Most Colossal Symphony Ever Written

Most colossal symphony ever written - Mahler's so called Symphony of a Thousand. Strangely enough, when Mahler wrote this work, Debussy, Schoenberg and Stravinsky were starting on the rise and breaking new compositional grounds by throwing their spears "moving forward" (as they so frequently say nowadays) into modernism. So, what does Mahler do? He reverts back to the Romantic icons of the past: Goethe, Beethoven, Berlioz, Liszt and Wagner and produces this godzillian and monumental work, which is yet to be surpassed by any other composer in terms of orchestral and vocal forces. Oddly enough, Mahler himself was already at the front of modernism with his symphonies No. 5, 6 and 7, but he wanted to create something Romantic and overly indulgent for the very last time---and that he did. After the 8th, Mahler's world slowly began to crumble and eventually reached bottom with his untimely death at the age of 50. Unlike the "Symphony of a Thousand," The Cantata "Song of the Earth" and "Symphony No. 9" are pessimistic works---almost Darwinian in contrast to this "Symphony of a Thousand...."

The Shrine Auditorium is located next to USC in Los Angeles. It's there that this enormous work was performed on 2-4-2012. The auditorium is so old and outdated, that the symphony which was suppose to begin at 8:00 PM, didn't start until 8:30. You ask why? Well, because of very poor lighting in the rows. As a result of this, people had difficulty in finding both their seats and row numbers. However, none of this matter, because everyone was there for one reason and one reason only: to see this grand spectacle---1017 musicians were at the podium---800 chorus---200 instrumentalist and soloists. The work was conducted by none other than Gustavo Dudamel, who is the principal conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Choirs from all over Los Angeles were needed to performed this colossal work, not to mention a Venezuelan orchestra, as the symphony requires two orchestras to be performed. Dudamel, being from Venezuela, invited the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela and combined it with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and together the two orchestras performed this gargantuan and monumental composition. The composition will again be performed in Caracas later on this month. And just like their orchestra was a guest in the City of Los Angeles, so will the Los Angeles Philharmonic be a guest in Caracas. This is big stuff---really big stuff! This symphony has only been performed a few times since it's inception back in 1910, less than a year before Mahler's death. The reason is not so simple you see. Sure, there's the sorted topic of coins----it cost a lot of money to perform it. However, the other problem is space. As you can see, the world famous "Walt Disney Music Hall" was too small, hence the reason the giant Shrine Auditorium had to be used in its place to perform Mahler's most notorious symphony.

Part II of Goethe's Faust

This is in itself quite complex to stage. In fact, it's almost impossible to put together, hence the reason most individuals are only familiar with Part I. Mahler wrote very little music. Probably because he was too fastidious and nitpicking---a perfectionist until his demise. The other problem being time. Mahler was probably Europe's greatest conductor after Arthur Nikisch and was quite busy in his chosen profession. As a result, he only wrote during the summer months. However and with that said, when Mahler composed something, he did it big---I mean really big! His symphonies, with the exception of the 1st and 4th, are all quite lengthy. In fact, his Symphony No. 3, clocks in as one of the longest ever written and stayed as such in the Guinness Book of World Records for a long time. Mahler stages the very finale of Part II. How many angels in Heaven are needed to make this very powerful and metaphorical statement of Goethe? Well, Mahler decided on 1000. Faust's body is accepted into Heaven and, God forgives Faust for the only unforgivable sin in God's eyes, selling his soul to Satan for knowledge. This Faust movement, which is the symphony's second movement, is in itself a record breaker---50-55 minutes long.

Veni Creator Spiritus

The symphony's first movement is a setting of a 9th Century Pentecostal Hymn or Whitsunday Hymn ('White Sunday' was the 50th day after Jesus' Resurrection) and is sung in Latin.

Seeing this symphony performed in public is a once in a lifetime experience and a must for anyone...here's a youtube link to the very finale

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WhNn6zxqVg&feature=related