And behold, it is no judgment;
there are no sinners, no just….
There is no punishment and no reward.
An overwhelming love illuminates our being.
We know and we are.
"Rise again, yes, rise again thou wilt! Then the glory
of God comes into sight. A wondrous light strikes us to the heart. All is quiet
and blissful. Lo and behold: there is no judgment, no sinners, no just men, no
great and no small; there is no punishment and no reward. A feeling of
overwhelming love fills us with blissful knowledge and illuminates our
existence.
From silence, the chorus enters, at first almost inaudibly, singing Klopstock’s resurrection poetry. The solo soprano detaches imperceptibly from the chorus and floats above it. Mahler used only two of Klopstock’s three stanzas, and omitted the concluding ‘Hallelujah!’ to each. The remainder of the Symphony’s text was Mahler’s own, started with ‘O glaube’ (‘Oh believe!’), introduced by the mezzo soloist. The end is a soaring E-flat major hymn, from which ‘an overwhelming love lightens our being. We know and we are.’
From silence, the chorus enters, at first almost inaudibly, singing Klopstock’s resurrection poetry. The solo soprano detaches imperceptibly from the chorus and floats above it. Mahler used only two of Klopstock’s three stanzas, and omitted the concluding ‘Hallelujah!’ to each. The remainder of the Symphony’s text was Mahler’s own, started with ‘O glaube’ (‘Oh believe!’), introduced by the mezzo soloist. The end is a soaring E-flat major hymn, from which ‘an overwhelming love lightens our being. We know and we are.’
Musicologists explained the early rejection of the Second
Symphony as
a result of Mahler's new harmonies. Never before had these been found in music.
He overstepped the boundaries of what was considered "beautiful."
Music critics and concertgoers found his music too long, too complicated, too
bombastic, too neurotic, overly melancholy, and so on. Leonard Bernstein, who
led the Mahler revival of the 1960s, claimed that "There was something
much deeper in the rejection of Mahler's music." He suggested that
"Mahler's music simply hit too close to home, touched too deeply on
people's concerns and their fears about life and death. It simply was too
true--telling something too dreadful to hear."
Fortunately, the above elements, which were so
strongly rejected by the musical establishment of Mahler's day, are now
passionately embraced by new generations of listeners. His genius lies in his
unique ability to draw together such wildly contrasting elements as intense
post-Wagner/Strauss/Bruckner harmonies, Austrian peasant music, Jewish
childhood motifs, children's innocence, and a distressing fascination with
death. He moulds all of them into a convincing and compelling musical
structure.
Youtube: Simon Rattle
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