Symphony No. 9 (Schubert)
Encyclopedia
The Symphony No. 9 in C major, D. 944, known as the Great (published in 1840 as “Symphony No. 7 in C Major” and now renumbered as Symphony No. 8), is the final symphony completed by Franz Schubert
. Nicknamed The Great C major originally to distinguish it from his Symphony No. 6, the Little C major, the subtitle is usually now taken as a reference to the symphony's majesty. A typical performance takes around 55 minutes, though it can be played in 45.
, which has been realized for performance by Brian Newbould
. In fact, we now know that the 'Great' was largely composed in sketch in the summer of 1825: that, indeed, it was the work to which Schubert was referring in a letter of March 1824 when he said he was preparing himself to write 'a grand symphony'. By the spring or summer of 1826 it was completely scored, and in October, Schubert, who was quite unable to pay for a performance, sent it to the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde
with a dedication. In response they made him a small payment, arranged for the copying of the orchestral parts, and at some point in the latter half of 1827 gave the work an unofficial play-through (the exact date and the conductor are unknown) – though it was considered too long and difficult for the amateur orchestra of the conservatory.
A recent hypothesis suggests that the symphony may have received its first performance on 12 March 1829 in a Concert spirituel
at the Landständischer Saal in Vienna
. The evidence for this hypothesis is slender, however, and it contradicts contemporary sources which prove that Schubert's Symphony No. 6
(also in C major) was performed at this instance. In 1836 Schubert's brother Ferdinand
attempted to perform the final movement alone, yet there is no proof that it was actually played in public.
In 1838, ten years after Schubert's death, Robert Schumann
visited Vienna
and was shown the manuscript of the symphony at the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde
by Ferdinand Schubert. He took a copy that Ferdinand had given him back to Leipzig
, where the entire work was performed publicly for the first time by Felix Mendelssohn
at the Leipzig Gewandhaus
on 21 March 1839. Schumann celebrated the event in the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik
with an ecstatic article in which, in a phrase destined to become famous, he hailed the symphony for its 'heavenly length'. Legend claims that, during a rehearsal of the first movement, one musician was reported as asking another if he had managed to hear a tune yet. On the other hand, having heard its first performance, Schumann is reported to have said he thought it the greatest instrumental work since the death of Beethoven
.
) listing it as No. 8, and English-speaking scholars often listing it as No. 9. Many American orchestras have dropped the numbering altogether since the mid-1980s and in printed programs merely title it the "Great" C major Symphony.
, there are four movements:
Often considered Schubert’s finest piece for orchestra, this symphony is also one of the composer’s most innovative pieces. Thematic development in the style of Beethoven is still present in the work, but Schubert puts far more emphasis on melody, which one might expect from the composer of some six hundred lieder. In fact, this new style prompted Schumann to pursue his own symphonic ambitions.
The symphony is scored for 2 flute
s, 2 oboe
s, 2 clarinet
s in A and C, 2 bassoon
s, 2 horns in C, 2 trumpet
s in A and C, 3 trombone
s, timpani
, and string
s.
Beethoven had always used the trombone as an effect, and therefore very sparingly, or, in the case of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, also to double the alto, tenor, and bass parts of the chorus as was common in sacred music and opera at the time. However, in both Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony
and the Ninth Symphony, trombones are liberated from these roles and have far more substantial parts.
Franz Schubert
Franz Peter Schubert was an Austrian composer.Although he died at an early age, Schubert was tremendously prolific. He wrote some 600 Lieder, nine symphonies , liturgical music, operas, some incidental music, and a large body of chamber and solo piano music...
. Nicknamed The Great C major originally to distinguish it from his Symphony No. 6, the Little C major, the subtitle is usually now taken as a reference to the symphony's majesty. A typical performance takes around 55 minutes, though it can be played in 45.
Composition and early reception
For a long time, also, it was believed to be a work of Schubert’s last year, 1828. It was true that, in the last months of his life, he did start drafting a symphony – but this was the work in D major now accepted as Symphony No. 10Symphony No. 10 (Schubert)
Schubert's Symphony No. 10 in D major, D.936a, is an unfinished work that survives in a partly fragmentary piano sketch. Only properly identified in the 1970s, it has been orchestrated by Brian Newbould in a conjectural completion that has subsequently been performed, published and recorded.-The...
, which has been realized for performance by Brian Newbould
Brian Newbould
Brian Newbould is a composer, conductor and author who has finished Franz Schubert's Unfinished Symphony and more symphonic works and even extra symphonies. He was educated at Gravesend Grammar School.-References:...
. In fact, we now know that the 'Great' was largely composed in sketch in the summer of 1825: that, indeed, it was the work to which Schubert was referring in a letter of March 1824 when he said he was preparing himself to write 'a grand symphony'. By the spring or summer of 1826 it was completely scored, and in October, Schubert, who was quite unable to pay for a performance, sent it to the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde
Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde
The Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Wien , was founded in 1812 by Joseph von Sonnleithner, general secretary of the Court Theatre, Vienna, Austria. Its official charter, drafted in 1814, states that the purpose of the Society was to promote music in all its facets...
with a dedication. In response they made him a small payment, arranged for the copying of the orchestral parts, and at some point in the latter half of 1827 gave the work an unofficial play-through (the exact date and the conductor are unknown) – though it was considered too long and difficult for the amateur orchestra of the conservatory.
