The Symphony No. 2 in C minor by Gustav Mahler, known as the Resurrection, was written between 1888 and 1894, and first performed in 1895. Apart from the Eighth Symphony, this symphony was Mahler's most popular and successful work during his lifetime. The work has a duration of about eighty to ninety minutes. Also see: C major, or C-sharp minor. ... “Mahler” redirects here. ... 1894 (MDCCCXCIV) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Year 1895 (MDCCCXCV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Sunday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... The Symphony No. ...

Origin

After Mahler completed what was to ultimately become the first movement of the Symphony, he published it in 1888 as a one movement symphonic poem called Totenfeier (Funeral Rites). 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. A symphonic poem or tone poem is a piece of orchestral music, in one movement, in which some extra-musical programme provides a narrative or illustrative element. ... Year 1893 (MDCCCXCIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ...

In 1894, the conductor Hans von Bülow died, and Mahler went to his funeral. There he heard a setting of Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock's Die Auferstehung (The Resurrection), and this inspired him to complete his symphony with a massive choral movement with text based on Klopstock's poem. Hans von Bülow. ... Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock (IPA: ; July 2, 1724 – March 14, 1803) was a German poet. ...

Mahler devised a narrative programme for the work which he told to a number of friends. 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 view of life as meaningless activity; the fourth movement is a wish for release from life without meaning; and the fifth movement, after a return of the doubts of the third movement and the questions of the first, ends with a fervent hope for everlasting, transcendent renewal, a theme that Mahler would ultimately transfigure into the music of his sublime Das Lied von der Erde.

Publication

The work was first published in 1897 by Friedrich Hoffmeister. The rights were transferred to Josef Weinberger shortly thereafter, and finally to Universal Edition, which released a second edition in 1910. A third edition was published in 1952, and a fourth, critical edition in 1970, both by Universal Edition. As part of the new complete critical edition of Mahler's symphonies being undertaken by the Gustav Mahler Society, a new critical edition of the Second Symphony is due to be released in late 2007 as a joint venture between Universal Edition and the Kaplan Foundation. Year 1910 (MCMX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Friday [1] of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Year 1952 (MCMLII) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link shows full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Reproductions of earlier editions have been released by Dover and by Boosey & Hawkes. The Kaplan Foundation published an extensive facsimile edition with additional materials in 1986. Year 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 1986 Gregorian calendar). ...

Instrumentation

The symphony is written for an orchestra, a mixed choir, two soloists, organ, and an offstage ensemble of brass and percussion. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... For the song titled Orchestra, see The Servant (band). ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Organ in Katharinenkirche, Frankfurt am Main, Germany The organ is a keyboard instrument played using one or more manuals and a pedalboard. ... Image of a trumpet, foreground, a piccolo trumpet behind, and a flugelhorn in background. ... Percussion instruments are played by being struck, shaken, rubbed or scraped. ...

Woodwinds

4 Flutes (all four doubling Piccolos)

4 Oboes (3rd and 4th oboe doubling English Horns)

3 Clarinets in B-flat, A, C (3rd clarinet doubling Bass Clarinet)

2 E-flat Clarinets (2nd E-flat clarinet doubling 4th clarinet) ^[1]

4 Bassoons (three and four doubling Contrabassoon)

Brass

10 Horns in F, four (7-10) used offstage

8-10 Trumpets in F, four to six used offstage ^[2]

4 Trombones

Tuba

Percussion

(Requires total of seven players) A woodwind instrument is a musical instrument in which sound is produced by blowing through a mouthpiece against an edge or by a vibrating reed, and in which the pitch is varied by opening or closing holes in the body of the instrument. ... â™  This article is about the family of musical instruments. ... This article is about the instrument in the flute family. ... For other uses, see Oboe (disambiguation). ... Cor anglais The cor anglais or English horn is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. ... Two soprano clarinets: a Bâ™­ clarinet (left, with capped mouthpiece) and an A clarinet (right, with no mouthpiece). ... The bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. ... The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that typically plays music written in the bass and tenor registers and occasionally even higher. ... The contrabassoon, also contrafagotto or double bassoon, is a larger version of the bassoon sounding an octave lower. ... Image of a trumpet, foreground, a piccolo trumpet behind, and a flugelhorn in background. ... For other uses, see Horn. ... Trumpeter redirects here. ... The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. ... For other uses, see Tuba (disambiguation). ... Percussion instruments are played by being struck, shaken, rubbed or scraped. ...

