Gustav Mahler was an Austro-Bohemian composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. After being banned during the Second World War, his compositions were rediscovered by a new generation of listeners; Mahler then became one of the most frequently performed and recorded of all composers.

Symphony No. 2 by Gustav Mahler, known as the Resurrection Symphony, was written between 1888 and 1894, and first performed in 1895.

This symphony was one of Mahler’s most popular and successful works during his lifetime. It was his first major work that established his lifelong view of the beauty of afterlife and resurrection. In this large work, the composer further developed the creativity of “sound of the distance” and creating a “world of its own”, aspects already seen in his First Symphony. 

Halfway through the final movement, the choir comes in with the words: ‘Rise again! Yes, rise again will you, my dust, after a short rest!’