A recent hypothesis suggests that the symphony may have received its first performance on 12 March 1829 in a Concert spirituel
Concert Spirituel
The Concert Spirituel was one of the first public concert series in existence. The concerts began in Paris in 1725 and ended in 1790; later, concerts or series of concerts of the same name occurred in Paris, Vienna, London and elsewhere...
at the Landständischer Saal in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
. The evidence for this hypothesis is slender, however, and it contradicts contemporary sources which prove that Schubert's Symphony No. 6
Symphony No. 6 (Schubert)
The Symphony No. 6 in C major, D. 589, is a symphony by Franz Schubert composed between October 1817 and February 1818. Its first public performance was in Vienna in 1828...
(also in C major) was performed at this instance. In 1836 Schubert's brother Ferdinand
Ferdinand Schubert
Ferdinand Schubert was an Austrian composer and brother of Franz Schubert. He also designed the grave stone for the grave of Ludwig van Beethoven, which is now at Vienna's Central Cemetery.-Early life:...
attempted to perform the final movement alone, yet there is no proof that it was actually played in public.
In 1838, ten years after Schubert's death, Robert Schumann
Robert Schumann
Robert Schumann, sometimes known as Robert Alexander Schumann, was a German composer, aesthete and influential music critic. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most representative composers of the Romantic era....
visited Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
and was shown the manuscript of the symphony at the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde
Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde
The Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Wien , was founded in 1812 by Joseph von Sonnleithner, general secretary of the Court Theatre, Vienna, Austria. Its official charter, drafted in 1814, states that the purpose of the Society was to promote music in all its facets...
by Ferdinand Schubert. He took a copy that Ferdinand had given him back to Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
, where the entire work was performed publicly for the first time by Felix Mendelssohn
Felix Mendelssohn
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Barthóldy , use the form 'Mendelssohn' and not 'Mendelssohn Bartholdy'. The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians gives ' Felix Mendelssohn' as the entry, with 'Mendelssohn' used in the body text...
at the Leipzig Gewandhaus
Gewandhaus
Gewandhaus is a concert hall in Leipzig, Germany. Today's hall is the third to bear this name; like the second, it is noted for its fine acoustics. The first Gewandhaus was built in 1781 by architect Johann Carl Friedrich Dauthe. The second opened on 11 December 1884, and was destroyed in the...
on 21 March 1839. Schumann celebrated the event in the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik
Neue Zeitschrift für Musik
Die Neue Zeitschrift für Musik was a music magazine published in Leipzig, co-founded by Robert Schumann, his teacher and future father-in law Friedrich Wieck, and his close friend Ludwig Schuncke...
with an ecstatic article in which, in a phrase destined to become famous, he hailed the symphony for its 'heavenly length'. Legend claims that, during a rehearsal of the first movement, one musician was reported as asking another if he had managed to hear a tune yet. On the other hand, having heard its first performance, Schumann is reported to have said he thought it the greatest instrumental work since the death of 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...
.
Numbering
There continues to be some controversy over the numbering of this symphony, with German-speaking scholars sometimes numbering it as symphony No. 7, the most recent version of the Deutsch catalog (the standard catalogue of Schubert's works, compiled by Otto Erich DeutschOtto Erich Deutsch
Otto Erich Deutsch was an Austrian musicologist. He is known for compiling the first comprehensive catalogue of the works of Franz Schubert, first published in 1951 in English, new edition in 1978 in German...
) listing it as No. 8, and English-speaking scholars often listing it as No. 9. Many American orchestras have dropped the numbering altogether since the mid-1980s and in printed programs merely title it the "Great" C major Symphony.
Form
Following the standard symphonic formSymphony
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...
, there are four movements:
- Andante - Allegro ma non troppo — Piu Moto
- Andante con moto in A minorA minorA minor is a minor scale based on A, consisting of the pitches A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. The harmonic minor scale raises the G to G...
- Scherzo. Allegro vivace Trio in C majorC majorC major is a musical major scale based on C, with pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. Its key signature has no flats/sharps.Its relative minor is A minor, and its parallel minor is C minor....
/A majorA majorA major is a major scale based on A, with the pitches A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Its key signature has three sharps.Its relative minor is F-sharp minor and its parallel minor is A minor... - Finale. Allegro vivace
Often considered Schubert’s finest piece for orchestra, this symphony is also one of the composer’s most innovative pieces. Thematic development in the style of Beethoven is still present in the work, but Schubert puts far more emphasis on melody, which one might expect from the composer of some six hundred lieder. In fact, this new style prompted Schumann to pursue his own symphonic ambitions.
The symphony is scored for 2 flute
Flute
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...
s, 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 clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
s in A and C, 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 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 A and C, 3 trombone
Trombone
The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
s, 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 string
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...
s.
Beethoven had always used the trombone as an effect, and therefore very sparingly, or, in the case of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, also to double the alto, tenor, and bass parts of the chorus as was common in sacred music and opera at the time. However, in both Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony
Symphony No. 8 (Schubert)
Franz Schubert's Symphony No. 8 in B minor , commonly known as the "Unfinished Symphony" , D.759, was started in 1822 but left with only two movements known to be complete, even though Schubert would live for another six years. A scherzo, nearly completed in piano score but with only two pages...
and the Ninth Symphony, trombones are liberated from these roles and have far more substantial parts.