Symphony No. 4 (Schubert)

Last updated

Franz Schubert's Symphony No. 4 in C minor, D 417, called by its composer the Tragic (German: Tragische), was completed in April 1816, [1] a year after his Third Symphony, when he was 19 years old. However, it was not premiered until November 19, 1849, in Leipzig, more than two decades after Schubert's death. [2]

Contents

Structure

Schubert added the title Tragic to his autograph manuscript some time after the work was completed. [1] It is not known why. It can be noted, however, that the symphony is one of only two he wrote (the Unfinished Symphony is the other) in a minor key. The scoring is for 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets in B♭, 2 bassoons, 4 horns in A♭, C and E♭, 2 trumpets in C and E♭, timpani and strings. There are four movements, and a performance lasts around 30 minutes.

  1. Adagio moltoAllegro vivace (C minorC major) (286 bars)
  2. Andante (A♭ major) (271 bars)
  3. Menuetto Allegro vivace (54 bars) – Trio (E♭ major) (32 bars)
  4. Allegro (C minor – C major) (486 bars)
Symphony No. 4 (Schubert)

The slow introduction is modeled after Haydn's The Representation of Chaos overture to The Creation oratorio. [1] [3] The opening theme of the Allegro of the first movement derives from the opening theme of Ludwig van Beethoven's String Quartet, Op. 18 No. 4 in the same key. [1]

The slow movement is in ABABA form which would be a favorite form for most of Schubert's future symphonic slow movements. [1] The themes in the B section are not new. They are developed from the Allegro theme of the first movement and the themes of the A section. The second appearance of B, the third return of A and the beginning of the coda have a sixteenth-note ostinato accompaniment added to help bring cohesiveness to the sections. This was a device that Beethoven had previously used in the slow movements of his Op. 18 No. 1 quartet and his Pathetique sonata. [1]

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Brown, A. Peter, The Symphonic Repertoire (Volume 2). Indiana University Press ( ISBN   025333487X), pp. 598–603 (2002).
  2. Signale für die musikalische Welt, 1849, p. 396: "Monday, November 19, 1849... Symphony in C minor by Franz Schubert. For the first time... a previously unknown symphony ..." (translated)
  3. Newbould, Brian, Schubert and the Symphony: A New Perspective, p. 86–109, Toccata Press (1992) ISBN   978-0-907689-27-0

Related Research Articles

String Quartet No. 16 (Beethoven)

The String Quartet No. 16 in F major, Op. 135, by Ludwig van Beethoven was written in October 1826 and was the last major work he completed. Only the final movement of the Quartet Op. 130, written as a replacement for the Große Fuge, was composed later. The op. 135 quartet was premiered by the Schuppanzigh Quartet in March 1828, one year after Beethoven's death.

Sonata form is a musical structure consisting of three main sections: an exposition, a development, and a recapitulation. It has been used widely since the middle of the 18th century.

<i>Trout Quintet</i> Piano quintet by Franz Schubert

The Trout Quintet (Forellenquintett) is the popular name for the Piano Quintet in A major, D. 667, by Franz Schubert. The piano quintet was composed in 1819, when he was 22 years old; it was not published, however, until 1829, a year after his death.

Piano Quintet (Schumann)

The Piano Quintet in E-flat major, Op. 44, by Robert Schumann was composed in 1842 and received its first public performance the following year. Noted for its "extroverted, exuberant" character, Schumann's piano quintet is considered one of his finest compositions and a major work of nineteenth-century chamber music. Composed for piano and string quartet, the work revolutionized the instrumentation and musical character of the piano quintet and established it as a quintessentially Romantic genre.

The Piano Quintet in F minor, Op. 34, by Johannes Brahms was completed during the summer of 1864 and published in 1865. It was dedicated to Her Royal Highness Princess Anna of Hesse. Like most piano quintets composed after Robert Schumann's Piano Quintet (1842), it is written for piano and string quartet.

String Quartet No. 6 (Beethoven)

The String Quartet No. 6 in B-flat major, Op. 18, No. 6, was written between 1798 and 1800 by Ludwig van Beethoven and published in 1801, and dedicated to Joseph Franz von Lobkowitz.

