MAHLER, Gustav: Symphony No. 2 in C Minor (1888-1894)
During my senior year of high school at the Interlochen Arts Academy, I had the rare privilege of playing Fourth Trombone in the "A" orchestra (which normally only used three), which was preparing this piece under our Musical Director, Nicholas Harsanyi (who went to school with Bartok and jammed with Einstein [see article]). His wife, Janice, would sing the solo soprano part.
It was an exciting time. The rehearsals were difficult, sometimes grueling -- but everyone was so dedicated, and many months later, we pulled off a pretty good performance or two.
See how Mahler extended the traditional orchestra:
Four Flutes (all doubling piccolo)
Four Oboes (3rd and 4th doubling English Horns)
Three Clarinets in B-Flat, A and C (3rd doubling Bass Clarinet)
Two E-Flat Clarinets (2nd doubling 4th Clarinet)
Four Bassoons (3rd and 4th doubling Contrabassoon)
Ten French Horns in F (7-10 used offstage)
Eight to Ten Trumpets in F and C (4-6 used offstage)
Four Trombones
Tuba
Seven Percussionists!
Timpani (2 players, 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
Three deep, untuned steel rods or bells
Rute, or "switch," to be played on the shell of the bass drum
Two tam-tams (high and low)
Offstage Percussion in Movement 5: (Bass drum with cymbals attached (played by the same percussionist); Triangle, Timpani
Organ (Fifth Movement only)
Soprano Solo (Fifth Movement only)
Alto (or Mezzo-Soprano) Solo (Fourth and Fifth Movements only)
Mixed Chorus (Fifth Movement only)
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"
First and Second Violins
Violas
Violincellos
Double Basses (some with low C extension)
I. Allegro maestoso
II. Andante moderato
III. In ruhig fließender Bewegung (With quietly flowing movement)
IV. Urlicht (Primeval Light)
V. Im Tempo des Scherzos (In the tempo of the scherzo)
I. Allegro maestoso
You should feel a bit scared if this is done properly!
After growling out this opening C Minor section, oboes and English Horn introduce the first thematic figure:
Almost immediately after this, Mahler introduces his first "climax" -- or "anticlimax," if you prefer -- because, after all, there's only about a jillion of 'em between now and the end of this gargantuan symphonic wonder!
Notice the huge cadence on C Minor -- in just a few bars, using the (Cb/B-natural) enharmonic, he modulates to E Major, introducing this beautiful, uplifting theme. Of course, you are meant to feel the "rising" in these phrases -- reinforcing the "resurrection" theme at every turn ...
This lush, romantic theme leads to an abrupt stop on a unison G, which acts as a dominant, as the orchestra returns to C Minor and a fake "recapitulation" (see Wikipedia article on the weird form of this sprawling, confusing accumulation of ideas). More anticlimaxes; things die down, until all that is left is a plucked harp in the lower register, which leads magically to the above theme, re-stated in C Major:
Turning down a semitone from here, we end up in B Minor, as he introduces this delightful new phrase in the English Horn:
Note the big intervallic skip (a ninth) which begins the lick. Listen as the harp accompanies clarinets with a rising quarter-note figure (resurrection motif).
Mahler now brings together several of the motifs -- the original oboe/English Horn phrase is alternated with the English Horn phrase above. Lots of action follows, in a steady 4/4 march, as trumpets and horns blare at fanfare-like riffs and Mahler carefully integrates other thematic material around that.
Finally, our "romantic" theme which we've heard in E and C now returns for a third time in F Major:
If you are new to Mahler, you might not realize the kind of "chamber music" with which he populates these symphonies requiring hundreds ... often, the tableau is intimate, and delicious, as here, where he passes the flute's melody to a solo violin:
Magical-sounding call-and-response ... very Austrian-sounding ... and then yet a third "fake" recap:
This is truly a harbinger of things to come -- hear how wild things are getting? But there is still a long ways to go! The lower strings begin a repetition of the 1/8th-1/32nd figure in Eb Minor, as, first, the English Horn provides a melancholy, mournful tune. Other winds join in, trumpet, horns, violins ... until we reach yet another (anti)climax: (notice the comma (circled in red) ...
