Symphony No. 2 in C minor "Resurrection"

Mahler's Second Symphony (1894) — "Resurrection" — is one of the most ambitious and spiritually charged works in the entire orchestral canon, a ninety-minute journey from a titanic funeral march in the first movement to a choral finale that overwhelms with its vision of resurrection and universal redemption. The symphony incorporates soprano and mezzo-soprano soloists and a chorus in the final movement's setting of Klopstock's ode "Aufersteh'n", and its orchestral forces — including offstage brass, a very large orchestra, and an organ — create sonic effects of extraordinary power. Mahler himself called it a work that asks "why have you lived? why have you suffered? — all this is mere comedy," and the final answer it proposes is one of music's most overwhelming affirmations.