Timpani (2 players and 8 timpani, with a third player in the last movement using two of the second timpanist's drums)

Several Snare Drums

Bass Drum

Cymbals

Triangle

Glockenspiel

3 deep, untuned steel rods or bells

Rute, or "switch", to be played on the shell of the bass drum

2 Tam-tams (high and low)

Offstage Percussion in Movement 5:

Bass drum with cymbals attached (played by the same percussionist), Triangle, Timpani

Keyboards

Organ (used in fifth movement only)

Voices

Soprano Solo (used in fifth movement only)

Alto Solo (used in fourth & fifth movements only)

Mixed Chorus (used in fifth movement only)

Strings

Harps I, II (several to each part in the last movement and possibly at one point in the Scherzo)

"The largest possible contingent of strings" A timpanist in the United States Air Forces in Europe Band. ... The snare drum or side drum is a tubular drum made of wood or metal with skins, or heads, stretched over the top and bottom openings, and with a set of snares (cords) stretched across the bottom head. ... A bass drum is a large drum that produces a note of low definite or indefinite pitch. ... For the Japanese rock band, see Cymbals (band). ... An old-fashioned triangle, with wand (beater) Angelika Kauffmann: LAllegra, 1779 The triangle is an idiophone type of musical instrument in the percussion family. ... Most orchestral glockenspiels are mounted in a case. ... For the musical instrument, see tubular bell. ... The Rute (also spelt Ruthe, from the German for rod or switch) is a cylindrical bunch of pieces of cane or twigs, bound at one end, like a small besom without a handle. ... A tam tam is also a kind of Gong A tam is also kind of Jamaican hat, probably from the Irish tam-o-shanter. ... This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Organ in Katharinenkirche, Frankfurt am Main, Germany The organ is a keyboard instrument played using one or more manuals and a pedalboard. ... Vocal music is music performed by one or more singers, with or without non-vocal instrumental accompaniment, in which singing provides the main focus of the piece. ... This article is about the voice-type. ... In music, an alto or contralto is a singer with a vocal range somewhere between a tenor and a mezzo-soprano. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... A string instrument (or stringed instrument) is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. ... For other uses, see Harp (disambiguation). ...

First and Second Violins

Violas

Violoncellos

Double basses (some with low C extension).

For the Anne Rice novel, see Violin (novel). ... The viola (French, alto; German Bratsche) is a bowed string instrument. ... Alternate meaning: Cello web browser A cropped image to show the relative size of a cello to a human (Uncropped Version) The cello (also violoncello or cello) is a stringed instrument and part of the violin family. ... Side and front views of a modern double bass with a French bow. ...

Form

The work in its finished form has five movements:

1. Allegro maestoso
2. Andante moderato
3. In ruhig fliessender Bewegung (With quietly flowing movement)
4. Urlicht (Primeval Light)
5. Im Tempo des Scherzos (In the tempo of a scherzo)

In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for time) is the speed or pace of a given piece. ... This article is about tempo in music. ... For other uses, see Tempo (disambiguation). ... A scherzo (plural scherzi) is a name given to a piece of music or a movement from a larger piece such as a symphony. ...

First movement

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 C minor. A funeral march or dead march is a march, usually in a minor key, in a slow simple duple metre, imitating the solemn pace of a funeral procession. ... Also see: C major, or C-sharp minor. ...

The form of this movement is still debated. It is undoubtedly in an extended sonata form, and organization of the final section, beginning with the recapitulation, just after rehearsal 20, is clear. The first theme group includes the bass theme that opens the movement and the dirge in the woodwinds that follows, and the second theme group is introduced in the distant key of E major in the violins, at rehearsal 3. After this, it is difficult to say whether there is a second exposition, a large development section (or two), or some combination thereof. One possible reading has two expositions, the second one beginning at rehearsal 4, and a long development section beginning after rehearsal 9. The development presents several ideas that will be used later in the symphony, including a theme based on the Dies Irae plainchant. This article includes a list of works cited or a list of external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ... A rehearsal letter is a boldface letter of the alphabet in an orchestral score, and its corresponding parts, that provides a convenient spot from which to resume rehearsal after a break. ... For other uses, see Dies Irae (disambiguation). ...

