Symphony No. 2 – Resurrection

• Year 1888
• Year 1889
• Year 1890
• Year 1891
• Year 1892
• Year 1893
• Year 1894

• 1895 Concert Berlin 04-03-1895 - Symphony No. 2 - movement 1, 2 and 3 (Premiere)
• 1895 Concert Berlin 13-12-1895 - Symphony No. 2 (Premiere)
• 1896 Concert Leipzig 14-12-1896 ...
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"Resurrection" (in German "Auferstehungs-symphonie").

The ink was barely dry on the score of his First Symphony in 1888 when Mahler began to toy with the idea of a new large symphonic work in c. The opening movement was soon completed and named Todtenfeier (Funeral Ceremony), but it ...
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By Lew Smoley

• This page is about the manuscript only.
• More about Symphony No. 2.

Based on the poem Todtenfeier by Adam Mickiewicz.

With deeply serious and solemn expression. With this funeral march and the eloquence of its thematic material, the power of its architectural structures, the emotional thrust of its inspiration and its concision of thought, Mahler assumes for the first ...
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Very leisurely. Never hurry. Two sections alternate in this idyllic movement, so different in style, atmosphere and scale from the first that Mahler specified their separation by a few minutes' pause. The first section is a graceful ländler in the major, the second a triplet theme in the minor ...
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Scherzo bases on Gustav Mahlers' Lied 6: Des Antonius von Padua Fischpredigt (Des Knaben Wunderhorn, 1892-1898). See Arnold Bocklin (1827-1901).

With a gently flowing movement. The tragic, or at least pessimistic, conception of this symphonic Scherzo seems worlds away from the humour of the Wunderhorn song in ...
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• Also in Des Knaben Wunderhorn, 12 songs (1892-1898) - Lied 11: Urlicht

Primeval Light. Very solemn but simple (In the manner of a chorale). After the "tormenting" questions of the opening movement and the grotesque dance of the Scherzo, humankind is freed from uncertainty and doubt. The ...
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At the same speed as the Scherzo. In a wild outburst. The Scherzo's "cry of despair" is recalled, then answered by a hesitant statement on the horns of the emerging "Resurrection" theme. There follows a "voice calling in the wilderness", again on the horns, but this time offstage, before ...
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Woodwind

• 1 Bass clarinet Bb. Solo in Movement 1: Allegro maestoso: Mit durchaus ernstem und feierlichem Ausdruck and Movement 5: "Aufersteh'n". Im Tempo des Scherzos. Wild herausfahrend.
• 1 Bass tuba F (Contrabass tuba).
• 4 Bassoon.
• 3 Clarinet Bb.
• 2 Clarinet Eb.
• 2 Contra bassoon. 
• 2 Cor Anglais (English horn).  
• 4 Flute. 
• 4 ...
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• Year 1888: 01-06-1888 Start working on Todtenfeier.
• Year 1888: 08-07-1888 First version, incomplete version of Todtenfeier.
• Year 1888: Completion sketches Todtenfeier in Jihlava.
• Year 1891: 27-11-1891 Mahler plays Todtenfeier to Hans von Bulow (1830-1894), who covers his ears in protest during the performance.
• Year 1894: 29-03-1894 Hamburg:  Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) attends the funeral service for Hans von Bulow (1830-1894) who died 12-02-1894. It ...
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