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In September
1888, just after he had
completed his First
Symphony, Mahler composed
the first movement, Funeral
Rite, of a projected
symphony in C minor. It was
to be nearly five years
before he added two more
movements, the Scherzo and
Andante, while on summer
holiday at
Steinbach-am-Attersee in
1893. The following March he
attended the memorial
service in Hamburg (where he
was conductor at the opera)
for the conductor and
pianist Hans von Bülow and
heard a boys’ choir sing a
chorale setting of verses by
Klopstock (1724-1803):
‘Aufersteh’n, ja aufersteh’n
wirst du, mein Staub, nach
kurzer Ruh’!’ (‘You will
rise again, my mortal dust,
after a short repose!’).
Immediately he realised that
the idea of resurrection
must form the basis of the
finale of his symphony and
he added some stanzas of his
own to Klopstock’s text,
completing the score of the
movement in December 1894.
The fourth movement, Urlicht,
a setting of a poem from the
folk-poetry collection Des
Knaben Wunderhorn, had
been set and orchestrated
separately by Mahler in
1892-3 but not as it is
scored in the symphony. So
right does its inclusion as
fourth movement now sound
that it is almost impossible
to realise that Mahler was
ever in doubt over its
placing. The first complete
performance of the symphony
was in Berlin on 13 December
1895, conducted by Mahler.
The symphony
is scored for an extremely
large orchestra. The first
movement (Allegro
maestoso) is a funeral
march in C minor on a large
symphonic scale. It is in a
variation of sonata-form,
with a secondary development
section in E flat minor. The
symphony begins with a
stormy prelude in which a
strongly rhythmic theme on
the lower strings thrusts
foeward over a sustained
tremolando on violins and
violas. It is restated with
a counter-theme. Other
themes emerge from this
background, one of them -
for woodwind and violins -
perhaps representing the
‘hero’ whose funeral rite we
are attending. The tempo
slackens as the key changes
to E major and a romantic
subject is played by strings
and horns (with part of the
original rhythmic theme as
an ostinato bass). This E
major tune is often referred
to as the second subject,
but in such a complex
movement this nomenclature
tends to be misleading. The
theme in any case is the
first hint of an important
theme in the ‘Resurrection’
finale. The music goes back
to G minor for restatement
of the opening section, then
there is a brief
anticipation of the chorale
theme (Dies Irae)
which will also return in
the finale.
The
development (or varied
exposition) begins with a
return of the romantic E
major tune, now in C major.
Apastoral mood is created
which is broken by the
return of the stormy music
of the prelude. Eventually
the slower tempo of the
second-subject group is
re-established. The second
development now bursts in in
E flat minor, the restless
music of the opening of the
movement becoming even more
eruptive and stormy. The Dies
Irae chorale is heard
again in this section, which
ends in C minor with huge
chords for the whole
orchestra leading into the
shortened recapitulation in
the same key. The romantic
theme, now clearly part of a
second subject, is more
beautifully presented even
than before. The coda, which
contains further development
in the manner of some
Beethoven codas, ends
disconsolately with a C
minor triad and a descending
chromatic scale. That is the
structural outline of this
mighty movement. But its
musical content sweeps the
listener along, heedless of
the way it is constructed,
as on a tidal wave of sound.
The Andante,
in A flat major and a
graceful 3/8, is
characteristically Mahlerian
in its lilting style of
pastoral sophistication. The
cellos’ theme contrasted
with part of the main theme
of the movement on muted
violins is a particularly
attractive example of
piquant scoring. The second
subject is more agitated,
but the movement generally
remains light and
good-humoured.
For the
rondo-form Scherzo,
Mahler drew on the melody of
his delightful Wunderhorn
song (Des Antonius von
Padua Fischpredigt)
about St Anthony preaching
to the fishes (who remain
unconverted). This movement
is a free fantasia on the
song. The mood is ironic,
with burlesques of dance
tunes, bizarre solos for E
flat clarinet, a nostalgic
trumpet tune in the trio and
clattering col legno
strings. Shortly before the
end a solemn theme, to be
expanded in the finale,
dramatically halts the
bucolic revels. As the Scherzo
fades away the contralto
soloist, accompanied by
strings, enters in D flat
with the three ascending
notes of the Urlicht
song, after which the brass
intone a Brucknerian
Chorale. This short but
highly concentrated and
deeply moving episode is the
first of the movement’s
three sections and ends at im
Himmel sein in hopeful
faith. The second section
begins with a clarinet
ostinato figure over which a
new theme is played by a
solo violin. There are
modulations through several
keys before the third
section, Ich bin von
Gott, in which the
material of the first
section returns in altered
form.
Mahler’s music
now has outwardly to
represent nothing less than
the Day of Judgment and the
Resurrection of the Dead,
although as he himself said
‘Everything is inward
experience’. The number of
horns is increased to the
full complement of ten,
trumpets to eight and two
sets of timpani are required
with five players for all
the percussion. There is
extensive provision for
off-stage forces to convey
the spatial effects of this
drama of heaven and earth.
The Finale begins
with a violent outburst
already heard in the Scherzo.
Mahler himself called this a
‘cry of despair’ (Aufschrei
der Verzweiflung’). Woodwind
and horns quietly sound the
‘Redemption’ theme in C
major. From off-stage come
further horn-calls,
described by Mahler as ‘the
voice of him that crieth in
the wilderness’ (‘die Stimme
des Rufers in der Wtiste’).
Themes derived from motifs
heard in the first movement
precede the arrival of a new
theme in B flat minor on
flutes and cor anglais over
tremolando violins. This is
later to be associated with
the words ‘O glaube’ (‘Oh,
believe’). At length
fanfares and trills lead to
a tremendous crescendo for
brass and percussion as the
graves open.
The
development section, which
now begins, is the march of
the resurrected dead to
Judgment. As this dies away
the ‘O glaube’ theme
returns, agitated and
vehement. The recapitulatory
passage which follows ends
with the sound of the Last
Trumpet. Horns and trumpets
from all sides fill the air
with their calls and the
intervening silences are
broken by birdsong (flute
and piccolo). Very softly
the chorus enters
unaccompanied with the first
lines of Klopstock’s hymn.
Its two stanzas are
separated by more fanfares
and by a thrilling
orchestral statement of the
Redemption theme. From the
mass of choral tone the
soprano soloist is twice
detached to soar
rapturously. Both soloists
become increasingly
confident in ‘O glaube’ and
the soprano sings a direct
quotation from Urlicht.
At ‘Bereite dich zu leben!’
(‘Prepare to live!’) all
doubts and anxieties begin
to be swept away and the
symphony moves majestically
towards its inspired coda
with chorus, brass, bells
and organ ringing out in E
flat major.
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