Mahler uses a somewhat modified tonal framework for the movement. The secondary theme, first presented in E major, begins its second statement in C major, a key in which it is not expected until the recapitulation. The statement in the recapitulation, ironically, is in the original E major. The eventual goal of the symphony, E-flat major, is briefly hinted at after rehearsal 17, with a theme in the trumpets that returns in the finale.

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.

Second movement

The second movement is a delicate Ländler in A-flat major with two contrasting sections of slightly darker music. This slow movement itself is contrasting to the two adjacent movements. Structurally, it is one of Mahler's simplest movements in his whole output. It is the remembrance of the joyful times in the life of the deceased. The ländler is a folk dance in 3/4 time which was popular in Austria, south Germany and German Switzerland at the end of the 18th century. ... A-flat major is a major scale based on A-flat, consisting of the pitches A-flat, B-flat, C, D-flat, E-flat, F, G, and A-flat. ...

Third movement

The third movement is a scherzo in C minor. It opens with two strong, short timpani strokes. It is followed by two softer strokes, then followed by even softer strokes that provide the tempo to this movement, which includes references to Jewish folk music. Mahler called the climax of the movement, which occurs near the end, sometimes a "cry of despair" and sometimes a "death-shriek". The movement is based on Mahler's setting of "Des Antonius von Padua Fischpredigt" from "Des Knaben Wunderhorn", which Mahler composed almost concurrently. A scherzo (plural scherzi) is a name given to a piece of music or a movement from a larger piece such as a symphony. ... Also see: C major, or C-sharp minor. ... A timpanist in the United States Air Forces in Europe Band. ... For other uses, see Tempo (disambiguation). ...

Fourth movement

The fourth movement, Urlicht, is a Wunderhorn song, sung by an alto, which serves as an introduction to the Finale in a manner similar to the bass recitative in Beethoven's Ninth. The song, set in the remote key of D-flat major, illustrates the longing for relief from worldly woes, leading without a break to the response in the Finale. Des Knaben Wunderhorn (The boys magic horn) is a song cycle for voice and orchestra by Gustav Mahler. ... In music, an alto or contralto is a singer with a vocal range somewhere between a tenor and a mezzo-soprano. ... D-flat major is a major scale based on D-flat, consisting of the pitches D-flat, E-flat, F, G-flat, A-flat, B-flat, C, and D-flat. ...

Fifth movement

The finale is the longest, typically lasting over half an hour. It is divided into two large parts, the second of which begins with the entry of the chorus and whose form is governed by the text of this movement. The first part is instrumental, and 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, although it also loosely follows sonata principles. New themes introduced are used repeatedly and altered.

The movement opens with a long introduction, beginning with the "cry of despair" that was the climax of the third movement, followed by the quiet presentation of a theme which re-appears as structural music in the choral section, and by a call in the offstage horns. The first theme group reiterates the "Dies Irae" theme from the first movement, and then introduces the "resurrection" theme to which the chorus will sing their first words, and finally a fanfare. The second theme is a long orchestral recitative, which provides the music for the alto solo in the choral section. The exposition concludes with a re-statement of the first theme group. This long opening section serves to introduce a number of themes which will become important in the choral part of the finale.

The development section is what Mahler calls the "march of the dead". In addition to developing the Dies Irae and resurrection themes and motives from the opening cry of despair, this section also states, episodically, a number of other themes, based on earlier material. The recapitulation overlaps with the march, and only brief statements of the first theme group are re-stated. The orchestral recitative is fully recapitulated, and is accompanied this time by offstage interruptions from a band of brass and percussion. This builds to a climax, which leads into a re-statement of the opening introductory section. The horn call is expanded into Mahler's "Great Summons", a transition into the choral section.

