-tams, (high and low)
- Voices
- Soprano Solo (used in fifth movement only)
- Alto Solo (used in fourth & fifth movements only)
- Choir (used in fifth movement only)
"The largest possible contingent of strings"
- 1st, 2nd Violins
- Violas
- Violoncellos
- Double basses.
[edit] Form
The work in its finished form has five movements:
- Allegro maestoso
- Andante moderato
- In ruhig fliessender Bewegung (With quietly flowing movement)
- Urlicht (Primeval Light)
- In Tempo des Scherzos (In the tempo of a scherzo)
Musically, the first movement, though passing through a number of different moods, often resembles a funeral march, and is violent and angry. It is in a very extended sonata form. Following this movement, Mahler calls in the score for a gap of five minutes before the second movement. This pause is rarely followed today. Often conductors will meet Mahler half way, pausing for roughly two-and-a-half minutes or so while the chorus that is used in later movements files in. The second movement is a delicate Ländler with two contrasting sections of slightly darker music. This slow movement itself is contrasting to the two adjacent movements. It is one of Mahler's structurally simplest movements in his whole output.
The third movement is a scherzo based on Mahler's Des Knaben Wunderhorn song about St Anthony preaching to the fishes, "Des Antonius von Padua Fischpredigt". It opens with two strong, short timpani strikes. It is followed by two softer strikes, then followed by even softer strikes that provide the tempo to this movement.
The fourth movement, Urlicht, is another Wunderhorn song, actually sung this time, by an alto who Mahler requests should sound like a small child in heaven. This is a surprisingly short movement, almost acting like an introduction to the giant last movement. The last movement is the longest, typically lasting over half an hour. It is very episodic, containing a wide variety of moods, tempi and keys, with much of the material based on what has been heard in the previous movements. New themes introduced are used repeatedly and altered. The chorus comes in quietly when a bit over half the movement passed. Interestingly, Mahler used two tam-tams, instead of his usual one, for a high and low effect. That is clearly heard in the final measures closing the symphony, when one tam-tam is struck followed by the other one. This is repeated over and over. This tremendous finale is overwhelmingly powerful in effect.
[edit] Text
Note: This text has been translated from the original German to English on a very literal and line-for-line basis, without regard for the preservation of meter or rhyming patterns.
[edit] Fourth Movement
Text from Des Knaben Wunderhorn
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[edit] Fifth Movement
Note: The first eight lines were taken from the ode Aufersteh'n by Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock. Mahler omitted the final four lines of this ode and wrote the rest himself (beginning at "O glaube").
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[edit] Premieres
- World premiere (first three movements only): March 4, 1895, Berlin, with the composer conducting the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.
- World premiere (complete): December 13, 1895, Berlin, conducted by the composer.
- American premiere: December 8, 1908, New York City, conducted by the composer.
- English premiere: April 16, 1931, London, conducted by Bruno Walter.
[edit] Trivia
- The symphony was a favorite of Pope John Paul II.
- The use of a chorus in this last movement has led to comparisons with Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 9.
- Otto Klemperer's famous recording clocks to 79 minutes, despite his reputation for using slow tempos. Leonard Bernstein's two well-known recordings of the work take 85 and 93 minutes respectively.
- Among performances, the amateur conductor Gilbert Kaplan has a renowned interpretation, as he carried out extensive research into the symphony.
- The third movement of Luciano Berio's Sinfonia (1968-69), is based on the third movement of this symphony.
- The B-flat below the bass clef in the bass part at the end is the lowest vocal note in the standard classical repertoire. Basses who cannot sing it should remain silent rather than jump an octave. (This occurs at around the second measure of the chorus' hushed entrance into the symphony.)
