July 7, 2014.Gustav Mahler was born on this day in 1860.When we celebrated his birthday a year ago we focused on his life around the time he composed the First symphony, which was completed in 1888.This time we’ll explore the period surrounding the writing of the Second symphony, the “Resurrection.”Mahler started composing the Second symphony soon after the completion of the First, in the same year of 1888.For several years Mahler had been the conductor of the Leipzig opera, finishing his career on a high note: he completed Carl Maria von Weber’s unfinished opera, Die drei Pintos, a project supported by the composer’s grandson, Carl von Weber.The performance was very successful and received considerable publicity: Tchaikovsky and other luminaries were in attendance.Around that time Mahler’s life became rather complicated, as he fell passionately in love with Carl’s wife, Marion.And there was no stability in his musical career.On the one hand, the success of the Die drei Pintos brought Mahler financial rewards and allowed him to quit his post in Leipzig (not without a scandal, as Mahler was a very demanding task master).On the other hand, his subsequent engagement with the Prague opera house was disappointing; he was fired after just several months.It was during that turbulent period that he wrote Totenfeier, a funeral march, which later became the first movement of the Second symphony.Despite all the scandals, in 1889 Mahler managed to secure a prestigious position as the conductor at the Royal Opera in Budapest.He stopped working on the Second symphony and would not resume it till 1893; instead, he concentrated on his conducting responsibilities in Budapest.That proved to be a challenging task, in large part because of the squabbles in the theater itself between the Hungarian musical “nationalist” and supporters of the German opera.There were highlights along the way, for example his staging of Don Giovanni, highly praised by Brahms.1889 was the year of several personal tragedies: first his father Bernhard, then his 25 year-old sister Leopoldine, and his mother, to whom Gustav was very attached, all died in one year.And the premier of the First symphony, which he conducted in November of that year, was not successful.Not that Mahler didn’t compose at all; for example, he revised the First symphony and also composed several songs from Des Knaben Wunderhorn ('The Youth's Magic Horn'), a collection of German folk poems.One of these songs, “Urlicht” (“Primeval Light”) would later be incorporated into the Second Symphony.
Mahler resigned from the Budapest Opera in 1891 and moved to Hamburg as the conductor of the Stadttheater.In his first season there he staged several Wagner operas, Tristan und Isolda among them.He also presented the German premier of Eugene Onegin, with Tchaikovsky, who was in attendance, admiring his conducting abilities.In the summer of 1892 he took the Hamburg opera company to London on a highly successful season of German opera.But then in the summer of 1893 he bought a cabin in Steinbach am Attersee, not far from Salzburg, and went there to compose.That established a pattern that he followed for many years; whether in Steinbach, or in later years in Maiernigg, he would leave the city for the place on a lake and spend the whole summer composing.In Steinbach he completed the Second Symphony and wrote the Third.There he also completed the Des Knaben Wunderhorn.The second (Andante Moderato) and the third (In ruhig fließender Bewegung – With quietly flowing movement) movements of the Second Symphony were completed in 1893, the fifth, final movement (Im Tempo des Scherzos – In the tempo of the scherzo) in 1894.The final movement was by far the longest (it usually takes 30 to 35 minutes to perform) and the most complex both thematically and in its orchestration, employing the chorus in the second part of the movement, the alto and soprano solos and even the organ.This is the movement in which the “Resurrection” theme is introduced.In the same 1894 he reedited the Totenfeie, the first movement, and added the orchestrated version of the song Urlich as the fourth movement.
Mahler conducted the premier in Berlin, in March of 1895, but performed just the first three movements.The premier of the complete symphony took place in December of the same year, with Mahler again conducting the Berlin Philharmonic.It was, somewhat surprisingly, very successful, much more so than the premier of the First.We’ll hear the complete symphony in the (tremendous, in our opinion) 1966 recording made by Sir Georg Solti with the London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus.Heather Harper is the soprano, Helen Watts – a wonderful contralto in the Ulrich movement.
