Resurrection Symphony No. 2 in C Minor

Resurrection Symphony No. 2 in C Minor, symphony by Gustav Mahler, known as “Resurrection.” The first three movements were heard in Berlin on March 4, 1895; the premiere of the complete work would not occur until December, again in Berlin. The premiere of Mahler’s Symphony No. 1 in D Major, from six years earlier, had been considered unusually large of scope: this one is half again longer and, in adding vocal soloist and chorus for its last two movements, tended in the direction of Beethoven’s revered “Choral Symphony.”

Soon after completing his Symphony No. 1 in 1888, Mahler began another. Its expansive, sometimes funereal first movement was finished in only a few months, but from that point, the composer was uncertain how to proceed. The work-in-progress languished for more than four years. At last, in 1893, he found the inspiration for two more movements, one a graceful andante in the style of an Austrian folk dance, the other a scherzo based on his own setting of the Wunderhorn song concerning St. Anthony preaching to the unhearing fishes.

It was a step in the right direction, yet the ultimate goal was still not achieved. The piece still lacked a final movement, an overall concept, and a title. All three missing aspects appeared in February 1894. While attending the funeral service for the conductor and pianist Hans von Bülow, he heard a boys’ choir sing a setting of the ode “Die Auferstehung” (Resurrection) by the German poet Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock. Its verdict of hope and consolation, accepting death as a necessary entrance to an eternal afterlife, deeply moved Mahler, who had converted from Judaism to Catholicism in 1887. He realized that here beat the heart of his symphony’s finale, a conclusion sufficiently grand as to balance the massive opening movement. With renewed vigor, he set to work again, completing the symphony by midsummer. At last he could declare, “it is the most significant thing I have done up till now.”

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Mahler spent several months fine-tuning the concluding movements, and it was still in partial form that the Symphony No. 2 first reached the public on March 4, 1895. A complete premiere would not take place until late that year, when, in December, the work was welcomed with storms of applause. That performance, staged with the assistance of Richard Strauss, brought Mahler his first fame.

The first movement (Allegro maestoso) opens with stern low strings that gradually build to a sense of increased motion. A stately trumpet solo reinforces the sober mood, and as the movement continues, Mahler offers lyrical passages in turn with formidable ones. The second movement (Andante moderato) brings graceful, dance-like themes and more restless ones appearing in turn. Those graceful phrases return again and again, often varied from when they were last heard. Mahler’s original score signals a five-minute silence between those first two movements, but modern conductors seldom observe that lengthy rest.

Mahler headed the third movement with the German phrase “In ruhig fliessender Bewegung”—in peaceful flowing motion—though it is by no means entirely peaceful. At first all is ferocious with booming timpani and torrents of swirling strings and winds. The turbulence increases, interrupted at times by gentler passages, especially for woodwinds, and it is with gentleness that the movement will close, as had the two preceding movements, although that eerie calm is preceded by one of the most famous moments in all of Mahler’s oeuvre, what he called in his program “the scream of anguish” or “death shriek,” a particularly loud triple-forte chord.

So far, all has been orchestra; now, with the final two movements, Mahler gives his singers something to do. The fourth movement “Urlicht” (Ancient Light) takes as its thematic material one of the folk songs of the Knaben Wunderhorn collection, with which Mahler had been toying for years. He sets it in soft and prayerful fashion for alto soloist, transitioning to hymn-like trumpets. The movement continues in that gentle fashion, at times with solo violin rising to prominence alongside the singer.

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Spanning a third the length of the entire symphony at 38.5 minutes, the final movement opens with high drama thanks to timpani rolls, strong strings, and abundant winds (including four parts each of horns, trumpets, some playing from off-stage for a sense of distance). Quieter, nocturnal moods appear at times, but in general, the mood of this orchestral introduction is one of tension and anxiety. By the time the chorus joins in at a tempo change to Langsam—Misterioso, two-third of the movement has passed, and Mahler deems it is now time for calmness. Subdued dynamic markings support the text’s references to peace. Solo passages appear for soprano, and then alto. Gradually, Mahler’s tempo markings ask for more and more propulsive energy, and at last, the symphony closes with chorus and orchestra alike in moods of rapture and glory, ideally suited to his idea of the symphony as a vision of Resurrection.

The original score of the complete Symphony No. 2 now resides at the Cleveland Museum of Art, having been donated to the Cleveland Orchestra in 2019.