Not Me Swells like Mahler’s Symphony Number Two, the Fifth Movement
I am a flat line⎹ precise graphite⎹ mark on page
Not Me begins as nightingale flute call
to which a mourning dove sighs a reply
first solo, then duet of grief, then the full choir is mummering
now the strings are shedding tears, now the horns are wailing
now the whole orchestra interludes in ascending scales
climbing from whip-poor-will weeping to meadow lark’s trill
next organ interjects, holding onto a clarion hawk cry
finally, the cathedral bells chime their dawn greeting song
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Informed by “Mahler Listening Guide Symphony no. 2 in C Minor (“Resurrection”)”
Bettie Jo Basinger https://utahsymphony.org/explore/2014/11/mahler-2-listening-guide/
