Carnegie Hall

With the release of the new film Maestro that features Bradley Cooper as Leonard Bernstein conducting the monumental “Resurrection” Symphony, Mahler’s work enters yet another cultural moment. From the symphony’s metaphysical inspiration to Bernstein’s famously impassioned interpretation, read on to brush up on Mahler’s powerful Symphony No. 2.

Early Inspiration from Hymns and Poems

The “Resurrection” Symphony is Mahler’s first to pair orchestral writing with voice and language. Fittingly, for a work about life and death, inspiration came in the form of a hymn read at the funeral of the composer’s friend and fellow conductor Hans von Bülow, where he heard a setting of Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock’s poem “Die Auferstehung” (“The Resurrection”).

The poem voices a rapt narrator’s acceptance of death as the natural precursor to a second life. Inspired to use some of its language in the choral section, Mahler also penned his own verses and added the song “Urlicht” (“Primeval Light”), which is sung by an alto and leads straight into the finale. The song originally appeared as the last title in an early version of Des Knaben Wunderhorn (The Boy's Magic Horn), but Mahler later removed it; it’s now unique to his Second Symphony.

The Search for Redemption and Eternal Life

Mahler did not give his symphony the “Resurrection” subtitle, but the theme was present from the work’s inception—so present that he even initially considered including a narrative program around the vicissitudes of life and death. He ultimately scrapped this more didactic approach to the work, yet even beyond the vocal and literary components, the symphony’s musical representations of death and rebirth are legible.

The symphony is well-known for its “death shriek”—a triple-forte chord that pierces the third movement. The work also features a funeral theme based on the “Dies irae” (“Day of Wrath”)—a text within the Gregorian chant that depicts the Last Judgment. In the final movement, this develops from what Mahler called the “march of the dead,” a section that he visualized as the march of corpses risen from the grave to receive redemption and eternal life.

Mahler in New York and at Carnegie Hall

Mahler’s first Carnegie Hall appearance was with the New York Symphony Orchestra on November 29, 1908, with music by Robert Schumann, Beethoven, Smetana, and Wagner. A few weeks later—on December 8—he returned to conduct the US premiere of the “Resurrection” Symphony with the same orchestra, as well as the Oratorio Society of New York and vocalists Gertrude May Stein and Laura Combs.

New York and Carnegie Hall became important sites for the symphony: Mahler moved to the city in 1907 as head of the Metropolitan Opera; his tenure ended two seasons later when he accepted an appointment as music director of the New York Philharmonic. Altogether, Mahler conducted at Carnegie Hall 72 times—all but three of those concerts with the Philharmonic—and premiered nearly a dozen new works, including the US premieres of his own First and Second symphonies. The Second Symphony became a popular attraction for decades, often receiving multiple performances in the same season.

One Score, Multiple Approaches

In the score of the “Resurrection” Symphony, Mahler calls for a five-minute pause between the end of the first movement and the start of the second—an exceptionally long break at an early stage in a performance.

Most conductors do not observe the pause in full, but have taken different approaches to acknowledging its inclusion in the score. Some will settle for taking a lengthy pause without fulfilling the entire five minutes, giving the orchestra an opportunity to retune and the audience to prepare for the rest of the work.

Another natural response to the directive has been to use the time to bring the chorus and vocalists on stage, which serves a dual purpose of filling the long pause while also relieving the singers of extra time spent inactive on stage.

Bernstein’s Interpretation: Ecstatic and Emotional

Leonard Bernstein was known for giving intense and involved performances of the symphony—his interpretation required the construction of an additional stage to accommodate the number of musicians included in the performance. Ecstatic and emotional, Bernstein brought an arguably flamboyant physicality to Mahler that sometimes divides viewers and listeners.

Some might see Bernstein’s dramatic interpretation as an heir to Mahler’s own conducting, which was famously demonstrative, and perhaps apt for a work so full of extremes and high drama. Others might argue that Bernstein’s interpretation is not only unique, but even over the top and exaggerated. Regardless, his recorded performances of the work in the 1970s and ’80s, particularly of the final movement, are considered required viewing for Mahler lovers, documenting Bernstein’s controversial but seminal reading of the repertoire.

Mahler and program pages from his Carnegie Hall debut courtesy of the Carnegie Hall Rose Archives; all other images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.