A pianist has turned Mahler’s ‘Resurrection’ Symphony into a Cuban Rumba

20 April 2019, 16:36

Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 (‘Resurrection’) has been transformed into a Cuban Rumba — and it’s pretty darn uplifting

It’s fair to say that most cover artists wouldn’t touch Mahler’s terrifying second symphony with a barge pole.

As well as brass, woodwind, strings, keyboard and a full-voice choir, the original score includes seven timpani, two bass drums, two pairs of cymbals, two triangles, a glockenspiel, three deep, untuned bells, and three tam-tams.

But this pianist has done something really interesting: Joachim Horsley has reimagined ‘Resurrection’ in three Cuban Rumba styles – Guanguanco, Yambú, and Colombia.

The melodramatic lyrics in the closing verse (“Die shall I in order to live. Rise again, yes, rise again, will you, my heart, in an instant!”), are replaced with a series of ghostly, wordless noises, while the immense percussive sounds are recreated in the inner structure of the piano.

There’s also a pretty creepy middle organ section, which slows down the whole rumba, before picking the tempo up again, returning to the groove and throwing us right back into the happy rumba.