An Analysis of Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 2 in C Minor

June 17, 2019
Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 in C minor
On May 11th, 2018 I went to see a production of Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 in C
minor. The symphony - in five movements- lasted about an hour and a half long. The performers
were the Flint Symphony Chorus, Flint Symphony Orchestra, Enrique Diemecke as conductor,
with soloists Christina Major (soprano), and Hannah Ludwig (mezzo soprano). It was a normal
orchestra, so there were strings, brass, woodwinds, and percussion. The featured guests were a
soprano and mezzo soprano. There wasn’t any special purpose for the concert, but it was special
because it was the last FSO (Flint Symphony Orchestra) concert for the 2018/2019 season. The
Flint Symphony Orchestra is a professional orchestra, so you expect them to be good, and they
always deliver. They put so much work into all of their performances and so did the Flint
Symphony Chorus and guest artists. The performance was really really good.
This symphony was composed between 1888 and 1894. It has been said that Mahler had
a terrible and abusive childhood that caused him to be very weak as an adult. His physical
weakness was said to have caused him to be more and more obsessed with death and the
afterlife. This symphony was a personal take on what happens when we die. In addition to
Symphony No. 2, other major works by Mahler include his Symphony No. 8. Mahler was born
July 7, 1860 and died May 28, 1911 and was a composer of the Romantic Era. Characteristics of
his work that would later influence other composer of both his era and the Contemporary Era
were the use of ending a piece in a different key than what it started in and changing the
perception of a key through harmonies not related to that key (Cooke).

Besides the first and last movements of the Symphony No. 2, I really liked the second
movement. It is mellow and relaxing and it reminds me of baroque court music. I think it’s the
rhythm. There is a pick up to the first pulse and the pick up is the same note as the first pulse.
Also the use of accents and slurs in each phrase gave it more of a baroque feel. It soon became
more in the style of a romantic composer as the number of slurs increased. There was no one part
of the piece I did not like, but out of all of the movements, I like the second movement the best.
When I attended the symphony concert I didn’t have enough time to read the program
notes, so while listening to the performance I knew there was some subtext that I was missing
out on. I read the program notes after the concert and listened to Mahler’s Symphony No. 2
online (the one Leonard Bernstein conducted). The music made so much more sense after
reading the program notes and listening to the music again. The symphony is about life, death,
and finding purpose. It follows one character through this journey of finding purpose in a world
that allows you to die. The character goes through despair, serenity, hopelessness, comfort, and
finally acceptance. In the end all souls are saved during the Resurrection.
This type of concert is not new to me. I’ve been going to symphony concerts since I was
like three or four years old and I have always enjoyed them. I can only imagine how a symphony
concert can influence a person. If you’ve only ever gone to pop concerts, then it can be quite a
contrast. For a symphony concert you have to dress up whereas for a pop concert you can show
up in jeans. At a symphony concert, the piece doesn’t always have words, but when they do they
aren’t usually in English. And since the audience member may not always be able to understand
the music at a symphony concert, one should make use of the program notes and their own
interpretation of the music. For someone who is not used to symphony concerts, the whole
situation may seem a bit pompous, but once you get past all of the getup and just focus on the
music, you can really get into it.
What makes a performance an artistic event is that it can be interpreted by both the
performer and the audience. I think performing is a collaborative event even if you are a soloist.
It is the performer’s job to move the audience through the music and the audience’s job to
respond (like applause).
For me, the tonality and tempo of each key very much contributed to the color of each
piece. Also there was a lot of use of homophony. One of my favorite moments is during the
fourth movement when the mezzo soprano sings one simple passage that goes up the major
scales, (for example C,D,E (whole note), E, F, G (whole note)). That passage combined with the
register and timbre of a mezzo soprano’s voice gives a hopeful quality as the main character soon
comes to terms with reality.
In the program notes I read, it said that Mahler tried to model his 4th movement after
leider. So I thought an appropriate comparison to make would be with the leider of Robert
Schumann. Now, 4th movement of Mahler’s symphony No. 2 has a character coming to terms
with their fate while in “Im wunderschönen Monat Mai” one character talks about the love that
sprouts in the month of May, but both pieces are an introspective look at a character’s inner
thoughts and interpretation of an event that will happen and/or has happened. In “Im
wunderschönen Monat Mai” the main character tells you that he confessed his love to someone
special because he was so inspired by the love around him in May while in the Mahler the main
character states that “I come from God and I will return to God!”. Both pieces are quite slow and
make use of rubato (as many composers did in the Romantic Era of music). This allowed for
emotions and feelings to really be shown through music. Because the pieces are so slow it allows
for long notes (more particularly in the Mahler) which gives the piece more of a contemplative
feel. But this reminded me of how in opera there is a contrast between aria and recitative. In a
recitative, things move a lot more quickly and resemble normal dialogue, the aria is the time to
dwell upon what has just been said and one emotion can take a long time to ponder on, which is
what both “Im wunderschönen Monat Mai” and Mahler’s 4th movement of Symphony No. 2 do.
This concert was a symphony concert while the other concerts I attend throughout the
year are student recitals. It is to see a professional group perform once in a while because as a
student it shows where you can go. It is an inspirational experience. I think no matter what type
of concert, the audience is expected to clap for the performer when they are done performing. At
a classical concert the audience usually doesn’t “woo” or scream, but at operas or ballets it isn’t
uncommon to hear a “Brava!”. The biggest thing for the symphony concert I attended was that
people kept clapping in between movements. You are not supposed to do that. I’m not sure why.
Maybe it’s because the piece technically isn’t over. It would be like clapping during a measure
rest in a three minute piece. Most people clap in between movements because they think that one
whole piece is complete. I don’t know if it frustrated the performers that day, but when it
happens to me I like it. When the audience claps, it’s like they are saying thank you.
Being able to experience MAhler’s Symphony No. 2 live was such an amazing
experience. Not only was I able to appreciate the musical aspect but also what the words really
mean and what we all can learn from this one life.
Works Cited
Cooke, Deryck V. “Gustav Mahler.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.,
14 May 2019, www.britannica.com/biography/Gustav-Mahler.

An Analysis of Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 2 in C Minor

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

An Analysis of Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 2 in C Minor

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

An Analysis of Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 2 in C Minor

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

June 17, 2019

Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 in C minor

perception of a key through harmonies not related to that key (Cooke).

music, you can really get into it.

respond (like applause).

comes to terms with reality.

Cooke, Deryck V. “Gustav Mahler.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.,

14 May 2019, www.britannica.com/biography/Gustav-Mahler.

You might also like