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 two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets in B♭, two bassoons, four horns in A♭, C and E♭, two trumpets in C and E♭, timpani, and strings. There are four movements, and a performance lasts around 30 minutes.
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]
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