Symphony No. 8 in E-Flat Major

Symphony No. 8 in E-Flat Major, symphony by Gustav Mahler, known as “Symphony of a Thousand” for the great number of performers required, vastly more than were needed for any other symphony to that time. The work premiered September 12, 1910, in Munich to thoroughly favorable notice. With its massive performer requirements, Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 is not frequently performed; it is, instead, reserved for grand and celebratory occasions, though the composer’s own correspondence suggests that this is exactly how he intended the work to be heard.

Background

Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 might have been his last. A superstitious man, he noted that two previous important Viennese symphonists, Beethoven and Schubert, had both died after completing nine symphonies; he believed that he, too, could not survive beyond a ninth. Therefore, he intended to stop at eight, that is, with the composition of this particular symphony. Although he did eventually write more symphonic works, at the time that he created this piece, it was seen as a final statement, as the last symphony of a man who excelled in the field. Thus, it had to be the most magnificent of all.

After a full year of work, interrupted only by encroaching heart disease (he had been diagnosed with subacute bacterial endocarditis) and conducting duties both in Vienna and in New York City, Mahler retreated to his villa, Maiernigg, overlooking the Wörthersee of southern Austria, where many of his most significant pieces had been written. There, in a concentrated burst of composition, he produced a musical marathon. Wrote Mahler to his biographer, “I saw the whole piece immediately before my eyes, and only needed to write it down as though it were being dictated to me.” Alma Mahler, his wife, recorded that the composition was completed in only eight weeks.

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The result was a ninety-minute symphony scored for a large orchestra with organ, adult and children’s choirs, and eight vocal soloists. The myriad performers brought to the new symphony its nickname, “Symphony of a Thousand”; indeed, its premiere performance featured 1,028 performers, including an orchestra of more than 100, three choruses, and the vocal soloists, all a noted change after his three preceding purely instrumental symphonies.

The work’s philosophy is as vast as its population, and the tone is optimistic, certainly as contrasted with the somber feel of many of his previous works. As Mahler described it to a friend, “Imagine that the whole universe bursts into song. We hear no longer human voices, but those of planets and suns circling in their orbits.” The symphony is cast in two expansive sections. The first is based on the ancient hymn for Pentecost, Veni creator spiritus, which begins, “Come, creator spirit, dwell in our minds; fill with divine grace the hearts of thy servants.” Such a text, though of sacred origin, can also be interpreted artistically; it is impossible to be certain which way, if either, Mahler intended.

For the symphony’s second half, Mahler turned to a more recent source, though one still steeped in spirituality and a sequel of sorts to the radiance of the Latin hymn. Here, Mahler set the final scene from Part Two of Goethe’s epic drama-in-verse, Faust. This is not the familiar portion in which Faust sells his soul to the devil in return for youth and love; rather, Part Two takes place decades later when Faust’s earthly misadventures have at last come to an end, and the devil is seeking to take possession of his recruit. He fails, losing Faust to the angels, and in the final scene, the one that so enraptured Mahler, the angels and other spirits are ascending to heaven with Faust’s redeemed soul.

It was not everyday material for a symphony, and Mahler was wary of how it would be received, but he need not have worried. The premiere in Munich on September 12, 1910, with additional performers recruited from Vienna and Leipzig, was greeted by a 30-minute standing ovation from an audience of 3,000. That the composer had spent the past several years in New York City leading both the Metropolitan Opera and the New York Philharmonic, and that his health was known to be tenuous, might have contributed to the favorable reception. However, it is undeniably a masterful piece of craftsmanship, benefiting from Mahler’s years at the helm of symphonies and opera companies alike and his genius at mustering the grandest of performing forces.

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The composition

These performing forces included not only the usual suspects and the aforementioned organ, but also four harps, celesta, piano, harmonium, mandolin, and an offstage brass ensemble—in addition to an abundance of brass in the orchestra itself. Woodwinds are also supplemented, with everything from piccolo to contrabassoon, and the percussion section includes glockenspiel, bells, tam-tam, and triangle, for a wealth of musical timbres. Mahler had spent the past two decades conducting orchestras, and he knew well which of those resources best suited the moods he had in mind.

The symphony opens with resplendent organ and chorus. Orchestral support, particularly from brilliant brass, further reinforces the celebratory mood. Reflective moods will appear, as Mahler makes use of his numerous vocal soloists, often shifting quickly from one to another. However, orchestral color is never long neglected; it has a principal role to play not only in support to the chorus and the specific meaning of phrases of text, but also in transitional instrumental passages, in which the orchestra serves to continue driving the musical motion forward.

Even more expansive is the symphony’s second, Faust-derived portion. Here, a spacious orchestral introduction first haunting, then increasingly bold in character, sets the stage for ghostly lines from the male chorus evoking a forest scene. Male solo voices begin to speak of Faust’s rapture in coming to God, with orchestral parts often surging in expression of those visions. Women’s voices and those of the boys’ chorus Mahler generally reserves for choirs of angels, though even here, he does not neglect his orchestra. When the women are singing of breaking away from earthly burdens, Mahler includes a violin solo, nimble or flowing in turn. One might suppose it represents the soul on the wing, and in later portions of this half of the Symphony No. 8, the violin again returns to the spotlight; Mahler has not declared in the scoring that there is specifically a solo violin, but that is the ultimate effect.

That Faust, despite his adventure with Mephistopheles, is now welcomed to heaven, is made clear with the “Neige, neige” scene, named for the German word meaning “ I bow.” The soul that here welcomes Faust is that of Gretchen, whom in the drama’s earlier half, Faust had so wronged, though Mahler underscores her joy at seeing Faust again with graceful strings and lighthearted woodwinds. It is just before the “Neige” passage that the mandolin makes its brief appearance, in a serenade-like scene as three female souls are absolved of their sins; much the same effect could have been achieved with pizzicato orchestral strings, but Mahler had a more specific aural vision.

For the symphony’s closing ten minutes, Mahler chooses to alternate between peaceful rapture and glorious grandeur. Had he indeed ended his symphonic career at this point, as evidence suggests was his intention, one could scarcely imagine a more resplendent way to draw down the curtain.