Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 in C Minor (Resurrection)

Autograph Manuscript on Loan from the Cleveland Orchestra

The Cleveland Museum of Art

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• Date Tuesday, October 31, 2023 - Sunday, February 11, 2024
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Discover the cultural gem of University Circle at the Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA). Immerse yourself in a rich tapestry of artistic history and innovation. Established in 1913, the museum has been a cornerstone of our vibrant community for over... more

Monte and Usha Ahuja Founders Rotunda | Gallery 200

In 2020, the Cleveland Orchestra received an extraordinary, unique gift: the full, handwritten score of Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 from the orchestra’s International Trustee Dr. Herbert G. Kloiber. One of the leading composers of late Romantic symphonic music, Gustav Mahler (1860–1911) was born in Bohemia (modern Czech Republic) and active in Germany and Austria. His monumental Second Symphony is considered the grandest of all symphonies from the 1800s. Requiring more than 100 instrumentalists, two soloists, as well as a full chorus, and at nearly 80 minutes, it surpassed its choral predecessors by Ludwig van Beethoven, Hector Berlioz, and Franz Liszt in range and conception.

Mahler wrote the dramatic score between 1888 and 1894 in his characteristically bold musical script, mainly in intense black ink, with some parts in brown or violet. It is a working manuscript with inserted leaves, corrections, deletions, and revisions. Additions to the orchestration are written in blue crayon in the first three movements, and in violet ink in the final movement. The complete manuscript is 232 pages, comprising 24- and 28-stave (musical staff) papers in unbound bifolios. This is the composer’s only handwritten manuscript of the complete symphony and includes the work’s finale, its crowning glory.

The Cleveland Orchestra acknowledges Dr. Herbert G. Kloiber with deep gratitude for his generous gift of the autograph manuscript of Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 2. The Cleveland Orchestra thanks the Cleveland Museum of Art for its partnership in the manuscript’s care and temporary display.

Photo: Opening of the symphony, first movement. Photography courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art