Rising
CFA students master Mahler’s Resurrection for Symphony Hall
Click the slide show above to hear the BU Symphony Orchestra and Symphonic Chorus preparing to perform Mahler’s Resurrection at Symphony Hall.
Gustav Mahler’s Second Symphony, best known as The Resurrection, is a complex piece that explores enormous issues. A 90-minute, five-movement work for orchestra, chorus, and soloists, the symphony examines death, rebirth, and faith.
“Mahler, at 29 years old, was asking really huge questions, and the marvelous thing about having a group of young people playing this piece is that they, too, end up having to confront those questions,” says David Hoose, a professor of music and director of orchestral activities at the College of Fine Arts. “In a sense, everyone has been preparing for the performance of this piece since the beginning of his or her musical training.”
More than 320 musicians spent 65 hours rehearsing to perfect the piece, which they performed at Symphony Hall on November 6.
“Rising” originally appeared on BU Today on November 3, 2006.