The orchestra tackled Mahler's Second Symphony in its spring concert

Throughout his life, Mahler was tantalized by questions about the meaning of existence. His Second Symphony, more than any other work, introduces us to his existential questions.

Last weekend, in their spring concert, the orchestra and glee club performed the Second Symphony — a masterpiece that challenges even the most experienced professional orchestras. For a period of 90 minutes, performers are required to engage in an intense dialectic struggle that is not resolved until the very end.

The work consists of five movements, which were composed between 1888 and 1894. The first movement, titled "Totenfeier" ("Funeral Celebration"), was initially conceived as a separate entity. According to music professor V. Kofi Agawu, this movement "depicts a titanic struggle of a superhero against fate." It moves in and out of an epic and fiery march topic in the context of a rich musical vocabulary.

The second movement is lyrical in expression, with many references to Schubertian melodies. The third movement relates to a song from "Das Knaben's Wunderhorn" ("The Youth's Magical Horn"), a collection of German religious poems. In this song, St. Anthony of Padua, finding no one in church, decides to preach his sermon to the fish. Though the fish listen attentively and find the sermon interesting, it has no impact upon them, since they continue unimpeded with their previous lives.

The fourth movement consists of another song from the same collection, "Original Light." This movement foreshadows the arrival of the triumphant fourth movement, but in a discrete and contemplative way. Emphasizing the lines "I did not let myself be turned away: I am of God and I shall return to God," this movement introduces the hope of salvation.

Mahler's inspiration for the finale was the death of Von Bulow, a famous conductor, pianist and teacher. It is a deeply religious, glorious orchestral song that serves as the long-desired resolution to the persistent existential questions posed earlier in the work.

Apart from the sheer technical difficulties of this piece — Mahler was a virtuoso conductor and his compositions demand a virtuoso orchestra — the Second Symphony poses numerous interpretative challenges. To these challenges, the orchestra and the glee club responded in a spirited and passionate way, lacking in neither precision nor detail.

The orchestra was determined in its attacks in the first movement. The double basses and cellos effectively rendered the profound and epic character of the thematic period. The juxtaposed sections succeeded each other without pauses. The second movement was lyrical, with passionate outbursts. It clearly fulfilled its rhetorical role as a breakaway from the intensity of the first movement.

The third movement captured successfully the programmatic elements of the song: The playful fish dancing in the water, St. Anthony's sermon and all the other components of the story were vividly and imaginatively portrayed. The fourth section was sensitive, with mezzo-soprano Barbara Rearick rendering the contemplative character of the song with her warm voice. Unfortunately, Richardson's poor acoustics did not do justice to the performers and certain expressive details were lost in space.

The finale was indeed spirited, the orchestra players giving their best along with the glee club and the soloists, soprano Martha Elliott and Rearick. Particularly impressive was the final cadence that had the effect of a gigantic and triumphant "Amen."

As part of the same program, the glee club performed Edward Cone's "Let Us Now Praise Famous Men," with Emily Liao '01 and Christine McLeavey '01 at the piano. The latter replaced the scheduled organist successfully despite unusually short notice. The three sections of the piece were performed well by the glee club and the pianists, though the lack of an organ was noticeable. The tenor soloist was one of the concert's pleasant surprises.

The orchestra, by the end of this season, will have given 17 concerts, according to conductor Michael Pratt — including a successful tour in Spain as well as various on-campus performances. All the programs performed were challenging, and the orchestra tackled them courageously. As Pratt explained, there is a lot of talent in the orchestra, and a good number of the performers could follow a professional career. In addition to performance obligations, both players and conductor have to deal with logistical scheduling around classes, exams and the like, since the orchestra is self-administered.

Get the best of ‘the Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

Despite the extra burden incurred by these practical difficulties, the Mahler concert accomplished what Pratt described as "a religious experience" for many orchestra and glee club members. Though there are certain areas where the orchestra could improve, such as intonation and uniformity, the effort that was put into the performance and the consequent artistic results were admirable. The orchestra performed Mahler's Second — a unique and challenging work — in a passionate and, above all, sincere way.