Canadian Masters and their Works
Maureen Forrester –Symphony no. 2 "Resurrection" / Mahler – 1958 
Article by Joseph So
Among Mahler’s nine completed symphonies, his second, the “Resurrection”, is significant in its groundbreaking use of tonality, harmony, and particularly in the incorporation of song into the overall symphonic architecture. Mahler began working on it as a single movement symphonic poem in 1888, when he was only twenty-eight. He added three movements by 1893, finally completing it in 1894, in a span of over six years. Its tortuous genesis was due to periodic creative blocks, in part stemming from self-doubt about his own worth as a composer, not helped by negative receptions of his compositions from such influential music figures of the time as Hans von Bülow. So it was ironic that Mahler was inspired to compose the last movement after having attended the funeral service of von Bülow, where he heard Klopstock’s Aufersteh’n ( Resurrection Ode). It inspired Mahler to add the missing finale, in the form of a large choral movement that lasts over half an hour, based on text by Klopstock. The completed symphony had its premiere in Berlin on 13 December 1895, in a performance conducted by Mahler. Though far from universally praised – the public and critics were unprepared for its novel harmonies – it was Mahler’s first major success as a composer and it remains one of his most popular today. The use of large choral forces in the last movement has led to comparisons with Beethoven’s Ninth. Mahler was particularly fond of his second symphony, conducting it on many occasions throughout his career.
Like several of his other symphonies, the second symphony reflects Mahler’s struggles with spiritual issues in his personal life, issues of human suffering, mortality and meaning of existence. These questions are posed in the first three movements, both in the music and in the program notes written by the composer himself. For Mahler, the answer lies in an unswerving faith in God, resurrection and the eternal life. The fourth movement, known as “Urlicht” (Primeval Light) sits at the very centre of the work. Though lasting only five minutes in a massive, eighty-five minute work, “Urlicht” is one of the most transcendent moments in all of symphonic repertoire. With text from the collection of songs known as Des Knaben Wunderhorn, the contralto soloist, beginning in hushed tones, sings the following words:
O red rosebud!
Man lies in deepest need!
Man lies in deepest pain!
Yes, rather would I be in heaven!I came upon a broad pathway:
An angel came and wanted to send me away.
Ah no! I would not be send away!
I am from God and will return to God!
The dear God will give me a light,
Will light my way to eternal blissful life!
The discography of the Second Symphony is vast, but the one with the greatest historical importance is Bruno Walter’s recording from 1958, originally issued on Columbia and now available on Sony. Considered the Mahlerian of the 20th century, Walter was an assistant the composer in Hamburg and Vienna. Walter also attended the premiere of the Second Symphony. For these reasons alone, his recording of the Second Symphony should be considered authoritative and definitive. For the alto solo on the recording, Walter chose the young Canadian contralto Maureen Forrester, personally coaching her in the work. Forrester’s collaboration with Bruno Walter was unquestionably the most important in her career. Her interpretation of the Mahler Second belies her youth – at the time of recording, Forrester was only twenty-eight. In her autobiography, Out of Character, Forrester writes: “I was drawn to Mahler, as if I had been singing his work all my life. It is strange because there couldn’t be two sensibilities more different. I am basically a happy person while he was a complex, tortured genius.” Forrester draws her inspiration from a moment in the end of the third movement, in a bar of music that unfailingly brings her to tears and puts her in the mood for the solo: “in those few brief notes, I open up to all the memories I keep stifled in the rest of my life. Like an actor preparing for a role, I let myself think of all the things that make me sad…I can call up a moment which creates a longing that you can hear in the voice.”
The success of this initial collaboration led to Forrester becoming Walter’s soloist of choice in the last years of his life. She was invited to his home in Los Angeles where the maestro coached her on other Mahler compositions. They worked on Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen ( Songs of a Wayfarer) and Das Lied von der Erde (Song of the Earth), two works that figured prominently in the contralto’s career. “Urlicht” and “Abschied” (Farewell), the last song from Das Lied, became the two signature works of Forrester, pieces that she sang all over the world. She recorded these on many occasions and with famous conductors almost to the end of her long career, but arguably none surpassed those under the helm of Bruno Walter.
Links
http://www.canadianencyclopedia.ca/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=U1ARTU0001255
http://www.avtrust.ca/masterworks/2004/en_soundrecording_1.htm
http://www.telefilm.gc.ca/data/production/prod_547.asp?lang=en&cat=tv&g=doc&y=2001