Tonally, this first large part, the instrumental half of the movement, is organized in F minor. After the introduction, which recalls two keys from earlier movements, the first theme group is presented wholly in F minor, and the second theme group in the subdominant, B-flat minor. The re-statement of the first theme group occurs in the dominant, C major. The development explores a number of keys, including the mediant, A-flat major, and the parallel major, F major. Unlike the first movement, the second theme is recapitulated as expected in the tonic key. The re-statement of the introduction is thematically and tonally a transition to the second large part, moving from C-sharp minor to the parallel D-flat major, the dominant of F-sharp minor, in which the Great Summons is stated. The choral section begins in G-flat major.

The chorus comes in quietly a little past the half-way point of the movement. The choral section is organized primarily by the text, using musical material from earlier in the movement. Each of the first two verses is followed by an instrumental interlude; the alto and soprano solos, "O Glaube", based on the recitative melody, precede the fourth verse, sung by the chorus; and the fifth verse is a duet for the two soloists. The opening two verses are presented in G-flat major, the solos and the fourth verse in B-flat minor (the key in which the recitative was originally stated), and the duet in A-flat major. The goal of the symphony, E-flat major, the relative major of the opening C minor, is achieved when the chorus picks up the words from the duet, "Mit Flügeln", although after eight measures the music gravitates to G major (but never cadences on it).

E-flat suddenly re-enters with the text "Sterben werd' ich um zu leben," and a proper cadence finally occurs on the downbeat of the final verse, with the entrance of the heretofore silent organ (marked to be played with all stops) and with the choir instructed to sing "mit höchster Kraft" (with highest power). The instrumental coda is in this ultimate key as well, and is accompanied by the tolling of deep bells. Mahler went so far as to purchase actual church bells for performances, finding all other means of achieving this sound unsatisfactory. Mahler wrote of this movement: "The increasing tension, working up to the final climax, is so tremendous that I don’t know myself, now that it is over, how I ever came to write it. " ^[3]

Text

Note: This text has been translated from the original German text from Des Knaben Wunderhorn to English on a very literal and line-for-line basis, without regard for the preservation of meter or rhyming patterns. Des Knaben Wunderhorn (The Young Boys Magic Horn) is a collection of German folk poems collected by Achim von Arnim and Clemens von Brentano and published in the 1800s. ...

Fourth Movement

Fifth Movement

Note: The first eight lines were taken from the poem Die Auferstehung by Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock.^[4] Mahler omitted the final four lines of this poem and wrote the rest himself (beginning at "O glaube"). Poetry (ancient Greek: poieo = create) is an art form in which human language is used for its aesthetic qualities in addition to, or instead of, its notional and semantic content. ... Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock (IPA: ; July 2, 1724 – March 14, 1803) was a German poet. ...

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.
• Recording premiere: Oskar Fried conducting the Berlin State Opera Orchestra, 1924.
• English premiere: April 16, 1931, London, conducted by Bruno Walter.

is the 63rd day of the year (64th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1895 (MDCCCXCV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Sunday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... This article is about the capital of Germany. ... The Berlin Philharmonic rehearsing in the Berliner Philharmonie. ... is the 347th day of the year (348th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1895 (MDCCCXCV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Sunday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... is the 342nd day of the year (343rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1908 (MCMVIII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Tuesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ... The Staatskapelle Berlin is the orchestra of the Berlin State Opera (Berliner Staatsoper Unter den Linden). ... is the 106th day of the year (107th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1931 (MCMXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1931 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... Bruno Walter (Bruno Walter Schlesinger) (September 15, 1876 – February 17, 1962) was a German-born conductor and composer. ...

