Mahler Symphony No. 2 in C minor "Resurrection"

The first movement was written first, in 1888, as a standalone symphonic poem called "Totenfeier" (Funeral Rites). When Mahler played it for him on the piano, the conductor Hans von Bülow reportedly reacted, "Compared to this piece, even Tristan sounds like a Haydn symphony."

Mahler was struggling to find words for the last movement. In 1894, at Bülow's funeral, he heard Klopstock's hymn "Resurrection" sung by a chorus and found his clue. Mahler built the finale's text from this poem, adding lines he wrote himself.

The first three movements were premiered in March 1895, and the complete work on December 13 of the same year in Berlin, conducted by Mahler. The score instructs a five-minute pause after the first movement.

There's a special story for amateur players, too. Gilbert Kaplan, a New York financial magazine publisher, happened to hear a rehearsal of this piece in 1965 and was captivated; he taught himself to conduct and became an amateur conductor who led this one piece more than a hundred times. Mahler's autograph score, which he had bought, came up for sale at a Sotheby's auction in 2016, after his death.