There is a definite feeling of all-hell-breaking-loose here ...
Pressing on and on ... building up the tension ... until
This unbelievable outburst of pure gigantic ff sound, using every bit of genius in constructing the progression of these few bars (a third-inversion diminished seventh chord followed by a massive pounding on the dominant (G), with a piercing minor 9th (Ab) added for good measure! A very powerful effect!
And this is the recapitulation for real this time! After a few moments (including another very big climax!), and using the same Cb/B enharmonic, our old friend arrives -- again in E Major. However, it somehow no longer feels like the same "lush, romantic" theme I described a few paragraphs back -- it is much more sentimental now, somehow nostalgic, or even pained a bit. There is the feeling of a sigh (look below at the third, fourth and fifth bars in the first violin part!)
We hear little bits and pieces of previous themes -- the English Horn, skipping up a ninth ... lush strings, glissing their way towards complete peace, accompanied by a mournful French Horn.
We finally reach what sounds like the beginning of a Coda. Mahler breaks down the pieces of his C Minor cells until there is hardly anything left (much the way Beethoven does in the Fifth Symphony, First Movement!). Finally, the tutti orchestra blasts out the descending triplets -- and a few soft (and softer) plucks on the tonic -- and we are done!
Notice Mahler's instructions: he wants a five-minute pause here before going on to the Second Movement!
From the Wikipedia article:
" Following this movement, Mahler calls in the score for a gap of five minutes before the second movement. This pause is rarely observed today. Often conductors will meet Mahler half way, pausing for a few minutes while the audience takes a breather and settles down and the orchestra retunes in preparation for the rest of the piece. Julius Buths received this instruction from Mahler personally, prior to a 1903 performance in Düsseldorf; however, he chose instead to place the long pause between the fourth and fifth movements, for which Mahler congratulated him on his insight, sensitivity, and daring to go against his stated wishes."
II. Andante moderato
A beautiful ländler, in Ab Major, quite simple and peaceful, perhaps memories of times past -- in any case, despite a short "B" section which seems mildly threatening, there is nothing but peace here. The movement ends with a beautiful ascending harp, in case you haven't been getting the message.
III. In ruhig fließender Bewegung (With quietly flowing movement)
Ominous strokes from the timpani. Then the 3/8 tempo is locked in; one of the a
mazing things about this music is the way that Mahler orchestrated it so that there is a 16th note pulse present almost all of the time (there would be six of them to a bar in this 3/8 time signature) ... this is what makes it feel like a "flowing river." Beginning in Bar 10, there is a continual sixteenth-note flow until Bar 86.
Amazingly (see Saturday's post!), Mahler used this exact same music in a lied he composed for a song cycle, Des Knaben Wunderhorn (the song is called: Des Antonius von Padua Fischpredigt ["St. Anthony's Sermon to the Fishes"]. Here is an English translation -- note all the river imagery!
[Also note, for you Mahler freaks who crave even more detail: this poem bears some relationship to the text Mahler chose for the final movement of his Fourth Symphony -- which has a distinct and close relationship with the symphony at hand here.]
As the river flows along (clarinets, upper staves), check out all the wonderful effects Mahler brings to the punctuation of the important second and third beats -- arco gliss in the celli; col legno in the other string parts and loud pizzes.
This beautiful solo flute run is followed by a single pp cymbal stroke. Magic.
The river changes key. We jump from C Minor to C Major and then shortly to D Major and then finally to E Major ... wherefrom comes one of the most exquisite parts Mahler ever wrote -- for F Trumpet (circled in purple):
Some of you with a basic music education may be interested in knowing how to make sense of a score like this, including transposition, etc. To find the true pitch of French Horns in F, for example, you transpose down a Perfect Fifth (if the note is written as a C, then it will sound as an F below that C.) These trumpets are also in F, but to find the true pitch, you transpose up a Perfect Fourth (amounts to the same thing, basically: if the note is written as a C, then it will sound as an F above that C.)
So, in this case the 1st trumpet line would read: E/D#/C#/B, etc. Notice how the D# (on the first beat) creates a gorgeous Major Seventh chord!
