Jena Symphony
Encyclopedia
The so-called "Jena Symphony" is a symphony
that was at one time attributed to Ludwig van Beethoven
. The symphony was discovered by Fritz Stein in 1909 in the archives of a concert society in Jena
, from which it derived its name. Stein believed it to be the work of Beethoven and it was so published by Breitkopf und Härtel in 1911. It is now known that the piece was the work of Friedrich Witt
.
he tried to write a C major symphony with Joseph Haydn
's Symphony No. 97
as a model, and it is easy to find parallels between the Jena Symphony and Haydn's No. 97.
When H. C. Robbins Landon
found another copy of the work at the archives of Göttweig Abbey
with Witt's name on it, he convinced most other scholars that the work was in fact by Witt. Ralph Leavis, for example, condemned the work as "a piece of plagiarism, put together almost with scissors and paste from reminiscences of Haydn."
, 2 oboe
s, 2 bassoon
s, 2 horns
in C, 2 trumpet
s in C, timpani
and strings
.
The first movement begins with an Adagio introduction of 20 measures. A sonata form
movement follows with a mostly triadic first subject group
and a more dance-like second subject group.
The exposition has a repeat (not always followed in performance). The development of just 30 measures ends with a crescendo leading directly to the recapitulation.
The second movement in F major
has a central section in F minor
.
The timpano in C is used in this movement (the timpani were set to C and G for the first movement and are not changed in the course of work).
The third movement is a Minuet with Trio.
The fourth movement begins piano.
The handling of the winds in this movement led some scholars to believe (before Robbins Landon's discovery) that perhaps this movement was in fact written by Beethoven while the rest was written by an unknown composer.
Symphony
A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, scored almost always for orchestra. A symphony usually contains at least one movement or episode composed according to the sonata principle...
that was at one time attributed to Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
. The symphony was discovered by Fritz Stein in 1909 in the archives of a concert society in Jena
Jena
Jena is a university city in central Germany on the river Saale. It has a population of approx. 103,000 and is the second largest city in the federal state of Thuringia, after Erfurt.-History:Jena was first mentioned in an 1182 document...
, from which it derived its name. Stein believed it to be the work of Beethoven and it was so published by Breitkopf und Härtel in 1911. It is now known that the piece was the work of Friedrich Witt
Friedrich Witt
Friedrich Jeremias Witt was a German composer and cellist. He is perhaps best known as the likely author of a Symphony in C major known as the Jena Symphony, once attributed to Ludwig van Beethoven.-Biography:...
.
History
Stein thought it was quite likely an early work by Beethoven and pointed out some stylistic similarities in the preface to the score. From each of the four movements he singled out a few passages he considered specially Beethoven-like. Stein's belief in Beethoven's authorship was strengthened by the fact that Beethoven's letters show that prior to writing his own Symphony No. 1Symphony No. 1 (Beethoven)
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...
he tried to write a C major symphony with Joseph Haydn
Joseph Haydn
Franz Joseph Haydn , known as Joseph Haydn , was an Austrian composer, one of the most prolific and prominent composers of the Classical period. He is often called the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet" because of his important contributions to these forms...
's Symphony No. 97
Symphony No. 97 (Haydn)
The Symphony No. 97 in C major, Hoboken I/97, is the fifth of the so-called twelve London Symphonies written by Joseph Haydn. It was completed in 1792 as part of the set of symphonies composed on his first trip to London. It was first performed at the Hanover Square Rooms in London on 3 or 4 May...
as a model, and it is easy to find parallels between the Jena Symphony and Haydn's No. 97.
When H. C. Robbins Landon
H. C. Robbins Landon
Howard Chandler Robbins Landon was an American musicologist.He was born in Boston, Massachusetts and studied music at Swarthmore College and Boston University. He subsequently moved to Europe where he worked as a music critic. From 1947 he undertook research in Vienna on Joseph Haydn, a composer...
found another copy of the work at the archives of Göttweig Abbey
Göttweig Abbey
Göttweig Abbey is a Benedictine monastery near Krems in Lower Austria.-History:Göttweig Abbey was founded as a monastery of canons regular by Blessed Altmann, Bishop of Passau...
with Witt's name on it, he convinced most other scholars that the work was in fact by Witt. Ralph Leavis, for example, condemned the work as "a piece of plagiarism, put together almost with scissors and paste from reminiscences of Haydn."
Analysis
In four movements, the symphony is scored for fluteFlute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
, 2 oboe
Oboe
The oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...
s, 2 bassoon
Bassoon
The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that typically plays music written in the bass and tenor registers, and occasionally higher. Appearing in its modern form in the 19th century, the bassoon figures prominently in orchestral, concert band and chamber music literature...
s, 2 horns
Horn (instrument)
The horn is a brass instrument consisting of about of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. A musician who plays the horn is called a horn player ....
in C, 2 trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
s in C, timpani
Timpani
Timpani, or kettledrums, are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum, they consist of a skin called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally made of copper. They are played by striking the head with a specialized drum stick called a timpani stick or timpani mallet...
and strings
String section
The string section is the largest body of the standard orchestra and consists of bowed string instruments of the violin family.It normally comprises five sections: the first violins, the second violins, the violas, the cellos, and the double basses...