Symphony No. 1 (Beethoven) Symphony by German composer Ludwig von Beethoven; premiered in 1800

Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 1 in C major, Op. 21, was dedicated to Baron Gottfried van Swieten, an early patron of the composer. The piece was published in 1801 by Hoffmeister & Kühnel of Leipzig. It is not known exactly when Beethoven finished writing this work, but sketches of the finale were found to be from 1795.

Symphony No. 2 (Beethoven)

The Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 36, is a symphony in four movements written by Ludwig van Beethoven between 1801 and 1802. The work is dedicated to Karl Alois, Prince Lichnowsky.

String Quartet No. 7 (Beethoven)

The String Quartet No. 7 in F major, Op. 59, No. 1, was written by Ludwig van Beethoven and published in 1808. This work is the first of three of his "Rasumovsky" cycle of string quartets.

Symphony No. 5 (Schubert)

Franz Schubert's Symphony No. 5 in B major, D. 485, was written mainly in September 1816 and completed on October 3, 1816. It was finished six months after the completion of his previous symphony.

Symphony No. 9 (Schubert)

The Symphony No. 9 in C major, D 944, known as the Great(first published by Breitkopf & Härtel in 1849 as "Symphonie / C Dur / für großes Orchester",listed as Symphony No. 8 in the Neue Schubert-Ausgabe), is the final symphony completed by Franz Schubert. Originally called The Great C major to distinguish it from his Symphony No. 6, the Little C major, the subtitle is now usually taken as a reference to the symphony's majesty. Unusually long for a symphony of its time, a typical performance of The Great lasts an hour when all repeats indicated in the score are taken. The symphony was not professionally performed until a decade after Schubert's death.

String Quartet No. 9 (Beethoven)

The String Quartet No. 9 in C major, Op. 59, No. 3, was written by Ludwig van Beethoven and published in 1808. This work is the third of three of his "Razumovsky" cycle of string quartets, and is a product of his "middle" period. It consists of four movements:

String Quintet (Schubert)

Franz Schubert's final chamber work, the String Quintet in C major is sometimes called the "Cello Quintet" because it is scored for a standard string quartet plus an extra cello instead of the extra viola which is more usual in conventional string quintets. It was composed in 1828 and completed just two months before the composer's death. The first public performance of the piece did not occur until 1850, and publication occurred three years later in 1853. Schubert's only full-fledged string quintet, it has been praised as "sublime" or "extraordinary" and as possessing "bottomless pathos," and is generally regarded as Schubert's finest chamber work as well as one of the greatest compositions in all chamber music.

Piano Sonata No. 12 (Beethoven)

Ludwig van Beethoven composed his Piano Sonata No. 12 in A major, Op. 26, in 1800–1801, around the same time as he completed his First Symphony. He dedicated the sonata to Prince Karl von Lichnowsky, who had been his patron since 1792.

The Symphony in C major by German composer Robert Schumann was published in 1847 as his Symphony No. 2, Op. 61, although it was the third symphony he had completed, counting the B-flat major symphony published as No. 1 in 1841, and the original version of his D minor symphony of 1841. It is dedicated to Oscar I, king of Sweden and Norway.

Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 2 in A major, Op. 2, No. 2, was published in 1796 and dedicated to Joseph Haydn. A typical performance lasts 22 minutes.

The String Quartet No. 2 in A minor, Op. 13, was composed by Felix Mendelssohn in 1827. Written when he was 18 years old, it was, despite its official number, Mendelssohn's first mature string quartet. One of Mendelssohn's most passionate works, the A minor Quartet is one of the earliest and most significant examples of cyclic form in music.

The Symphony No. 2 in B major, D 125, is a symphony by Franz Schubert composed between 1814 and 1815. It is scored for 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, timpani and strings.

Johannes Brahms's String Quartet No. 1 in C minor and String Quartet No. 2 in A minor were completed in Tutzing, Bavaria, during the summer of 1873, and published together that autumn as Op. 51. They are dedicated to his friend Theodor Billroth.

String Trios, Op. 9 (Beethoven)

The three String Trios, Op. 9 were composed by Ludwig van Beethoven in 1797–98. He published them in Vienna in 1799, with a dedication to his patron Count Johann Georg von Browne (1767–1827). They were first performed by the violinist Ignaz Schuppanzigh with two colleagues from his string quartet. According to the violinist and conductor Angus Watson, these were probably Franz Weiss on viola and either Nikolaus Kraft or his father Anton on cello. Each of the trios consists of four movements: