The grandest of Gustav Mahler’s nine completed symphonies, a sonic extravaganza, the Eighth calls for an enormous orchestra — plus mandolin, piano, harmonium, organ and a separate band of trumpets and trombones. In addition to children’s and adult choruses, it employs eight vocal soloists. No wonder it’s not often programmed. The DSO hasn’t done it since 2000.
But it has some of the most mystical, ecstatic and thrilling music in Mahler’s oeuvre. The symphony’s first half sets the Latin hymn “Veni, creator spiritus,” invoking the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit. The second half dramatizes the final scene of Goethe’s Faust, as hermits, penitents and multiple choruses point to the redemptive Mater Glorioso and the promise of “loftier spheres” and “blissful happiness.”
7:30 p.m. May 15 and 16, 2 p.m. May 17 at Meyerson Symphony Center, 2301 Flora St. 214-849-4376, dallassymphony.org.