ABOUT THE WORKS
22 + 23 NOV
SYMPHONY NO. 2 IN C MINOR (RESURRECTION) Gustav Mahler (1860 to 1911)
Friday 22 November 2019 / 7:30PM Saturday 23 November 2019 / 7:30PM Masterworks
Resurrection: Mahler Symphony No. 2 Presented in partnership with Sir Jack Lyons Charitable Trust SPONSORS Guest Artist Sponsor: Naomi + John Lacey Virtuoso Programme Chorus Sponsor: Borak Forte Programme Conductor Couturier: Umberto Custom Tailors Ltd.
PROGRAMME Rune Bergmann, conductor Iwona Sobotka, soprano Edna Prochnik, mezzo soprano Calgary Philharmonic Chorus Mahler Symphony No. 2 in C Minor (Resurrection; Auferstehungssymphonie) I. Allegro maestoso II. Andante moderato III. In ruhig fliessender Bewegung IV. Urlicht V. Im Tempo des Scherzo
80'
Please note there is no intermission during the performance. Progamme and artists subject to change Indicates Canadian artist or composer without notice
46 | PRELUDE calgaryphil.com | 403.571.0849
The striking compound of optimism and neurosis found in Mahler’s music has made him one of the most popular composers of our time. The optimism speaks to the enduring need for a reminder that life can be beautiful; the neurosis reflects the state of western society, to a remarkably accurate degree for a composer who died 108 years ago. “A symphony should be like the world,” he told fellow composer Jean Sibelius in 1907, “it must contain everything.” Each of Mahler’s major compositions, in its own way, seeks to express a world’s worth of emotion and experience. The same symphony, or even the same movement of a symphony, may contain any or all of the following: heroism and tragedy, nobility and satire, simplicity and sophistication, despair and contentment. No composition of his achieves his goal of enhancing life with a greater, more unequivocal sense of triumph than his second symphony. The fact that he composed it between the ages of 28 and 34 makes its stunning impact even more remarkable. During the closing months of 1887 and the beginning of 1888, he worked feverishly on two compositions simultaneously: his first symphony and Totenfeier (Funeral Rites), an orchestral funeral march. He finished them both before the latter year was out. He also made sketches for an orchestral andante, but then put both it and Totenfeier aside. Three years later, he played Totenfeier on the piano for eminent conductor and pianist Hans von Bülow. Shattered by Bülow’s utter rejection, Mahler fell into a creative funk that lasted two years. By the end of that period, he had decided to use Totenfeier as the opening movement of a new symphony, and to follow its furious drama and grieving with a series of lighter, contrasting Rune Bergmann biography on page 7 Calgary Philharmonic Chorus biography on page 8
