Before I get to Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, let me say a few things about Mahler:
Stay tuned for more comments and my rating! Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 is composed of five movements, and a performance lasts about an hour and a half. The movements are marked as follows: 1. Allegro maestoso 2. Andante moderato 3. In ruhig fließender Bewegung (with quietly flowing movement) 4. "Urlicht" (Primal Light) -- marked Sehr feierlich, aber schlicht (very solemn, but simple). 5. Im Tempo des Scherzo. The work is called the “Resurrection Symphony,” and it was Mahler’s first major work that “established his lifelong view of the beauty of afterlife and resurrection” (info HERE). The fourth movement includes a song from Mahler’s collection “Des Knaben Wunderhorn” (“The Boy’s Magic Horn” -- info HERE). Sung by an alto, this work serves as an introduction to the finale, the symphony’s longest movement, which lasts a little over half an hour. It is divided into two large parts, the second of which begins with the entry of a chorus. I have now listened to Mahler’s symphony three times, and I did like it -- but I didn’t love it. Oh, there are parts of the symphony I did love. For example, I was full of hope that I would love the symphony when I heard the low strings’ dramatic opening played “mit durchaus ernstem und feierlichem Ausdruck” (with complete gravity and solemnity of expression). I also loved the mellifluous orchestration after the hushed entrance of the chorus in the final movement, and other sections of the symphony as well. However, I just think that Mahler needed a good editor, someone who could have worked with him to fine tune structure and format as this symphony just seems to have in it everything that Mahler could pack into it -- a funeral march, delicate melodies marked “Sehr gemächlich” (very leisurely), "cries of despair" (sometimes referred to as "death shrieks"), offstage horns, a transition into the choral section known as the "Great Summons,” an organ, church bells and much more. When I listened to the symphony for the first time -- before reading about it and then listening to it a second time -- my initial thought was that portions of it should have been separated into individual pieces, particularly the first movement. Then I read about the symphony and discovered, “Mahler completed what would become the first movement of the symphony in 1888 as a single-movement symphonic poem called Totenfeier (Funeral Rites).” Other sections of the symphony were written as individual pieces too in that same year. All together, this symphony was composed by turns between 1888 and 1894.
That idea -- that I had sat through a symphony as long as a movie -- turned my thoughts to “what makes a good movie editor?” In an article entitled “3 Key Characteristics of Great Film and Video Editors” (HERE), I found this, “Great editors know that their #1 goal is to ensure that every clip, every edit, and ever transition is put in their timeline to serve the story, and perhaps their #2 goal is to have the courage to cut out that which does not -- no matter how good it is” -- and this is why I think Mahler needed a good editor -- someone with the courage to cut that which did not belong, no matter how good it was.
Interestingly enough, though, the article on Wikipedia cited above noted that Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 was “voted the fifth-greatest symphony of all time in a survey of conductors,” HERE. Perhaps one of these days I’ll listen to it anew and see if it grows on me. To paraphrase Ilsa in “Casablanca,” I’ll say, “Play it once, Sam. For old times’ sake….Play Mahler’s ‘Symphony No. 2.’”
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A New Hope:As the header above says, each week I will listen to a piece of classical music that I've never heard before, and then I will report out what I thought about it. Archives
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