Gustav Mahler 2014
July 7, 2014. Gustav Mahler was born on this day in 1860. When we celebrated his birthday a year ago we focused on his life around the time he composed the First symphony, which was completed in 1888. This time we’ll explore the period
surrounding the writing of the Second symphony, the “Resurrection.” Mahler started composing the Second symphony soon after the completion of the First, in the same year of 1888. For several years Mahler had been the conductor of the Leipzig opera, finishing his career on a high note: he completed Carl Maria von Weber’s unfinished opera, Die drei Pintos, a project supported by the composer’s grandson, Carl von Weber. The performance was very successful and received considerable publicity: Tchaikovsky and other luminaries were in attendance. Around that time Mahler’s life became rather complicated, as he fell passionately in love with Carl’s wife, Marion. And there was no stability in his musical career. On the one hand, the success of the Die drei Pintos brought Mahler financial rewards and allowed him to quit his post in Leipzig (not without a scandal, as Mahler was a very demanding task master). On the other hand, his subsequent engagement with the Prague opera house was disappointing; he was fired after just several months. It was during that turbulent period that he wrote Totenfeier, a funeral march, which later became the first movement of the Second symphony. Despite all the scandals, in 1889 Mahler managed to secure a prestigious position as the conductor at the Royal Opera in Budapest. He stopped working on the Second symphony and would not resume it till 1893; instead, he concentrated on his conducting responsibilities in Budapest. That proved to be a challenging task, in large part because of the squabbles in the theater itself between the Hungarian musical “nationalist” and supporters of the German opera. There were highlights along the way, for example his staging of Don Giovanni, highly praised by Brahms. 1889 was the year of several personal tragedies: first his father Bernhard, then his 25 year-old sister Leopoldine, and his mother, to whom Gustav was very attached, all died in one year. And the premier of the First symphony, which he conducted in November of that year, was not successful. Not that Mahler didn’t compose at all; for example, he revised the First symphony and also composed several songs from Des Knaben Wunderhorn ('The Youth's Magic Horn'), a collection of German folk poems. One of these songs, “Urlicht” (“Primeval Light”) would later be incorporated into the Second Symphony.
Mahler resigned from the Budapest Opera in 1891 and moved to Hamburg as the conductor of the Stadttheater. In his first season there he staged several Wagner operas, Tristan und Isolda among them. He also presented the German premier of Eugene Onegin, with Tchaikovsky, who was in attendance, admiring his conducting abilities. In the summer of 1892 he took the Hamburg opera company to London on a highly successful season of German opera. But then in the summer of 1893 he bought a cabin in Steinbach am Attersee, not far from Salzburg, and went there to compose. That established a pattern that he followed for many years; whether in Steinbach, or in later years in Maiernigg, he would leave the city for the place on a lake and spend the whole summer composing. In Steinbach he completed the Second Symphony and wrote the Third. There he also completed the Des Knaben Wunderhorn. The second (Andante Moderato) and the third (In ruhig fließender Bewegung – With quietly flowing movement) movements of the Second Symphony were completed in 1893, the fifth, final movement (Im Tempo des Scherzos – In the tempo of the scherzo) in 1894. The final movement was by far the longest (it usually takes 30 to 35 minutes to perform) and the most complex both thematically and in its orchestration, employing the chorus in the second part of the movement, the alto and soprano solos and even the organ. This is the movement in which the “Resurrection” theme is introduced. In the same 1894 he reedited the Totenfeie, the first movement, and added the orchestrated version of the song Urlich as the fourth movement.
Mahler conducted the premier in Berlin, in March of 1895, but performed just the first three movements. The premier of the complete symphony took place in December of the same year, with Mahler again conducting the Berlin Philharmonic. It was, somewhat surprisingly, very successful, much more so than the premier of the First. We’ll hear the complete symphony in the (tremendous, in our opinion) 1966 recording made by Sir Georg Solti with the London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus. Heather Harper is the soprano, Helen Watts – a wonderful contralto in the Ulrich movement.