Organization

Singer

Soprano

Anamarija Knego

Mezzo-soprano

Ivana Srbljan

Mezzo-Soprano

Conductor

Philipp von Steinaecker

Croatian National Theatre “Ivan PL. Zajc” Rijeka

Others

Riječki operni zbor

Orchestra

Croatian National Theatre Ivan Zajc Opera Orchestra

Hrt Symphony Orchestra

Zbor Hrvatske radiotelevizije

Symphony No. 2 in C Minor, ("Resurrection Symphony")

Rijeka

Croatia

HNK Zajc

2. Sinfonie Mahler

Public

Approved

For Mahler, the symphony was to be life as a whole, the good, the bad, the ugly, the trivial and the deep. He wanted to contribute to the great canon of philosophical works and answer the urgent questions of mankind.

Nineteenth-century composers were secretive about the significance of their symphonies because most of the audience disapproved of the given program. Gustav Mahler, however, shared with close friends and associates some of his thoughts on the Second Symphony so it is worth sharing with you a summary of his ideas.

 

I.
The symphony begins with a shock: A dear friend dies suddenly, perhaps a mentor or a personal hero! The world is in turmoil. Nothing makes sense anymore. Although the second theme with its ascending line speaks of the resurrection or, rather, the hope of it, thoughts constantly return to death. And every time they do, the news seems just as harsh and incomprehensible as the first time. Anger, despair, hopelessness. We were all at funerals where we got lost in thought and started questioning everything. All! This is what Mahler describes. Finally and towards the end of the paragraph, another theme returns, transformed: Such a man will surely live forever! There is so much comfort in that thought! A funeral march follows, however. They take him away and that paragraph ends in despair. It will take a long time to accept that loss.

 

II.
After a long pause, the second paragraph follows.

Beautiful memories of the deceased. If the first movement was a state funeral, these are the most personal thoughts. Cheerful, positive, elegant and charming. Certainly, there were darker times, the debate may have turned into an argument. Maybe it was his passionate temperament that made him able to sting. Although this was negligible. The memory is cheerful even if there are, of course, some underlying melancholy.

 

III.
The basis of the movement is Mahler's poem Des heiligen Antonius zu Padua Fischpredigt . There is no singing here, but the whole song is performed by the orchestra, although Mahler expands it. Why? Thoughts during the funeral turned to his life: If I die, what will remain? Which of my earthly accomplishments will mean something then and what will happen to my soul?

This in turn happens in the song: Sv. Anthony comes one morning to give a sermon and finds his church empty. He thinks it makes no sense to hold Mass there and instead goes to the lake to preach to the fish. He does it with great seriousness, but, of course, the fish do not care. Once it's over, they just swim away.

While the song is quite comical, Mahler reinterprets his own composition here: the constant movement of music, which was originally associated with water and fish, becomes a symbol for the way we live. Employees, always employed. We try to design it all, we preach like St. Antun, but no one listens, everything seems pointless and futile.

Then comes the first expansion: we hear the coral trumpet, almost painful beauty and purity. It’s a child’s vision, and if we take a closer look, it’s the child we are! We are unhappy because we have lost the center we had with so much confidence as children. We have lost touch with the child we once were.

The lively hustle and bustle of our lives is returning. It gets louder and faster, and culminates in another expansion of the song, in a cry of disgust. "Enough!!! I can't take it anymore !!! "

But the cry is not consistent and the paragraph ends as it began. Nothing has changed.

 

IV. Urlicht
Urlicht is a song written by Mahler long before the rest of the symphony. The text is part of the famous Wunderhorn Lieder , a collection of medieval poems that have something archaic, often naive and sometimes comical in them. This one describes the soul on the way to heaven. One angel tries to stop her on her way to god. The soul, however, says: I come from God and I want to return to God! He will give me the light to show me the way to eternal life. Simplicity and purity, of course, remind us of the episode in the previous paragraph: after death, the soul returns to a child-like state and is thus purified.

 

V.
Suddenly the last paragraph is released. The moment of death. It is the cry from the third movement that has now become the cry of death. When he calms down, we hear horns and trumpets in the distance: They call to the last judgment, and are immediately followed by a vision of eternal light and life. Coral based on the themes of the first paragraph adds solemnity to the situation. The flourishing theme describes a soul that wants to unite with god, and at the same time reminds of the struggle of life…

Eventually all the graves open ( crescendo percussion). Everyone who has ever lived (!) Is coming out. Kings and beggars, professors and workers, farmers and priests, popes and generals march in a terrifying procession. And they are all afraid of what will happen. Do you hear their teeth chattering ?!

That march culminates in a devilish laugh that makes my heart freeze.

That booming tune again. We will understand its meaning later. This time it leads to an unusual scene in which an orchestra plays mournful music on stage while military brass music fiercely plays a fun tune behind the stage. Mahler’s famous childhood memory of his father abusing his mother as brass music passed under the window finds its way into the symphony. Again a vision of paradise. We all need salvation!

Then follows an almost cinematic scene. From the background we hear more fanfare calling the dead to the Last Judgment. The graves are empty. Only birds chirp. Mahler calls them the birds of death. I love the image of a world emptied of people, and nature is still there. We see this completely peaceful picture as the last judgment takes place in the distance in a parallel, mythological realm… unbelievable!

Then silence and, as if out of nowhere, the choir sings "resurrection, resurrection!" And now the unexpected happens. The choir and later soloists tell the soul that they will be resurrected. It is sown to bloom. The flourishing melody returns now with the soloists: What you experienced and loved was not in vain! What was born will die, and what died will be resurrected! Living life once, enduring destiny once, is enough for resurrection.

After that, the music is drawn to the light in an uninterrupted tornado of sound: Death is overcome, and on the wings we have earned ourselves we will rise high to God. Aufersteh'n! Aufersteh'n! Resurrection! Resurrection! The symphony ends in a triumphant cascade of joy and music with that incredibly positive and optimistic message that goes beyond the moral teachings of any religion, demanding the right to free and reward all humanity for pain, suffering, hardship, love, achievement and for failures. It’s all worth it before god and it’s all good.

We cannot help but admire the optimism and theophilosophical attempt at liberation that this twenty-seven-year-old composer offers. Of course, the music is so wonderful and sincere that we can happily indulge and believe… even if it is only for the duration of one symphony.

English

Symphony No. 2 in C Minor, ("Resurrection Symphony") by Mahler, From (2022/2022), Conductor Philipp von Steinaecker, HNK Zajc, Rijeka, Croatia

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