Mahler and Schoenfield at the Vaudeville?

Synopsis

On today’s date in 1895, Gustav Mahler conducted the Berlin Philharmonic in the first complete performance of his own Symphony No. 2.

Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 is often called the Resurrection Symphony, as the work includes a choral setting of the Resurrection Ode by 18th-century German poet Klopstock, but Mahler himself gave his symphony no such title. In a letter to his wife, Mahler confided that his Symphony No. 2 “was so much all of a piece that it can no more be explained than the world itself.”

And like the world, music is often full of surprising transitions!

American composer Paul Schoenfield quoted a dramatic passage of Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 in his concerto for piccolo trumpet and orchestra, Vaudeville.

In live performances, the sudden juxtaposition of Mahler and the Brazilian tune Tico-Tico always gets a laugh — which is just what Schoenfield intended.

“I often suffer from depression, and once, when I was feeling pretty low, a friend of mind suggested I try writing something happy and upbeat to see if that would help. Vaudeville was the result. I don’t know if it helped me, but people say when they hear it, it makes them feel better. The music of other composers I respect has that effect on me, and I’m glad if Vaudeville has that effect on others,” Schoenfield said.

Music Played in Today's Program

Gustav Mahler (1860-1911): Symphony No. 2 (Resurrection); London Symphony; Gilbert Kaplan, conductor; Conifer 51337

Paul Schoenfield (1947-2024): Vaudeville; New World Symphony; John Nelson, conductor; Argo 440 212

On This Day

Births

• 1838 - French composer Alexis Vicomte de Castillon, in Chartres

Deaths

• 1898 - American composer George Frederick Bristow, 72, in New York

Premieres

• 1729 - Handel: opera Lotario (Julian date: Dec. 2)

• 1739 - Handel: revival performance of oratorio Acis and Galetea (all-English version), in London at Lincoln’s Inn Field, with the premiere performances of two unspecified instrumental concertos from Handel's recently completed Op. 6 set of 12 Concerti Grossi (Gregorian date: Dec. 24)

• 1868 - Saint-Saëns: Piano Concerto No. 2, at a Concert Popilaire in Paris conducted by Anton Rubinstein, with the composer as soloist

• 1884 - R. Strauss: Symphony No. 2, in New York, with Theodore Thomas conducting

• 1895 - Mahler: Symphony No. 2 (Resurrection), by Berlin Philharmonic, with the composer conducting. The Berlin Philharmonic had premiered the first three movements of this symphony earlier that same year (on March 4), again with the composer conducting.

• 1913 - Rachmaninov: choral symphonic poem, The Bells, in St. Petersburg, composer conducting (Julian date: Nov. 30)

• 1928 - Gershwin: An American in Paris, in New York, at Carnegie Hall, by the New York Philharmonic, Walter Damrosch conducting

• 1929 - Bax: Symphony No. 2, by the Boston Symphony, Serge Kouusevitzky conducting

• 1930 - Stravinsky: Symphony of Psalms, in Brussels at the Palais des Beaux-Arts, conducted by Ernest Ansermet. Serge Koussevitzky (who commissioned the work to celebrate the Boston Symphony’s 50th Anniversary), conducted the American premiere in Boston on December 19, 1930.

• 1936 - Barber: Symphony in One Movement (No. 1), at the Adriano Theater in Rome, with the Augusteo Orchestra conducted by Bernardino Molinari. Rudolf Ringwall conducted the American premiere of the Symphony with the Cleveland Orchestra (Jan. 21, 1937) and Artur Rodzinski conducted the new work with the Vienna Philharmonic at the Salzburg Festival (July 35, 1937).

• 1944 - Bernstein: musical On the Town, as trial run in Boston at the Colonial Theater. The show opened in New York City at the Adelphi Theater on December 28, 1944.

• 1966 - Druckman: String Quartet No. 2, in New York City, by the Juilliard String Quartet

• 1970 - Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 13, in Leningrad, by the Beethoven Quartet

Others

• 1836 - At a musical soiree at Chopin’s apartments in Paris, the female writer “George” Sand, determined to make a good impression with her host, arrived wearing white pantaloons and a scarlet sash (the colors of the Polish flag). Paris Opéra tenor Adolphe Nourit sang some Schubert songs accompanied by Franz Liszt. Liszt and Chopin played Moschele’s Sonata in E-flat for piano four-hands.