.
The first movement begins with an Adagio introduction of 20 measures. A sonata form
Sonata form
Sonata form is a large-scale musical structure used widely since the middle of the 18th century . While it is typically used in the first movement of multi-movement pieces, it is sometimes used in subsequent movements as well—particularly the final movement...
movement follows with a mostly triadic first subject group
and a more dance-like second subject group.
The exposition has a repeat (not always followed in performance). The development of just 30 measures ends with a crescendo leading directly to the recapitulation.
The second movement in F major
F major
F major is a musical major scale based on F, consisting of the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature has one flat . It is by far the oldest key signature with an accidental, predating the others by hundreds of years...
has a central section in F minor
F minor
F minor is a minor scale based on F, consisting of the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. The harmonic minor raises the E to E. Its key signature has four flats ....
.
The timpano in C is used in this movement (the timpani were set to C and G for the first movement and are not changed in the course of work).
The third movement is a Minuet with Trio.
The fourth movement begins piano.
The handling of the winds in this movement led some scholars to believe (before Robbins Landon's discovery) that perhaps this movement was in fact written by Beethoven while the rest was written by an unknown composer.
Recordings
The Jena Symphony has been recorded on:- LP (33⅓ rpmRevolutions per minuteRevolutions per minute is a measure of the frequency of a rotation. It annotates the number of full rotations completed in one minute around a fixed axis...
), on the Turnabout Records label (owned by Vox RecordsVox RecordsVOX Records is a budget classical record label. The name is Latin for "voice."-History:Vox was founded in 1945, starting out with 78-rpm discs, specializing in licensed pressings of classical recordings made in Europe. It was one of the last major recording companies to adopt stereo recording,...
) by the Westphalian Symphony Orchestra conducted by Hubert Reichert (1971, Vox Production). The disc also included Beethoven's Wellington's VictoryWellington's VictoryWellington's Victory, or, the Battle of Vitoria, Op. 91 is a minor orchestral work composed by Ludwig van Beethoven to commemorate the Duke of Wellington's victory over Joseph Bonaparte's forces at the Battle of Vitoria in Basqueland on June 21, 1813...
, Op. 91. - LP, on the Urania label by the Leipzig Philharmonic conducted by Rolf Kleinert (the disc also included Beethoven's Choral FantasiaChoral Fantasy (Beethoven)The Fantasy in C minor for Piano, Chorus, and Orchestra, Op. 80, was composed in 1808 by Ludwig van Beethoven.-Background, composition, and premiere:...
, Opus 80). A 1995 recording by the London Mozart PlayersLondon Mozart PlayersThe London Mozart Players is a British chamber orchestra founded in 1949. The LMP is the longest-established chamber orchestra in the United Kingdom whose performances and recordings focus largely on the core repertoire from the Classical era...
conducted by Matthias BamertMatthias BamertMatthias Bamert is a Swiss composer and conductor.Matthias Bamert studied music in his native Switzerland as well as in Paris and Darmstadt, falling in with the likes of Pierre Boulez and Karlheinz Stockhausen; these associations can be detected in his own compositions from the 1970's...
was issued on CD by BBC Music MagazineBBC music magazineBBC Music Magazine is a magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom by BBC Worldwide, the commercial subsidiary of the BBC. Reflecting the broadcast output of BBC Radio 3, the magazine is devoted primarily to classical music, though with sections on jazz and world music. Each edition comes...
. - LP, on the CamdenCamden- Australia :* Camden, New South Wales** Camden Council ** Electoral district of Camden- England :* London Borough of Camden** Camden Town, an area in the borough* Camden School for Girls- United States :* Camden, Alabama* Camden, Arkansas...
label by the Janssen Symphony Orchestra of Los Angeles conducted by Werner JanssenWerner JanssenHans-Werner Janssen was an American conductor of classical music, and composer of classical music and film scores.-Biography:...
(the disc also included Beethoven's Symphony No. 1Symphony No. 1 (Beethoven)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...
). - CD, on the NaxosNaxos RecordsNaxos Records is a record label specializing in classical music. Through a number of imprints, Naxos also releases genres including Chinese music, jazz, world music, and early rock & roll. The company was founded in 1987 by Klaus Heymann, a German-born resident of Hong Kong.Naxos is the largest...
label by the Sinfonia FinlandiaSinfonia FinlandiaThe Sinfonia Finlandia is an orchestra in Finland. Its current music director is Patrick Gallois. Sinfonia Finlandia was the first to record Einojuhani Rautavaara's Aleksis Kivi. Their first recording for Naxos Records was the first-five numbered symphonies by Joseph Haydn.-External links:* in...
conducted by Patrick GalloisPatrick GalloisPatrick Gallois is a French flutist and conductor.Gallois was born in Linselles near the town of Lille in the north of France. At the age of 17 he began studies at the Conservatoire de Paris with the celebrated flutist Jean-Pierre Rampal and after two years received the First Prize...
. The disc also includes the Symphony in A major and the Flute Concerto in G major, Op. 8.