Mahler’s Resurrection

I was in the cupola of one of those old Victorian types in New Haven with a half dozen or so Eli the weekend of Palm Sunday talking about ghosts, when one of them, at least partially inspired by Jack Daniels, began holding forth on a certain piece of classical music. It was a very shadowy place with no light save that from the street four floors below, but even with just a silhouette there was no mistaking the passionate animation on the guy’s face. As a result, on the next day while on the train ride north towards Boston, I listened to the last movement of Gustav Mahler’s second symphony which is, for the most part, just called “Resurrection.”

Mahler wrote the piece as a meditation not on the Resurrection of Jesus, but the resurrection of everyone at the Second Coming. The first movement, Allegro maestoso, is meant to describe a funeral march. The idea of a funeral is further highlighted through the introduction of a theme reminiscent of the Dies Irae. The second movement is much lighter and meant to show the joys in the life of one recently passed. The third movement is a scherzo, which climaxes in something often called the “death shriek”—a forte fortissimo blast signifying the moment of death.

The piece’s fourth movement is Urlich or “Primal Light.” This section is defined by beautiful lyrics which describe the longing of a soul for heaven.

This final meditation, which clearly was the efficient cause of that cupola-occupying Yale student’s passion, is unmistakable in its portrayal of the triumphant return from death to life of our bodies. It is one of those few songs in existence which expresses joy without artlessly detaching it from the preceding struggle and pain. The triumph seems to remember and renew the trial mentioned in the other movements by including minor chords in the climax. This last movement is unique in that it includes lyrics written by Mahler himself:

O believe, my heart, O believe:

Nothing is lost to you!

Yours, yes yours, is what you desired

Yours, what you have loved

What you have fought for!

O believe,

You were not born for nothing!

Have not lived for nothing,

Nor suffered!

What was created

Must perish;

What perished, rise again!

Cease from trembling!

Prepare yourself to live!

O Pain, you piercer of all things,

From you, I have been wrested!

O Death, you conqueror of all things,

Now, are you conquered!

With wings which I have won for myself,

In love’s fierce striving,

I shall soar upwards

To the light which no eye has penetrated!

I shall die in order to live.

Rise again, yes, rise again,

Will you, my heart, in an instant!

That for which you suffered,

To God shall it carry you!

In this start of the Easter season, giving a listen to even just the final movement of the Resurrection is a fantastic way to put into perspective all the struggles of our lives and to encourage us to persevere in our trust of the Lord and His plan for our eternal happiness with Him in the life to come.