The trumpet parts are also circled vertically (in red) to show the chord -- D#/F#/A# before transposition -- up a P4th and G#/B/D# -- the upper intervals of a E Major Seventh chord.
Finally, it's about time for all hell to break loose (again):
Massive power with winds and strings sweeping up the scale like a quick paintbrush stroke (red); horns belting out arpeggios (green); and trombones punching out the descending eighth-note pulse (blue).
Finally, the 16th pulse stops and is replaced with one beat per bar, slightly nostalgic sound ...
The blue arrows show how Mahler transfers the melody from violin to flute; orange indicates descending eighth-note pulse in violins and violas and the final notes from (top to bottom) contrabassoon, horns, deep tam-tam, harp and bass in red.
IV. Urlicht (Primeval Light)
This movement also was "borrowed" from Des Knaben Wunderhorn!
Notice the simple, rising motif in the voice, followed by a solemn brass chorale.
When the Alto reaches the word Himmel ("heaven"), she divides the word with an octave jump -- very dramatic, and spine-tingling if done correctly!
A new section about an angel is delicately orchestrated with harp, clarinet and solo violin. The movement winds down in a hush and moves directly to the final movement:
V. Im Tempo des Scherzos (In the tempo of the scherzo)
In the tempo of the scherzo. But it bears little relation to that pleasant, flowing waltz -- this is "end-of-the-world" type stuff, folks!
And now we have our first offstage music. Note how the French Horn repeats the first two notes (a Perfect Fifth) as an "echo." It is a wonderful effect; as if the horn player played the first two notes in New York and the next two in Vermont.
Look at this wonderful chamber music-type delicate orchestration which follows the offstage horn.
After re-introducing much previously heard material (and a few new motifs), we get this fantastic brass chorale (look at that beautiful Fourth Trombone part!!), followed by some pizz support in the lower strings, a huge massed brass section forges a massive anticlimax ...
... followed by yet another huge release -- this time featuring the percussion section.
It looks simple on paper, but you have to hear the sound of the molto cresc. to believe it!
Now the offstage music grows more complex and requires extremely tight coordination with the rest of the orchestra. In 1970, we used a video set-up which enabled the offstage conductor to watch Harsanyi and coordinate. I'm sure it's much more high-tech today. I imagine in Mahler's time, it was a matter of positioning the offstage conductor so he could see the primary conductor!
In any case, it's a fantastic effect.
Now the offstage music stops and the chorus enters, slow and mysterious with a dynamic level of ppp.
Notice how the basses are asked to sing a low Bb -- very very unusual! I remember Harsanyi going through the choir, checking each guy who could do it!
This is possibly the moment where I completely fell in love with Mahler and will forever marvel at this ingenius bit of writing here:
Notice how the solo soprano line is exactly the same as the chorus soprani until the very last bar shown above. Notice how the soloist goes up to an Eb, while the choral soprani stay on Db -- creating a delicious temporary dissonance of a Major Second, resolved in the next beat.
To this day, I compare every soprano I hear in a recording to the amazing Ms. Harsanyi,
The symphony forges ahead, recapping much of the previous material from all the preceding movements. The two soloists finally sing together, in a beautiful, tension-filled section followed by the chorus and -- eventually -- the massive Eb Major ending, including a huge tonic chord from the organ, where Mahler has written volles Werk -- or "pull out all the stops!"
Obviously, it takes a bit of patience to make it through this mammoth masterpiece! But most people I know who hear this for the first time, usually let me know that they've given it a second, third, or 60th listening! There is a huge payoff for those who do so.
The following recordings are all awesome:
- BERNSTEIN/New York Philharmonic (Complete Symphonies: 12 CDs)
- OZAWA/Saito Kinen Orchestra
- KUBELIK/Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks (Complete Symphonies: 10 CDs)
- TILSON THOMAS/San Francisco Symphony
- MAAZEL/Wiener Philharmoniker (Complete Symphonies: 14 CDs)
BERNSTEIN/London Symphony Orchestra (Complete Symphonies: 9 DVDs)