Trivia

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

• 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. This comparison is also supported by the opening of the last movement, which, like Beethoven's symphony, contains references to music from earlier movements.
• Otto Klemperer's famous recording from 1963 takes 79 minutes, despite his reputation for using slow tempos. He made another recording in 1951 which is even faster, taking 72 minutes. Leonard Bernstein's two well-known recordings of the work take 85 and 93 minutes respectively.
• Bernstein conducted the work live on television as a memorial to President John F. Kennedy, who had just been assassinated in Dallas, Texas. He first recorded the work eight days after the President's death.
• Amateur conductor Gilbert Kaplan has carried out extensive research into the symphony; his performances are now renowned, albeit controversial.
• The third movement of Luciano Berio's Sinfonia (1968-69), uses the third movement of this symphony as the framework for adding, collage-like, a great many quotations of and references to other scores from the preceding 200 years.
• The B-flat below the bass clef occurs four times in the choral bass part: three at the chorus' hushed entrance and again on the words "Hör'auf zu beben". It is the lowest vocal note in standard classical repertoire. Mahler instructs basses incapable of singing the note remain silent rather than sing the note an octave higher.
• Instead of using the usual one tam-tam, Mahler interestingly used two, one high and one low. The effect is clearly heard in the final measures of the symphony, when the tam-tams resonate repeatedly in alternation.
• In 1899 an arrangement by Bruno Walter for piano four hands (two players at one piano) was published.
• In the book, but not the film, Requiem for a Dream by Hubert Selby, Marion enjoys listening to this Mahler symphony after injecting heroin.

Image File history File links Broom_icon. ... Coat of Arms of Pope John Paul II. The Letter M is for Mary, the mother of Jesus, to whom he held strong devotion Pope John Paul II (Latin: , Italian: Giovanni Paolo II, Polish: Jan PaweÅ‚ II) born   []; 18 May 1920 – 2 April 2005) reigned as the 264th Pope of... “Beethoven” redirects here. ... This article is about the composition. ... Otto Klemperer (May 14, 1885 – July 6, 1973) was a German-born conductor and composer. ... Leonard Bernstein in 1971 Leonard Bernstein (IPA pronunciation: )[1] (August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, and pianist. ... John Kennedy and JFK redirect here. ... Gilbert Kaplan is a businessman and amateur conductor. ... Luciano Berio (October 24, 1925 – May 27, 2003) was an Italian composer. ... Sinfonia is a landmark 20th Century composition by Luciano Berio. ... Year 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Also: 1969 (number) 1969 (movie) 1969 (Stargate SG-1) episode. ... In music, an arrangement refers either to a rewriting of a piece of existing music with additional new material or to a fleshing-out of a compositional sketch, such as a lead sheet. ... Bruno Walter (Bruno Walter Schlesinger) (September 15, 1876 – February 17, 1962) was a German-born conductor and composer. ... Requiem for a Dream is a 2000 film adaptation of a 1978 novel of the same name. ... Hubert Selby, Jr. ...

External links

• History and analysis by renowned Mahler scholar Henry Louis de La Grange
• Analysis by Parks Grant
• Classical Notes

Notes

1. ^ According to the instrumentation list in the edition of the Symphony published by Dover, both E-flat clarinets are doubled in ff where possible, but there is no indication of this in the score itself.
2. ^ At one point in the fifth movement, rehearsal numbers 22-25, there are two off-stage trumpet parts in F and C with multiple instruments on each part, according to the score playing from as furthest a distance as possible, which utilize players other than parts 1-6 of the orchestra. Later, four trumpet parts are used off-stage, which the score states are played by parts 3-6. In this passage, the score states that the four trumpets must play from opposite sides: the horns and offstage trumpets 2 and 4 on the left side and parts 1 and 3 on the right. For the final minutes of the symphony, the on-stage trumpets are to be joined with "reinforcement" players, presumably using the off-stage musicians from the section starting at rehearsal number 22. The figure of 8 total players assumes that in this passage only one trumpeter is playing on each of the two offstage parts, while the high-end figure of 10 assumes 2 on each part. However, it is probable that Mahler would have preferred even more players in this section than allowed by the "ten" he indicated in the score, especially as he wrote "mehrfach besetz" rather "doppelt besezt" for the passages at rehearsal numbers 22-25 (that is "multiple to the part" rather than simply "doubled"), and as the indication for "reinforcement" applies to all six trumpet parts.
3. ^ Natalie Bauer-Lechner, Recollections of Gustav Mahler, trans. Dika Newlin, ed. Peter Franklin (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1980), pp. 43-44.
4. ^ Klopstock's Die Auferstehung is not, as is commonly believed, one of his Oden, but rather from a set entitled Geistliche Lieder (Spiritual Songs).