Mahler's "Symphony of a Thousand" & Bengali Shyama Sangeet

In part 2 of the Symphony, Mahler sets the ending of Goethe's "Faust" to music. The main characters in the poem are Faust, his muse Gretchen (similar to Beatrice in Dante's "The Divine Comedy") & Mephistopheles.

In her only utterance, Mary (mother of Christ) invites Gretchen to ascend to higher spheres. The soul of Faust will be drawn upwards with her. The chorus urge them on:

"Look up to the redeeming gaze

All penitent tender souls

Virgin, Mother, Queen.

Goddess, be ever merciful."

The combined choruses ("Chorus Mysticus") enter pianissimo (softly) singing:

"All transitory things

Are nothing but Allegory;

The unattainable

Is now achieved;

The inexpressible

Is accomplished;

The Eternal Feminine

Draws us upward."

The spirit of the above lyrics are strikingly similar to that of Shyama Sangeet, a genre of Bengali devotional music, devoted exclusively to the Divine Mother. Shyama Sangeet got a boost by Sri Ramakrishna, who was frequently singing them. The major composer was Ramprasad & the most popular singer was Pannalal Bhattacharya.

So pervasive is the influence of Shyama Sangeet in Bengal, that even an agnostic like Satyajit Ray composed one in the style of Ramprasad for use in his film "Devi".