Historical information

This program was given to attendees at the Bendigo Symphony Orchestra and Gisborne Singers performance on 24th November 2024


In a thrilling conclusion to their 2024 concert season, Bendigo Symphony Orchestra present Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 ‘The Resurrection’ – a transcendent journey from darkness to light.

Witness the symphony on a colossal scale: ten trumpets, ten horns, two sets of timpani and an organ are just the beginning of Mahler’s mighty orchestration. And after the success of 2022’s inaugural Symphonia Choralis festival, BSO are once again partnering with the Gisbourne Singers to bring this glorious work to life.

“Why have you lived? Why have you suffered? Is it all some huge, awful joke? We have to answer these questions somehow if we are to go on living – indeed, even if we are only to go on dying!”

Written in a letter to a friend, these are the questions Mahler hoped to answer with this symphony. While epitomising the emotion and drama of the Romantic era, the work also anticipates the radical advances of the 20th century. Beginning with a steely funeral march, Mahler spins German folk-song and klezmer-inspired flourishes through four stunning movements, culminating in a sublime hymn of resurrection. This symphony explores life and death on a cosmic scale, and showcases Mahler’s rich technicolour writing and flair for dramatic narrative.

“The whole thing sounds as though it came to us from some other world. I think there is no one who can resist it. One is battered to the ground and then raised on angel’s wings to the highest heights.”

Be swept away by an eternal masterpiece.